The Bureau Recommends: Report calls for investigation of Bush for torture
It is imperative to launch criminal investigations into former US president Bush due to “overwhelming evidence of torture by the Bush administration,” a Human Rights Watch report has said.
According to the campaign group, its 107-page study entitled “Getting Away with Torture: The Bush Administration and Mistreatment of Detainees,” includes “substantial information” on the ordering of practices such as waterboarding, secret CIA prisons, and rendition of detainees to countries where they were tortured.
Human Rights Watch says its findings warrant the criminal investigations not only of Bush, but also his senior administration officials, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and CIA Director George Tenet.
The group said by not conducting a thorough investigation, President Obama had failed to meet US obligations under the Convention against Torture.
They added: “If the US government does not pursue credible criminal investigations, other countries should prosecute US officials involved in crimes against detainees in accordance with international law.”
