ACLU: Obama Creating ‘A Sweeping Immunity Doctrine For Torturers’

[Purveyor]

By Sahil Kapur
Thursday, December 10th, 2009 -- 12:42 pm

WASHINGTON -- The nation's pre-eminent civil rights organization ACLU on Thursday slammed President Obama for shielding the Bush administration from accountability for its "dangerous torture policy," and insisted that this "lack of transparency" severely threatens the future of constitutional liberty in the United States.

"The Bush administration constructed a legal framework for torture," Jameel Jaffer, Director of ACLU's National Security Project, said in a conference call with reporters. "Now the Obama administration is constructing a legal framework for impunity."

While he credited Obama for having disavowed torture under his watch, Jaffer said that "on every front, the administration is actively obstructing accountability by shielding Bush officials from civil liability, criminal investigation and even public scrutiny for their role in authorizing torture."

"It's the last month of 2009, and not a single torture victim has had his day in court," said ACLU Attorney Ben Wizner. "Not a single court in a torture case has ruled on the legality of the Bush administration’s torture policies."

In response to a question from Raw Story, Jaffer said refusing to prosecute past acts of torture sets "an extremely dangerous precedent" in the legal system. "Torture victims can be denied their day in court solely based on assertions made by their torturers," he said.

MORE...

http://rawstory.com/2009/12/aclu-obama-creating-a-sweeping-immunity-doctrine-torturers/

[Rosa Luxemburg]

1. Maybe 2010 will be the year of the trials

we hope?

[MNDemNY]

2. .

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :cry:

[Rosa Luxemburg]

3. you never know

[MNDemNY]

4. Yup, right after the repeal of DADT.

[FiveGoodMen]

5. Change for the WORSE!

We have so been played.

[depakid]

6. I'm still holding to what I said early this last year

Give the administration until around June before making up my mind about how the Justice Department will ultimately turn out.

That said- the actions thus far have been extremely discouraging.

[FiveGoodMen]

7. Well, here's hoping that you're right

but...

How much time should he need to decide that Nuremberg was right and torture is wrong and not to be defended.

He hasn't been silent on the issue, he's on the wrong side of it.

[WyldRogue]

8. What gets me is...

... that Obama's Administration has worked harder for the war criminals than it had for HCR *shrugs*

Allowed the nutcases to take over the town hall meetings as well as the HCR debate over-all (thanx to the M$M)...