Bush on torture: his ticket to jail?

by Jean-François Lisée

Rue 89

translated from the French by Aimee Kligman

One cannot fault him for dodging responsibility. In his autobiographical book, 'Decision Points' published this week in the United States, former President George W. Bush admits, - no, boasts, of having authorized the practice known as waterboarding in interrogations of suspected members of Al Qaeda by the CIA.

The problem? Bush does not believe that this method of 'enhanced interrogation' constitutes torture. But the preceding U.S. administration and the one following, as international experts and foreign courts, disagree.

Has he then, by this confession, made himself vulnerable to criminal charges (and ex-Vice President Dick Cheney also had said in an interview last February that he had been staunch supporter of waterboarding)?

For now, the Obama administration has refused to open the case regarding the responsibility of members of the Bush administration in the use of torture, and the current President has specifically indicated that he would not pursue CIA staff that had practiced torture, claiming they were operating under the authorization of the Justice Department that had misled them into believing that simulated drowning, among other methods, was not torture.

The former President's statements are rekindling the debate and increasing the pressure on the current President.

Human Rights Watch, who said it recorded 350 cases of torture and mistreatment of prisoners committed by U.S. civilians and 600 soldiers, noted on Wednesday that the UN Convention on Torture mandates its signatories, including the United States, to prosecute persons responsible for torture and pressed the Obama administration to undertake the procedures.

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture, which brings together 290 churches has even called for a commission of inquiry into the matter and accused the former president of having violated U.S. and international law.

Bush prosecuted....in Spain?

But if no action is taken against Bush in his home country, then  this opens the possibility that he be prosecuted in a third party country.

A total of 145 other countries, including Canada, have signed the UN Convention against Torture. All signatories have committed to implement its provisions, even against offenders living in other territories.

Therefore, procedures have been initiated in Spain and Belgium against foreign heads of state, including the Chilean Pinochet-with varying success. Now the procedure of waterboarding is considered internationally as a form of torture, whose perpetrators must be prosecuted.L

Last week, the Washington Post quoted one of the authors of the UN Convention, DePaul University attorney Boussiani Cherif, for whom the admission of the former President makes him theoretically vulnerable to accusations.

In fact, last January, a Madrid court opened proceedings against the Bush advisers who wrote memos authorizing illegal torture. The case is pending but was initiated precisely because no U.S. authority brought a case against these officials.

It's a safe bet that George W. Bush is now in the court's crosshairs. If Bush were to be condemned, even in absentia, it would bring into effect the mutual understanding extradition treaty which is enforced in 24 European countries.  In other words, Bush could go to any of these countries without incurring the risk of being deported to Spain to serve his sentence.

To follow, and continue!