George W. Bush Regime Can Be Prosecuted Says Legal Experts

The Hague Tribunal in Netherlands IMAGE SoURCE: b92.net

by Cheri Roberts, Challenging the Rhetoric, The Guerilla Media Network

After the release of a the damning Torture Report, International Law obligates the United States to investigate and prosecute those citizens accused of torture. Whether the U.S. investigates itslef or not remains to be seen however, those who committed acts of torture and those who ordered it can still be prosecuted by foreign bodies abroad including the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In a report, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, confirmed she was in fact looking at the matter of America’s “enhanced interrogation techniques” saying,

“While continuing to assess the seriousness and reliability of such allegations, the office is analyzing the relevance and genuineness of national proceedings by the competent national authorities for the alleged conduct described above as well as the gravity of the alleged crimes.”

What Is The ICC?

The International Criminal Court (ICC), governed by the Rome Statute, is the first permanent, treaty based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.

The ICC is an independent international organisation, and is not part of the United Nations system. Its seat is at The Hague in the Netherlands. Although the Court’s expenses are funded primarily by States Parties, it also receives voluntary contributions from governments, international organisations, individuals, corporations and other entities.

According to a report by the NY Times,

Jordan J. Paust, professor of international law at the University of Houston, said that any of the 122 countries that have submitted themselves to the authority of the I.C.C. could arrest a torture suspect and then turn him or her over to The Hague-based tribunal. The prospect of a prosecution overseas, he said, could be even more likely, because of the Obama administration’s reluctance to prosecute, which he called a major disappointment.

It seems, according to the Times story, the ICC is afraid of “picking a fight” with the big bad American boogeyman. Former prosecution coordinator in The Hague, Alex Whitling says,

“ … the legitimacy of the court depends on it reaching a point where it treats countries alike. The court is in a very difficult position on this.” 

Difficult indeed, but the ICC is designed to treat all Nation’s and their crimes equally. Would they hesitate prosecuting if we were talking about leaders of countries like Afganistan, Somalia, or Haiti? Probably not, therefor any hesitation is biased in the favor of non-justice for the very things the court was set-out to address.

Interestingly, 122 countries fall under the authority of the I.C.C. and any one of them could arrest a torture suspect  turn him or her over to The Hague-based tribunal at any time.

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