Any act complicit in torture is a felony under US law. Thursday, February 4 at 9:00 a.m., human rights defenders in three cities plan to simultaneously participate in an action to demand the impeachment of 'Torture Judge' Jay Bybee, primary author of "legal" memos purporting to justify torture and still sitting on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
According to Pasadena's Orange County Peace Coalition social justice leader, Sharon Tipton, the 2010 Nobel Peace Nominee and author of the book, George W. Bush, War Criminal? Michael Hass will be standing with these American citizens against torture during its three-city protest against Bybee.
Tipton and a growing number of citizens across the country recognize that Bybee should be in jail, not still sitting on the bench.
Bybee's signature on the August 1, 2002, memo authorized brutal acts of torture by the CIA.
Bybee's June 8th memo claims to justify depriving an American citizen of the right to a trial, claiming the power to imprison him without charge on the grounds that he was already guilty in the eyes of the memo's author, Jay Bybee.
American human rights defenders refuse to be silent about homegrown terrorism, the type evidenced in the Bush Administration Terrorism Memos authored by Judge Bybee.
America is now on the International list of torturing? Nations. The increasing pressure by Americans such as those gathering on February 4th to delete the United States from that list aims for Congress to convict Bybee.
"Secret laws produced as royal decrees are not laws at all, but their drafting can be a crime, and in this case, Bybee's memos violated the Convention Against Torture." (David Swanson, ImpeachBybee.org)
As the writer reported in an previous article, specialists such as U.S. Air Force reservist, Lt. Col. Yvonne Bradley report that the American public has only seen "tip of the iceberg" of torture horrors secretly practiced in their name. Targeted Individuals in the United States and elsewhere claim being covertly tortured with high-tech weapons.
Tortured Law, the 10-minute documentary below by Alliance for Justice, examines the role U.S. lawyers played in authorizing torture.
Obama promised the American people transparency or accountability and to end torture.
New York Times reported that "Congress should impeach Bybee," and that "if the administration will not conduct a thorough investigation of these issues, then Congress has a constitutional duty to hold the executive branch accountable.” (Emphasis added)
"'I was following orders' is a Nazi excuse", highlights Swanson (ImpeachBybee.org)
Bruce Ackerman in a Slate article called Impeach Jay Bybee: Why should a suspected war criminal serve as a federal judge? wrote:
Jay Bybee is currently sitting on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. As assistant attorney general in President George W. Bush's Justice Department, he was responsible for the notorious torture memos that enabled the excesses at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and other places. While John Yoo did most of the staff work for Bybee, Yoo was barely 35 years old -- and his memos showed it. They not only took extreme positions; they were legally incompetent, failing to consider many of the most obvious counterarguments.
Bybee was 49. He was the grown-up, the seasoned jurist. He had been a law professor and had served as associate counsel to President Bush. When he was promoted to head the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, he became the final judge of legal matters within the executive branch. Yet his opinion on torture was so poorly reasoned that it was repudiated by his very conservative successor, Jack Goldsmith."
Swanson explains the feasibility of Congress convicting Bybee in an impeachment trial:
Ackerman points out that when Bybee was confirmed by the Senate, his role in promoting the use of torture and other criminal acts was not known (well, was still denied by some people), and he absurdly claimed the right to keep his work secret. When torture teammate William Haynes was later considered for a similar appointment, the widespread use of torture had become known, and the Senate rejected him. That's the same Senate, although slightly improved by recent elections, that would have to convict Bybee in an impeachment trial."
The Pasadena demonstration will be held at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, 125 Sout Grand Avenue, Pasadena, California.
Learn more and take responsible action: For more information about meeting Judge Bybee to tell him to resign, contact Sharon Tipton, Orange County Peace Coalition, 939-257-8501. CLICK HERE to ask Congress to impeach Jay Bybee.
David Swanson of ImpeachBybee.org provides the following:
Use these impeach Bybee postcards.
Join the Impeach Bybee coalition.
The New York Times finally wants somebody impeached and it's Jay Bybee.
Congressman Jerrold Nadler finally wants somebody impeached and it's Jay Bybee.
Senator Russ Feingold finally wants somebody impeached and it's Jay Bybee.
A Spanish judge is seeking an indictment of Jay Bybee.
Jay Bybee's "legal" memos were thrown out by the Bush administration.
Jay Bybee signed memos authorizing torture.
Jay Bybee is a federal judge with a lifetime appointment who was not straight with us at his confirmation.
Lawyers have been held accountable for the crime of pretending to legalize crimes before, see: US v. Joseph Altstoetter.
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