CITYBLOGGER..PENAFIAN Laman ini tidak bertanggungjawab atas hasil penulisan yang dipetik dari sumbe

A Tortured History Pursues George W. Bush

George W. Bush is clearly enjoying his release from the glare of the presidency. In photos, he looks almost serene, and he doesn't publicly criticize the cumulative incompetence of his successor. However, in early February — looking forward to attend a charity gala in Geneva, Switzerland — he was jolted when he had to cancel his trip lest he be arrested when he arrived.

The Center for Constitutional Rights was about to file, in Geneva, individual criminal complaints against Bush by two victims of torture.

Switzerland, like the United States, is a signatory to the international Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. And every nation signing this treaty is required to prosecute anyone, including government officials, who have been involved in "complicity or participation in torture."

Moreover, the Convention makes it unmistakably clear that "no exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war ... or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture."