The following is excerpted form a report on Newsmax.com.
Former President George W. Bush, under fire from human rights group over allegations of ordering torture, has canceled a visit to Switzerland where he was to address a Jewish charity gala.
Bush was to be the keynote speaker at Keren Hayesod's annual dinner on Feb. 12 in Geneva. But pressure has been building on the Swiss government to arrest him and open a criminal investigation if he enters the Alpine country.
Criminal complaints against Bush alleging torture have been lodged in Geneva, court officials say, and several human rights groups signaled that they were poised to take further legal action this week.
Bush would still enjoy a certain diplomatic immunity as a former head of state, Swiss officials have said. Leftist groups also had called for a protest on the day of his visit.
Keren Hayesod organizers felt the atmosphere had become too threatening because the protests raised the spectre of riots that erupted in the Swiss city during the G8 summit in nearby Evian, the group's lawyer, Robert Equey, told a Swiss daily.
"We didn't want to put people and property in Geneva at risk. The gala is maintained but George Bush will not take part," Equey told the Tribune de Geneve. "The (criminal) complaints did not weigh in the decision."
Geneva's chief prosecutor, Daniel Zappelli, has received criminal complaints about torture related to Bush, a court spokesman said. "We received a certain number of complaints. We will make no further comment," Christophe Tournier told Reuters.
Torture is a crime under international law and human rights experts say the absolute prohibition is very clear.
Bush, in his "Decision Points" memoirs on his 2001-2009 presidency, strongly defends the use of waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning, on terrorism suspects as key to preventing a repeat of the deadly Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
Most human rights experts consider the practice a form of torture, banned by the Convention on Torture, an international pact prohibiting torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment. Switzerland and the United States are among 147 countries to have ratified the 1987 treaty.
Dominique Baettig, a member of the Swiss parliament from the right-wing People's Party, wrote to the Swiss federal government last week calling for the arrest of Bush for alleged war crimes if he came to the neutral country.
Rights groups had called a news conference in Geneva on Monday where Sami El Hadjj, a former Al Jazeera journalist and former detainee at Guantanamo, was to speak on Bush's visit. You can read the entire article by clicking here.
This is the height of hypocrisy from the Swiss. This is the same nation that secreted away stolen art and gold taken from the Jews by the Nazis during the Second World War. It took years of investigations and court cases to get the gnomes of Zurich to cough up the stolen loot. Now they are holly than thou about our violations of human rights.
This is just another example of Europeans and the UN attempting to bad mouth the United States, the nation that ponies up for 22% of the UN’s budget while the Swiss, in their great spirit generosity contribute nothing. They do however rent them office space in Geneva.
We also have these great human rights advocates that are nothing more than useful idiots for the Islamic fascists and communists. These were the same human rights advocates that ignored the real atrocities of the likes Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. Hey love to go after the United States, the nation that has sacrificed the blood and treasure of its sons and daughters more than once to save these European elite snobs.
Under the Bush administration the nation gave more of its taxpayer’s money to combat AIDS in Africa than all of the rest of the nations in the world combined. We gave over a billion dollars to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake — millions unaccounted for by the UN. How much did the Swiss give? Oh, they probably sent some rescue dogs for a price. How many babies died from defective formula produced by the Swiss (or Nestlé’s) in Basel? As long as the Swiss can make money they are happy, but to share is a different matter.
Well the Swiss and the UN can go fly a kite. Let’s boycott all Swiss made products and Swiss banks. No more Swiss army knives, Rolex watches or Lindt chocolate bars or Nestlé’s Cocoa, this is what gets their attention.
Oh, and by the way we can get out of the United Nations. What have they ever done for anyone?
Bush was to be the keynote speaker at Keren Hayesod's annual dinner on Feb. 12 in Geneva. But pressure has been building on the Swiss government to arrest him and open a criminal investigation if he enters the Alpine country.
Criminal complaints against Bush alleging torture have been lodged in Geneva, court officials say, and several human rights groups signaled that they were poised to take further legal action this week.
Bush would still enjoy a certain diplomatic immunity as a former head of state, Swiss officials have said. Leftist groups also had called for a protest on the day of his visit.
Keren Hayesod organizers felt the atmosphere had become too threatening because the protests raised the spectre of riots that erupted in the Swiss city during the G8 summit in nearby Evian, the group's lawyer, Robert Equey, told a Swiss daily.
"We didn't want to put people and property in Geneva at risk. The gala is maintained but George Bush will not take part," Equey told the Tribune de Geneve. "The (criminal) complaints did not weigh in the decision."
Geneva's chief prosecutor, Daniel Zappelli, has received criminal complaints about torture related to Bush, a court spokesman said. "We received a certain number of complaints. We will make no further comment," Christophe Tournier told Reuters.
Torture is a crime under international law and human rights experts say the absolute prohibition is very clear.
Bush, in his "Decision Points" memoirs on his 2001-2009 presidency, strongly defends the use of waterboarding, a form of simulated drowning, on terrorism suspects as key to preventing a repeat of the deadly Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
Most human rights experts consider the practice a form of torture, banned by the Convention on Torture, an international pact prohibiting torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment. Switzerland and the United States are among 147 countries to have ratified the 1987 treaty.
Dominique Baettig, a member of the Swiss parliament from the right-wing People's Party, wrote to the Swiss federal government last week calling for the arrest of Bush for alleged war crimes if he came to the neutral country.
Rights groups had called a news conference in Geneva on Monday where Sami El Hadjj, a former Al Jazeera journalist and former detainee at Guantanamo, was to speak on Bush's visit. You can read the entire article by clicking here.
This is the height of hypocrisy from the Swiss. This is the same nation that secreted away stolen art and gold taken from the Jews by the Nazis during the Second World War. It took years of investigations and court cases to get the gnomes of Zurich to cough up the stolen loot. Now they are holly than thou about our violations of human rights.
This is just another example of Europeans and the UN attempting to bad mouth the United States, the nation that ponies up for 22% of the UN’s budget while the Swiss, in their great spirit generosity contribute nothing. They do however rent them office space in Geneva.
We also have these great human rights advocates that are nothing more than useful idiots for the Islamic fascists and communists. These were the same human rights advocates that ignored the real atrocities of the likes Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez. Hey love to go after the United States, the nation that has sacrificed the blood and treasure of its sons and daughters more than once to save these European elite snobs.
Under the Bush administration the nation gave more of its taxpayer’s money to combat AIDS in Africa than all of the rest of the nations in the world combined. We gave over a billion dollars to Haiti after the 2010 earthquake — millions unaccounted for by the UN. How much did the Swiss give? Oh, they probably sent some rescue dogs for a price. How many babies died from defective formula produced by the Swiss (or Nestlé’s) in Basel? As long as the Swiss can make money they are happy, but to share is a different matter.
Well the Swiss and the UN can go fly a kite. Let’s boycott all Swiss made products and Swiss banks. No more Swiss army knives, Rolex watches or Lindt chocolate bars or Nestlé’s Cocoa, this is what gets their attention.
Oh, and by the way we can get out of the United Nations. What have they ever done for anyone?
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