Dear Spain: Please do what the U.S. won’t. Prosecute Torture.
A Spanish judge has just decided to proceed with a case against Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld. The Spanish legislature can be expected to try to block the case, unless perhaps they hear our voices loudly and clearly enough.
We began this effort in 2011, visiting Spanish embassies, generating media and placing advertisements in Spain, and communicating our appreciation for Spanish efforts to prosecute U.S. torturers. Now we need another big push.
Please sign this letter now, and we will deliver it to Spain:
(Leer en Español abajo.)
To the people of Spain
From the people of the United States of America and allies abroad
We are writing to thank you and to ask for your support as your courts consider cases to bring American officials to justice for the crime of torture. A Spanish judge, acting under international law, will soon decide whether to investigate U.S. officials' roles in authorizing torture. We hope you agree that such cases must go forward, despite pressure from the Obama administration to drop them.
The organizations signing this letter represent hundreds of thousands in the American public who believe the U.S. government must be held to the same rule of law as other countries. We are profoundly disappointed that our own government refuses to prosecute former officials, despite open admissions and government documents showing that they approved torture.
It will take a public show of support for the case to withstand pressures from Washington. WikiLeaks cables show the extremes to which U.S. officials have gone to thwart any attempt by Spain or other countries to uphold justice. We applaud the courage shown by Spanish officials who insist on giving priority to the rule of law.
Despite earlier assertions by President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder that waterboarding is torture, former President George W. Bush has publicly stated that he authorized waterboarding and added proudly that he would do it again. In a TV interview aired on November 8, 2010, Bush said he considered waterboarding legal "because the lawyer said it was legal." Waterboarding and other forms of torture were banned by the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, ratified by the United States in 1994.
If international law is to serve any useful purpose, other countries must condemn violations "by any other nations, including those which sit here now in judgment," in the words of the chief prosecutor at Nuremberg.
We sincerely hope that the citizens of Spain and its judiciary will dispel the notion that any country is above the law.
Signed,
From the people of the United States of America and allies abroad
We are writing to thank you and to ask for your support as your courts consider cases to bring American officials to justice for the crime of torture. A Spanish judge, acting under international law, will soon decide whether to investigate U.S. officials' roles in authorizing torture. We hope you agree that such cases must go forward, despite pressure from the Obama administration to drop them.
The organizations signing this letter represent hundreds of thousands in the American public who believe the U.S. government must be held to the same rule of law as other countries. We are profoundly disappointed that our own government refuses to prosecute former officials, despite open admissions and government documents showing that they approved torture.
It will take a public show of support for the case to withstand pressures from Washington. WikiLeaks cables show the extremes to which U.S. officials have gone to thwart any attempt by Spain or other countries to uphold justice. We applaud the courage shown by Spanish officials who insist on giving priority to the rule of law.
Despite earlier assertions by President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder that waterboarding is torture, former President George W. Bush has publicly stated that he authorized waterboarding and added proudly that he would do it again. In a TV interview aired on November 8, 2010, Bush said he considered waterboarding legal "because the lawyer said it was legal." Waterboarding and other forms of torture were banned by the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, ratified by the United States in 1994.
If international law is to serve any useful purpose, other countries must condemn violations "by any other nations, including those which sit here now in judgment," in the words of the chief prosecutor at Nuremberg.
We sincerely hope that the citizens of Spain and its judiciary will dispel the notion that any country is above the law.
Signed,
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of 37111 signatures
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| Number | Date | Name | Location | Optional: Add your message ... |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37111 | Fri Jul 25 23:34:59 EDT 2014 | Gary Semen huk | SK , CA | |
| 37110 | Thu Jul 24 02:31:15 EDT 2014 | Matthew Pritchett | CA , US | |
| 37109 | Wed Jul 23 06:51:09 EDT 2014 | MRS MARJORIE J LEWIS | ot , GB | |
| 37108 | Tue Jul 22 13:56:47 EDT 2014 | Emma Shock | PA , US | |
| 37107 | Tue Jul 22 13:09:00 EDT 2014 | Pat Shelton | FL , US | |
| 37106 | Mon Jul 21 09:50:48 EDT 2014 | ralf Arno Wess | ot , DE | |
| 37105 | Sat Jul 19 20:18:44 EDT 2014 | Brian V | AB , CA | |
| 37104 | Thu Jul 17 06:14:11 EDT 2014 | Koksukkin BillyBoy | NJ , US | You guys need to ram a bunch of forks up yerazholes. Are you nuts? |
| 37103 | Thu Jul 17 03:27:00 EDT 2014 | Anonymous | ot , AU | |
| 37102 | Thu Jul 17 02:15:05 EDT 2014 | Colm O'Donovan | ot , AU | |
| 37101 | Tue Jul 15 23:58:02 EDT 2014 | Frances Hoenigswald | PA , US | |
| 37100 | Tue Jul 15 19:42:51 EDT 2014 | Anonymous | NJ , US | |
| 37099 | Mon Jul 14 19:33:31 EDT 2014 | Pauline Wagner | PA , US | Thank you for holding these American war criminals accountable. You should include Tony Blair, too. Our Congress lacks guts, and most citizens are"sheeple". |
| 37098 | Mon Jul 14 10:25:35 EDT 2014 | Anonymous | PA , US | Justice for those killed and tortured on orders from criminals high in the US government and the high level agents who planned and committed these acts. |
| 37097 | Sun Jul 13 10:41:19 EDT 2014 | Lauren Gedlinske | MN , US | |
| 37096 | Sat Jul 12 18:19:20 EDT 2014 | Ken Maurice | AK , US | |
| 37095 | Fri Jul 11 19:12:01 EDT 2014 | Anonymous | CA , US | I Strongly Believe that Condolisa Rice Belongs On this List.
Torture is Illegal. President Bush Knew That. He knew he was breaking the law with the knowledge that the goverment would never prosecute More.... |
| 37094 | Thu Jul 10 23:28:35 EDT 2014 | Sharon Wood | CO , US | |
| 37093 | Thu Jul 10 10:18:37 EDT 2014 | Dan Van Haga | BC , CA | |
| 37092 | Thu Jul 10 09:30:56 EDT 2014 | Gary Stockinger | IA , AF | |
| 37091 | Thu Jul 10 01:44:57 EDT 2014 | Susan Layser | CA , US | Please set an example for the rest of the world and prosecute Bush and Cheney for the torturing they had done in their name, for starting an illegal war. I am disappointed in our country for its' hypocrisy More.... |
| 37090 | Wed Jul 09 21:31:02 EDT 2014 | Ken Gale | NY , US | Evil flourishes when good people do nothing. |
| 37089 | Wed Jul 09 00:13:55 EDT 2014 | Lauren Tozzi | WA , US | |
| 37088 | Tue Jul 08 15:49:10 EDT 2014 | Carla Brewer | AR , US | |
| 37087 | Mon Jul 07 14:43:13 EDT 2014 | Dr Eli Hegeman | NY , US |
