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UN Officials Demand Prosecutions for US Torture

You guys have taken this thread entirely off course. Talking about what is and is not torture, what is and is not Constitutional... should we not be talking about the amazing ramifications of the US bending to UN demands?
 
You guys have taken this thread entirely off course. Talking about what is and is not torture, what is and is not Constitutional... should we not be talking about the amazing ramifications of the US bending to UN demands?

The UN is an hot air machine. When such countries as China, Cuba, the Congo, and more are on the Human Right Committee, no one and no country really should take the UN seriously.
 
The UN is an hot air machine. When such countries as China, Cuba, the Congo, and more are on the Human Right Committee, no one and no country really should take the UN seriously.

Agreed, which is why we should exit the UN and brand them for what they are. A useless bureaucratic organization made up of dubious characters.
 
Agreed, which is why we should exit the UN and brand them for what they are. A useless bureaucratic organization made up of dubious characters.

And a haven for espionage for those countries that do not like us because of the diplomatic immunity provided by UN members. Agreed, get out of it and move it to Geneva or someplace else.
 
You guys have taken this thread entirely off course. Talking about what is and is not torture, what is and is not Constitutional... should we not be talking about the amazing ramifications of the US bending to UN demands?

No, we should be talking about how the U.S. Broke a treaty and should be held accountable.

But I guess the neocons here don't believe in personal responsibility and the Rule of Law- because some of you might be surprised to know that torture is illegal.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2340A
 
You guys have taken this thread entirely off course. Talking about what is and is not torture, what is and is not Constitutional... should we not be talking about the amazing ramifications of the US bending to UN demands?

We'll buy them off. We always have and always will.
 
All senior U.S. officials and CIA agents who authorized or carried out torture like waterboarding as part of former President George W. Bush's national security policy must be prosecuted, top U.N. officials said Wednesday.

It's not clear, however, how human rights officials think these prosecutions will take place, since the Justice Department has declined to prosecute and the U.S. is not a member of the International Criminal Court.

Zeid Raad al-Hussein, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said it's "crystal clear" under international law that the United States, which ratified the U.N. Convention Against Torture in 1994, now has an obligation to ensure accountability.

"In all countries, if someone commits murder, they are prosecuted and jailed. If they commit rape or armed robbery, they are prosecuted and jailed. If they order, enable or commit torture ? recognized as a serious international crime ? they cannot simply be granted impunity because of political expediency," he said.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hopes the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee report on the CIA's harsh interrogation techniques at secret overseas facilities is the "start of a process" toward prosecutions, because the "prohibition against torture is absolute," Ban's spokesman said.

Ben Emmerson, the U.N.'s special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, said the report released Tuesday shows "there was a clear policy orchestrated at a high level within the Bush administration, which allowed (it) to commit systematic crimes and gross violations of international human rights law."

He said international law prohibits granting immunity to public officials who allow the use of torture, and this applies not just to the actual perpetrators but also to those who plan and authorize torture.

UN Officials Demand Prosecutions for US Torture - ABC News

The only CIA agent who has been jailed to date for anything to do with torture is John Kiriakou, for whistleblowing on the CIA torture program.

well what kind of name is that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Zeid_bin_Ra'ad

Oh OK a member of the Jordanian royal family, educated in England......

I thought he was a Saudi, I pegged him as a Saudi prince based on his name. Nevermind
 
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No, we should be talking about how the U.S. Broke a treaty and should be held accountable.

But I guess the neocons here don't believe in personal responsibility and the Rule of Law- because some of you might be surprised to know that torture is illegal.

18 U.S. Code § 2340A - Torture | LII / Legal Information Institute

If we broke our own rules of law then we are accountable to ourselves, not the UN. BTW, I do not support our torture program but I really do not support the idea of us being responsible to the worthless UN.
 
We'll buy them off. We always have and always will.

And that should tell us something about the epic uselessness of that organization.
 
If we broke our own rules of law then we are accountable to ourselves, not the UN. BTW, I do not support our torture program but I really do not support the idea of us being responsible to the worthless UN.

Well, we signed a UN treaty.

I'm pretty sure we don't ignore treaties just because some people in the US would like to pretend the UN doesn't exist.

Some people need to learn the definition of 'responsibility' and 'living up to your obligations'.
 
The UN, as it is, needs to be disbanded.

Agreed. It is merely a failed recreation of it's failed predecessor......The League of Nations. It did not learn from it's previous mistakes.
 
Well, we signed a UN treaty.

I'm pretty sure we don't ignore treaties just because some people in the US would like to pretend the UN doesn't exist.

Some people need to learn the definition of 'responsibility' and 'living up to your obligations'.

Ahh... and some people need to learn the difference between "responsibility" to our own laws and responsibility to the useless UN.
 
Ahh... and some people need to learn the difference between "responsibility" to our own laws and responsibility to the useless UN.

So signing a treaty is just something we do when we are bored?

You may think the city of Mudtown, NY is worthless, but it doesn't mean you can ignore its laws.
 
Agreed. It is merely a failed recreation of it's failed predecessor......The League of Nations. It did not learn from it's previous mistakes.
Too quickly it became a forum for dictatorships undermining the democracies. The Democracies should organize their own group in order to weaken those countries who ignore human rights and freedoms.
 
So signing a treaty is just something we do when we are bored?

You may think the city of Mudtown, NY is worthless, but it doesn't mean you can ignore its laws.

The UN has never lived up to its charter. There is no reason to continue, legal or otherwise.
 
Well, we signed a UN treaty.

I'm pretty sure we don't ignore treaties just because some people in the US would like to pretend the UN doesn't exist.

Some people need to learn the definition of 'responsibility' and 'living up to your obligations'.

We ignore treaties all the time. Ask China. Ask native Americans.
 
So signing a treaty is just something we do when we are bored?

You may think the city of Mudtown, NY is worthless, but it doesn't mean you can ignore its laws.

Explain to us how "Mudtown, NY" means something to the UN...
 
Too quickly it became a forum for dictatorships undermining the democracies. The Democracies should organize their own group in order to weaken those countries who ignore human rights and freedoms.

That's the single biggest reason for the UN's failure. It gives dictatorships a seat at the table with the same prestige as democracies. No real incentive to clean up their act.
 
"Imprison them". :lamo You guys do realize how silly you sound, right?
 
No, we should be talking about how the U.S. Broke a treaty and should be held accountable.

But I guess the neocons here don't believe in personal responsibility and the Rule of Law- because some of you might be surprised to know that torture is illegal.

18 U.S. Code § 2340A - Torture | LII / Legal Information Institute


The UN who has on its Human Rights Council China, Cuba and Russia has the moral position to claim the US is in violation of its arbitrary treaty ?

Are you friken kidding me ?

Only in Liberal La La land does the UN have any semblance of credibility.

I
 
That's the single biggest reason for the UN's failure. It gives dictatorships a seat at the table with the same prestige as democracies. No real incentive to clean up their act.

Yeah. Because dictatorships are notorious for doing horrible things.

Like torture!
 
Only in Liberal La La land does the UN have any semblance of credibility.

Funny that right wingers parrot that nonsense while insisting that other nations be bludgeoned with sanctions for doing the same thing the U.S. does. if the UN has no semblance of credibility its because the United States defiles its seat on the Security Council with rank hypocrisy.
 
Yeah. Because dictatorships are notorious for doing horrible things.

Like torture!
Torture as well as mass killings, beheadings, public executions of gays and women, forced labor, and so on. Do you really want to belong in the same group as those who carry out these acts?
 
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