News

Bush cancels Geneva trip in advance of torture suit

GENEVA – Former United States President George W. Bush has cancelled his trip to Geneva, days before his scheduled arrival, according to a statement from a rights group which was getting ready to file a torture suit against him.

The rights group, New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), in a statement said:
“CCR, with the Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) and Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), have spent weeks preparing a 2,500 page torture case against Bush that would have been filed on Monday, February 7 – the anniversary of the day, nine years ago, when Bush decided the Geneva Conventions didn’t apply to ‘enemy combatants.’ Bush was due to be in Geneva on the 12th, and his presence on Swiss territory is required for the prosecutor to take action.

"The complaint, brought under the Convention Against Torture with the support of 50 NGOs, two former UN Special Rapporteurs on Torture and two Nobel Prize winners, was on behalf of two torture victims, one who is still at Guantánamo.

"Whatever Bush or his hosts say, we have no doubt he cancelled his trip to avoid our case. The message from civil society is clear – If you’re a torturer, be careful in your travel plans. It’s a slow process for accountability, but we keep going.”

The Bush Indictment will be released at a press conference tomorrow at the Swiss Press Club.
The Center for Constitutional Rights, in addition to filing the first cases representing men detained at Guantánamo, has filed universal jurisdiction cases seeking accountability for torture by Bush administration officials in Germany and France and submitted expert opinions and other documentation to ongoing cases in Spain in collaboration with ECCHR.

Top to the page  |  E-mail  |  views[1]
SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend
 
Other News Articles
Further fuel price increases inevitable
Bush cancels Geneva trip in advance of torture suit
Govt. silent on people’s revolt in Egypt
Mind-your-manners order to residents near cricket stadium
Lanka caught in India’s fishing net
Superb cover drive
Deluge after deluge, devastating horror
Biometric passports on the cards
Scientists from Sri Lanka, India and US to jointly study Indian Ocean weather phenomena
Halt Jaffna crimes, concerned citizens tell President
Army on drive to downsize strength
Joint visa application centre for UK, Australia
Free Fonseka: UNP, JVP plan big protests
Lanka security situ improved: Switzerland
Ranil calls for PSC to probe attack
Former Navy Chief, envoy to Japan
Alarming drop in numbers involved in research
Moneragala beckons with 5th Deyata Kirula
Lankaenews dismisses claims of contract attack
Flood victims pray to the rain gods
Hijacked crew ‘set adrift’, destitute and starved
Pomp, pageantry and call to alms by way of sacrifice
Where young girls see marriage as escape from poverty
Price rises amid veges lying-a-rotting

 

 
Reproduction of articles permitted when used without any alterations to contents and a link to the source page.
© Copyright 1996 - 2011 | Wijeya Newspapers Ltd.Colombo. Sri Lanka. All Rights Reserved | Site best viewed in IE ver 8.0 @ 1024 x 768 resolution