Former President George W. Bush as well as other members of his administration have been convicted in absentia of war crimes in Malaysia. This is the first time that something of this magnitude has occurred. Although Malaysia has been the only country to deliver a guilty verdict, they are hoping that more countries follow their example. In fact, former President George W. Bush canceled his trip to Switzerland, due to possibly being charged with war crimes. He can’t be arrested on American soil, so staying put seems the smartest decision at this point. If more countries vote the administration guilty of war crimes, then there would be no choice but to hold a trial and see if they would be convicted in the International court.

This past Friday, a five panel tribunal delivered a unanimous guilty verdict after a week long trial that, unsurprisingly, was not covered by American media. The witnesses included several ex-Guantanamo detainees that gave testimony on the conditions and human rights violations that were systematically carried out under orders of the Bush administration.

Former President Bush, Former Vice-President Dick Cheney, Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the legal advisers Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, William Haynes, Jay Bybee and John Yoo that crafted the legal ‘justification’ for torture that basically said, ‘we can if we want to even if it’s illegal’ were the defendants. None were present, of course, but international war crime trials do not require the presence of the accused. The trial was run according to the standards set by the Nuremberg Trials to convict war criminals after World War II.

Professor Gurdial Singh Nijar, who headed the prosecution said, “The tribunal was very careful to adhere scrupulously to the regulations drawn up by the Nuremberg courts and the International Criminal Courts”.

The United States is subject to international law which makes this trial significant beyond the borders of Malaysia. Foreign Policy Journal reports:

President Lamin told a packed courtroom: “As a tribunal of conscience, the tribunal is fully aware that its verdict is merely declaratory in nature. The tribunal has no power of enforcement, no power to impose any custodial sentence on any one or more of the 8 convicted persons. What we can do, under Article 31 of Chapter VI of Part 2 of the Charter is to recommend to the Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Commission to submit this finding of conviction by the tribunal, together with a record of these proceedings, to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as well as the United Nations and the Security Council.

 

The problem that I have with all of this, is not that Bush is getting in trouble, because I very much dislike the man, but rather that he is getting in trouble for doing the same thing that other countries are doing to our war prisoners. They are WAR prisoners and were intending on killing many of us. Why should we treat them with dignity and respect? Furthermore, would they treat US with the same respect we’re expected to give?

SOURCE

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