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,
1-25
of 37221 signatures
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| Number | Date | Name | Location | Optional: Add your message ... |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37221 | Fri Apr 27 19:56:38 EDT 2018 | Janice Briggs | NY , PE | |
| 37220 | Sun Apr 15 18:36:25 EDT 2018 | Anonymous | TX , US | |
| 37219 | Sat Oct 01 08:58:33 EDT 2016 | Nancy Bhargava | MD , US | |
| 37218 | Thu Sep 29 16:25:30 EDT 2016 | Sebastian Stock | ot , DE | |
| 37217 | Fri Aug 05 15:30:50 EDT 2016 | Anonymous | ot , GB | |
| 37216 | Thu Aug 04 10:38:04 EDT 2016 | Kathleen Braico | NY , US | |
| 37215 | Sun Jul 24 04:18:20 EDT 2016 | Simon Trott | ot , GB | |
| 37214 | Wed Mar 02 18:59:02 EST 2016 | Julie Botten | ot , GB | |
| 37213 | Mon Jan 04 09:44:00 EST 2016 | Christopher Dunham | PA , US | |
| 37212 | Fri Dec 18 13:30:06 EST 2015 | Echo Zebo | KS , US | |
| 37211 | Tue Nov 03 08:03:13 EST 2015 | S B | VT , US | |
| 37210 | Sat Oct 10 11:39:12 EDT 2015 | Jon Mullin | TX , US | |
| 37209 | Mon Jul 27 11:23:45 EDT 2015 | Anonymous | NJ , US | Liberty and Justice for all |
| 37208 | Sat Jul 11 13:27:28 EDT 2015 | Alan McPherson | IN , US | |
| 37207 | Thu Jun 25 17:14:23 EDT 2015 | Edward Carleton | MA , TH | |
| 37206 | Fri Jun 19 05:47:06 EDT 2015 | Gadija da Costa | ot , GB | |
| 37205 | Sat Jun 13 01:23:25 EDT 2015 | Irene Thompson | CA , US | |
| 37204 | Fri Jun 12 23:53:58 EDT 2015 | P. A. Nichols | PA , US | Follow the lead of Kuala Lampyr & Italy. |
| 37203 | Thu Jun 11 02:14:51 EDT 2015 | Giuseppina Bonanni | CT , US | |
| 37202 | Fri May 15 10:32:54 EDT 2015 | Karen Neubauer | AL , AU | |
| 37201 | Fri May 01 16:45:36 EDT 2015 | Anonymous | CA , US | |
| 37200 | Tue Mar 10 13:34:21 EDT 2015 | Sam Feldman | FL , US | |
| 37199 | Wed Mar 04 22:45:27 EST 2015 | Alvena Pauls | BC , CA | |
| 37198 | Wed Mar 04 17:52:22 EST 2015 | Esta Kroon | TX , SE | |
| 37197 | Mon Feb 23 11:54:39 EST 2015 | Gary Biebel | NM , US | A war criminal is a war criminal. Period. |
