Turnabout Would Be Fair Play: US Seeks 147 Year Torture Sentence
This report from MSNBC is almost sublimely ironic:
U.S. prosecutors want a Miami judge to sentence the son of former Liberian President Charles Taylor to 147 years in prison for torturing people when he was chief of a brutal paramilitary unit during his father’s reign.
…
A recent Justice Department court filing describes torture — which the U.S. has been accused of in the war on terror — as a "flagrant and pernicious abuse of power and authority" that warrants severe punishment of Taylor."It undermines respect for and trust in authority, government and a rule of law," wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Caroline Heck Miller in last week’s filing. "The gravity of the offense of torture is beyond dispute."
…
Elise Keppler, senior counsel at Human Rights Watch, said Monday that the organization has long pressed for investigations and prosecution of those responsible for torture around the world. The Emmanuel conviction is a big step forward, she said."This whole process has sent a message that when it comes to the most serious crimes, there cannot be impunity," Keppler said. "Without a penalty that fits the gravity of the crime, it risks sending a message that these crimes will be tolerated."
Huh. Go figure. I wonder who will prosecute the the denizens of the Bush Administration for the same acts?
Where’s emptywheel and when’s she gonna post about GMAC and TARP? Your public awaits.
What if DOJ really is going to prosecute torture and abuse wherever they find it, whoever ordered it and whoever abetted it.
The jokes just write themselves.
What precisely are the laws governing torture in the United States? In the cases we’re all thinking about, would they come under civilian or military justice? Would the former apply to paper hangers like John Yoo, and the latter apply to Rumsfeld, Addington, Cheney, Rice, Bush, and the various generals? What about the intelligence agencies? It seems to me that this would make a great project for a law class with a progressive professor. There’s very good evidence, the press may actually cover it, and it looks like something the UN Security Council or Human Rights committee might want to take up.
Show me a Country that ‘looks the other way’ on its own Policy of Torture – while Prosecuting others for the same thing – and I’ll show you a Nation living with False Security.
As individuals with certain Inalienable Rights upon which Our Great Country is based – We’ve forgotten that We would rather Be Free than ‘Safe’.
Warden Bush’s ‘Prison Security’ is No Security At All for a Nation Conceived in Liberty…
We need a Rule of Law breakout!
So, I’m guessing no one cited the Khalid el-Masri dismissal as prececent, eh? Interesting that a court here in the US feels it has jurisdiction to go forward (there shall be no sanctuary for torturers) on a Liberian torturing in Liberia at the behest of his Liberian President, but when it is Americans torturing at the behest of an American president, no one can hear the case and the Sup Ct refuses cert.
Given that the Dept of Justice has actively worked to solicit, promote, advocate and proliferate torture, or sat in silent acquiescence for years now, I can’t imagine how you could find anything within the Dept that could be a prosecutor on their torture. Blagojevich tried to sell a Senate seat, the people who have worked for DOJ for the last 4-5 years accomplished the sale of justice and their souls. *Interesting* that those kinds of people can be “shocked” by his behaviour. Something biblical about eyes, motes and beams comes to mind.
Hmmm, Miami, eh? Wasn’t that the destination of choice for the legal proceedings against another US torture victim, whose lawyers tried to raise his torture as an element of defense and were told the fact that he’d been tortured in seclusion for years to the point where he was incapable of assisting in his defense was just not “relevant”
If I’m recollecting that venue correctly, it’s just another layer in the irony cake.
yeah I figured you would get a painful chuckle out of this one
Well, it is precedent.
I wonder who will prosecute the the denizens of the Bush Administration for the same acts?
hypocrisy is alive and well in the usa.. obama and crew show no willingness towards accountability..
On this subject I recommend watching the 12/23/08 Amy Goodman interview with Rep. Jerrold Nadler. 3 years ago he wrote a letter to Mukasey on this; ignored. He recently sent another which he expects to be ignored.
Rep Nadler (D)NY, states that he will introduce legislation in the next Congress that reinstates the old Office of Special Counsel to investigate criminal acts by BushCo. Also, a Constitutional Amendment which specifically limits the presidential pardon powers.
I can’t do Rep Nadler justice, so please watch/listen. (and give us an article?_
http://www.democracynow.org
then click Past Shows, scroll down to 2008, December, 12/23
Jeb Bush?
so, uhm, can filings from one prosecution be cited by defendants in other prosecutions ???
cuz I could think of a few defendants at GITMO who might want to use this opinion …
an btw, you told me to “go figure”, so I did. Under federal sentencing guidelines, on a 147 year sentence, you’d be eligible for parole in 117.6 years
that’s what I do when ya mention a prision sentence and tell me to figure …
“I wonder who will prosecute the the denizens of the Bush Administration for the same acts?”
I know I am skating perillouslly close to the legal line but — I will try to implement their prosecution.
If I had the physical opportunity to throw Dick Cheney in a duffle bag and smuggle him to The Hague, it’s hard to imagine that I could restrain myself from doing it.
And Dick, there are thousands of righteous patriotic Americans just like me. Probably even several among your domestic staff.
Go to change.gov and find Bob Fertic’s question in the “Open for Questions” section and vote for it.
http://change.gov/page/content…..s20081229/
You’ll have to search for his question as there is no way to provide a link to a specific question. It is in the “Additional Issues” category and it is one of the top questions (second in ranking at the moment, I believe).
Here is Bob’s question:
There is a netroots effort to bump this question to the top. Go and make your last effort of 2008, register, and vote for Bob’s question. The deadline is midnight 12/31/08 — tonight.