by Marjorie Cohn
April 6, 2009
San Francisco Chronicle
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/06/EDSG16SH3N.DTL
A Spanish court has initiated criminal proceedings
against six former officials of the Bush
administration. John Yoo, Jay Bybee, David Addington,
Alberto Gonzales, William Haynes and Douglas Feith may
face charges in
If arrest warrants are issued,
other 24 countries that are parties to European
extradition conventions could arrest these six men when
they travel abroad.
Does
for crimes that didn't take place on Spanish soil?
The answer is yes. It's called "universal
jurisdiction." Universal jurisdiction is a
well-established theory that countries, including the
United States, have used for many years to investigate
and prosecute foreign nationals for crimes that shock
the conscience of the global community. It provides a
critical legal tool to hold accountable those who
commit crimes against the law of nations, including war
crimes and crimes against humanity. Without universal
jurisdiction, many of the most notorious criminals
would go free. Countries that have used this as a basis
to prosecute the most serious of crimes should be
commended for their courage. They help to create a just
world in which we all seek to live.
Israel used universal jurisdiction to prosecute,
convict and execute Adolph Eichmann for his crimes
during the Holocaust, even they had no direct
relationship with
A federal court in
Taylor, son of the former Liberian president, of
torture that occurred in
sentenced
Universal jurisdiction complements, but doesn't
supersede, national prosecutions. So if the United
States were investigating the Bush officials, other
countries would refrain from doing so.
When the
Torture, it promised to extradite or prosecute those
who commit, or are complicit in, the commission of torture.
President Obama, when asked whether he favored criminal
investigations of Bush officials, replied, "My view is
also that nobody's above the law and, if there are
clear instances of wrongdoing, that people should be
prosecuted just like any ordinary citizen."
"But," he added, "generally speaking, I'm more
interested in looking forward than I am in looking
backward." Preoccupied with the economy and two wars,
Obama reportedly wants to wait before considering
prosecutions that would invariably anger the GOP.
Evidence that Bush officials set a policy that led to
the torture of prisoners at
According to ABC News, Gonzales met with other
officials in the White House and authorized torture,
including waterboarding.
The Office of Professional Responsibility, which
reports to the
that excoriates Yoo and Bybee for writing the infamous
torture memos. Haynes, Addington and Feith participated
in decisions that led to torture. The release of
additional graphic torture memos by the
of Justice is imminent.
It is the responsibility of the
investigate allegations of torture. Almost two-thirds
of respondents to a
investigations of the Bush team for torture and
warrantless wiretapping. Nearly four in 10 support
criminal investigations.
Former Navy General Counsel Alberto Mora told Congress,
"There are serving
that the first and second identifiable causes of
combat deaths in
effectiveness in recruiting insurgent fighters into
combat - are, respectively the symbols of Abu Ghraib
and
ordered the torture will be the third recruiting tool.
If the
will be more likely that some future administration
will repeat this scenario. The use of torture should be
purged from our system, much like we eradicated slavery.
==
Marjorie Cohn is a professor at
of Law and president of the National Lawyers Guild.
She is the author of
Gang Has Defied the Law and co-author of Rules of
Disengagement: The Politics and Honor of Military
Dissent (with Kathleen Gilberd). Her articles are
archived at www.marjoriecohn.com.
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