U.N. OFFICIALS DEMAND PROSECUTION OF CIA OFFICIALS

Top U.N. officials demand that all senior U.S. officials and CIA agents who authorized or carried out ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ like waterboarding be prosecuted

"In all countries, if someone commits murder, they are prosecuted and jailed. If they commit rape or armed robbery, they are prosecuted and jailed. If they order, enable or commit torture - recognized as a serious international crime - they cannot simply be granted impunity because of political expediency."

So spoke Zeid Raad al-Hussein, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, on Wednesday when he said that the U.N. Convention Against Torture, which the U.S. ratified in 1994, made it “crystal clear” that all senior U.S. officials and CIA agents who authorized or carried out the torture of 9/11 detainees must be brought to justice.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also called for the prosecution because the "prohibition against torture is absolute."

Referring to Tuesday’s release of the CIA torture report by the U.S. Senate, Ben Emmerson, the U.N.'s Special Rapporteur [a person appointed by an organization to report on its proceedings] on Counterterrorism and Human Rights, said:

"There was a clear policy orchestrated at a high level within the Bush administration, which allowed (it) to commit systematic crimes and gross violations of international human rights law. The fact that the policies revealed in this report were authorized at a high level within the U.S. government provides no excuse whatsoever. Indeed, it reinforces the need for criminal accountability."

When al-Hussein referred to all senior U.S. officials and CIA agents, that had to include former President George W. Bush, because he authorized the CIA’s use of what it calls ‘enhanced interrogation techniques.’

Fortunately, the Justice Department announced long ago that none of those who authorized or participated in the torture of 9/11 detainees would be prosecuted. So, if President Obama or his successor does not deliver the ‘culprits’ to the International Criminal Court, the U.N. is just pot-shit out of luck.

On several occasions I have said that the U.N. can go fuck itself because of its one-sidedness in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Here is my final word on the U.N.’s demand for the prosecution of those responsible for the torture of 9/11 detainees: Fuck the U.N.!