Det danske Fredsakademi
Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 14. januar 2006 / Time Line January 14, 2006
Version 3.513. Januar 2006, 15. Januar 2006
01/14/2006
Danmark er blevet medlem af FN's nye Fredsopbygningskommission,
noterer Berlingske Tidende.
01/14/2006
Commanding Responsibility from the Pentagon : Rumsfeld and
Cheney are staring down the possibility they could be held
accountable for crimes at Abu Ghraib, Falluja and
Guantanamo
By: Jeremy Brecher and Brendan Smith, Foreign Policy
in Focus
A jury verdict in Memphis late last year caused little stir among
the general public, but it may have caught the attention of Dick
Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and other high officials of the Bush
administration. The jury found Colonel Nicolas Carranza, former
Vice Minister of Defense of El Salvador and now a U.S. citizen
living in Memphis, responsible for overseeing the torture and
killing in that country 25 years ago. Could similar charges be
brought against high U.S. officials for the actions of their
subordinates in Abu Ghraib, Falluja, and Guantanamo?
Carranza was sued by victims of armed forces under his control. The
jury applied the principle of "command responsibility," which holds
a superior legally responsible for human rights abuses by
subordinates if the official knew or should have known about them
and failed to prevent them or punish those who committed them.
Intelligence agency whistleblowers recently leaked to ABC News a
list of six "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" authorized for CIA
agents in mid-March 2002. The agents, according to an ABC News
report, did so "because the public needs to know the direction
their agency has chosen."
The techniques included "Water Boarding:" "The prisoner is bound to
an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet.
Cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner's face and water is poured
over him. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying
fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the
treatment to a halt." CIA officers who subjected themselves to the
technique lasted an average of 14 seconds before caving in.
According to John Sifton of Human Rights Watch, "It really amounts
to a mock execution, which is illegal under international law."
President Bush has said "We do not torture." But according to a
classified report by the CIA's own Inspector General John
Helgerwon, the techniques appeared "to constitute cruel and
degrading treatment under the [Geneva] convention." If so, they are
likely to be crimes not only under international law, but under the
U.S. Anti-Torture and War Crimes Acts.
Where they have acknowledged prisoner abuse, Bush administration
officials have often blamed it on a few "bad apples" at the bottom
of the chain of command. But under the principle of command
responsibility, this is no excuse -- and no legal defense.
Colin Powell's top aide, Colonel Larry Wilkerson, said late last
year that the United States has tortured and, "There's no question
in my mind where the philosophical guidance and the flexibility in
order to do so originated -- in the vice president of the United
States' office."
According to Wilkerson, "His implementer in this case was Donald
Rumsfeld and the Defense Department." Wilkerson explained, "The
vice president had to cover this in order for it to happen and in
order for Secretary Rumsfeld to feel as though he had freedom of
action."
The former commander at Abu Ghraib prison, Brig. Gen. Janis
Karpinski, confirms Wilkerson's charge: Abusive techniques at Abu
Ghraib were "delivered with full authority and knowledge of the
secretary of defense and probably Cheney."
This is not just a question of past abuses. According to Wilkerson,
"There's no doubt in my mind that we may still be doing it." When
the vice president of the United States "lobbies the Congress on
behalf of cruel and unusual punishment" Wilkerson says he can "only
assume" that "it's still going on." Asked whether Cheney was guilty
of a war crime, Col. Wilkerson said the vice president's actions
were certainly a domestic crime and, he would suspect, "an
international crime as well." Wilkerson says his charges are based
on an "audit trail" he prepared for Secretary Powell, including
government memoranda and reports from the International Committee
of the Red Cross.
Criminal investigation is warranted where facts or circumstances
"reasonably indicate" that a crime has been committed. Wilkerson's
charges are sufficient in themselves to require the Department of
Justice to immediately open a criminal investigation of Vice
President Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. Such an investigation could
take as its starting point Wilkerson's "audit trail," the
statements of CIA agents and the CIA Inspector General, and
extensive published evidence indicating torture and prisoner abuse
by U.S. personnel around the world.
If I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and other high government officials can
be investigated for outing Valerie Plame, don't facts that
"reasonably indicate" war crimes and crimes against humanity
deserve equal time?
Bush administration officials have said over and over that they
have acted within the law. If so, they have nothing to fear from an
investigation and should encourage one to clear the air.
The United States is supposed to have "equal justice under law."
Colonel Carranza has had his day in court. We as citizens -- and
our prosecutors, judges, and elected representatives -- need to
address the question: When will Vice President Cheney, Secretary
Rumsfeld, and their collaborators get theirs?
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