By Stephen C. Webster
Friday, November 12th, 2010 -- 10:44 am
Following the revelation that President George W. Bush not only approved of but emphatically supported his administration's torture program, a growing chorus of lawmakers and human rights groups has expressed outrage at the lack of investigations and prosecutions.
Torture is illegal under US and international law, including the UN Convention Against Torture and the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, which claims the US as a signatory.
Though interrogators employed a variety of torture techniques, the use of waterboarding has attracted the most coverage by US media. Waterboarding, or simulated drowning, was carried out against American soldiers by the Japanese during World War II, and later prosecuted as a war crime.
The same cannot be said for the Bush administration.
"It is absolutely vital that a thorough review of President Bush’s now admitted ordering of waterboarding take place," Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) said in a Friday media advisory. "We are a nation of laws, not men, and the domestic and international laws – including the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment – governing the use of torture are clear in their scope and application. There is no exception for the President or any other official and no lawyer’s opinion can provide immunity from these laws."
