Ben Emmerson, a British barrister by training
and now U.N. Special
Rapporteur on Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights, has issued an
unusually blunt statement
about the U.S., after the Senate released its
long-awaited report on CIA
torture practices.
'Individuals Behind CIA Criminal Conspiracy Must Face Penalties': U.N. (U.N., Intl.
Terr., Geneva)
"It is now
time to take action. The individuals responsible for the criminal conspiracy
revealed in today’s report must be brought to justice, and must face criminal
penalties commensurate with the gravity of their crimes. ... President Obama
made it clear more than five years ago that the U.S. Government recognizes the
use of waterboarding as torture. There is therefore
no excuse for shielding the perpetrators from justice any longer. The U.S.
Attorney General is under a legal duty to bring criminal charges against those
responsible."
By Ben Emmerson, U.N.
Special Rapporteur on Counter Terrorism and Human Rights
GENEVA: Statement by U.N.
Special Rapporteur on Counter Terrorism and Human Rights Ben Emmerson concerning the publication of the summary of the
Feinstein report on crimes committed by the Bush-era CIA:
I welcome the belated publication of the summary report by
the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence into the crimes of
torture and enforced disappearance of terrorist suspects by the Bush-era CIA.
It has taken four years since the report was finalized to reach this point. The
Obama Administration is to be commended for resisting domestic pressure to
suppress these important findings.
In my
2013 report* to the Human Rights Council as Special Rapporteur, I called on
the U.S. Government to release the report without further delay and ensure that
it was published in full without excessive and unnecessary redactions.
The summary of the Feinstein report which was released this
afternoon confirms what the international community has long believed - that
there was a clear policy orchestrated at a high level within the Bush Administration
that allowed the commission of systematic crimes and gross violations of
international human rights law.
The identities of the perpetrators and many other details
have been redacted in the published summary report but are known to the Select
Committee and to those who provided the Committee with information on the
program.
Posted by Worldmeets.US
It is now time to take action. The individuals responsible
for the criminal conspiracy revealed in today’s report must be brought to
justice, and must face criminal penalties commensurate with the gravity of
their crimes.
The fact that the policies revealed in this report were authorized
at a high level within the U.S. Government provides no excuse whatsoever.
Indeed, it reinforces the need for criminal accountability.
International law prohibits the granting of immunities to
public officials who have engaged in acts of torture. This applies not only to
the actual perpetrators but also to those senior officials within the U.S.
Government who devised, planned and authorized these crimes.
As a matter of international law, the U.S. is legally
obliged to bring those responsible to justice. The U.N.
Convention Against Torture and the U.N.
Convention on Enforced Disappearances require States to prosecute acts of
torture and enforced disappearance where there is sufficient evidence to
provide a reasonable prospect of conviction. States are not free to maintain or
permit impunity for these grave crimes.
It is no defense for a public official to claim that they
were acting on superior orders. CIA officers who physically committed acts of
torture therefore bear individual criminal responsibility for their conduct,
and cannot hide behind the authorization they were given by their superiors.
However, the heaviest penalties should be reserved for those
most seriously implicated in the planning and purported authorization of these
crimes. Former Bush Administration officials who have admitted their
involvement in the program should also face criminal prosecution for their
acts.
President Obama made it clear more than five years ago that
the U.S. government recognizes the use of waterboarding
as torture. There is therefore no excuse for shielding the perpetrators from
justice any longer. The U.S. Attorney General is under a legal duty to bring
criminal charges against those responsible.
Torture is a crime of universal jurisdiction. The
perpetrators may be prosecuted by any other country they may travel to.
However, the primary responsibility for bringing them to justice rests with the
U.S. Department of Justice and the Attorney General."
*Ben Emmerson (United Kingdom) is the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion
and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism.
On August 1, 2011, he took up his functions on the mandate that was created in
2005 by the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights, renewed by the U.N.
Human Rights Council for a three year period in December 2007, in September
2010 and again in March 2013. As Special Rapporteur he is independent from any government
and serves in his individual capacity.
