Ottawa: Amnesty International on Wednesday called
on Canadian authorities to arrest and prosecute George W Bush,
saying the former US president authorised "torture" as he
directed the US-led war on terror.
Bush is expected to attend an economic summit in Surrey
in Canada's westernmost British Columbia province on October
20.
London-based Amnesty made a case for Bush's legal
responsibility for a series of human rights violations in a
memorandum submitted last month to Canadian authorities but
only now released to the media.
"Canada is required by its international obligations to
arrest and prosecute former president Bush given his
responsibility for crimes under international law including
torture," Amnesty's Susan Lee said in a statement.
"As the US authorities have, so far, failed to bring
former president Bush to justice, the international community
must step in. A failure by Canada to take action during his
visit would violate the UN Convention Against Torture and
demonstrate contempt for fundamental human rights." Lee said.
Amnesty, backed by the International Civil Liberties
Monitoring Group, says Bush authorised the use of "enhanced
interrogation techniques" and "waterboarding" on detainees
held in secret by the Central Intelligence Agency between 2002
and 2009.
The detention programme included "torture and other
cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment (such as being forced to stay
for hours in painful positions and sleep deprivation), and
enforced disappearances," it alleged.
Amnesty's memorandum cites several cases of alleged
torture of individuals detained at the Guantanamo Bay naval
facility, in Afghanistan and in Iraq, by the US military.
They include that of Zayn al Abidin Muhammed Husayn
(known as Abu Zubaydah) and 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, both arrested in Pakistan, and subjected to at least 266
applications of waterboarding between them from 2002 to 2003,
according to the CIA inspector general, cited by Amnesty.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, October 12, 2011, 23:59