Following orders not an excuse for torture

posted Thursday, 16 April 2009

Under the UN Convention against Torture, following orders is not a defense against torture:

An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture. (Section 2-3)

Obama's justification for refusing to prosecute CIA officers who did what they did "in good faith" is that this is a time for reflection, not retribution. While this is so, the fact of the matter is that if it turns out that there will be no prosecutions at all, then the law will have no meaning and might will determine what is right and what is wrong. The whole rationale for the development of international law after World War II was because of the fact that mankind had developed the ability to destroy itself and that we needed to become a community of laws, not a community of armed might. And Obama may not torture; however, if the next administration comes around, who knows whether they will torture or not? There must be some sort of safeguard or deterrent to prevent rogue officials from ever exercising torture again.

tags: barack obama cia torture guantanamo eric holder

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Following orders not an excuse for torture