High Crimes
We know of the abuses that took place at Abu Ghraib. Stories of CIA ‘black sites’ and extraordinary rendition have outraged many and dismayed countless more. Now, revelations of memos formulated by the Bush White House’s Office of Legal Council show, all too plainly, the egregious acts that many would authorize and commit in the pursuit of ‘justice’. These lawyers (Bybee is now a federal judge) were directed to give legal cover to the most flagrant physical and emotional abuses. Yes, many of those held within the fences of Gitmo deserve their imprisonment. I hope that they never again see the light of day. But these acts are only serving to strengthen the conviction of our enemies. “You see!” they cry. “The Great Satan is immoral. They tortured your brethren and no one is held accountable. They turn a blind eye!” And the terrorists, these criminals, become that much harder to fight.
A Nation of Laws
What’s done is done and we cannot change it. We can’t take back our wrongs. No matter what tragedies have befallen us, we cannot justify these actions. What we can do, what we must do, is remember that we are a nation of laws. We are a people that came together under the idea that the rules matter, that one single sheet of paper contains the supreme laws of our land and that no king, no tyrant, nor even a president, can escape that fact. It really only takes three steps to make the legal argument. Bybee’s assertion that the law is somehow vague on this is flat out wrong. Here we go:
- The U.S. Constitution places treaties on the same level as federal law.
- One of the treaties “made under the authority of the United States” is the Third Geneva Convention. It states, fairly clearly, that prisoners cannot be tortured, threatened or exposed to disadvantageous treatment and any country who suspects that individuals might have tortured must bring them before their own courts.
- The United Nations’ Convention Against Torture reaffirms all of this and extends these prohibitions further, outlawing, in Article 3, what we have come to know as extraordinary rendition.
Let’s set aside international law for a moment. If I, a regular citizen of this country, stumbled upon a man I suspected of being a terrorist, and I took him captive, wrapped a towel around his neck and slammed his body into a wall, again and again and again, and if I stuffed his mouth with a towel, and ran water over his face to make him believe he was drowning, would I be immune from the criminal code? I hope not.
We have to make it clear to Congress, to our President and to our Justice Department, that it is the will of the people that the law remain supreme in this country, that working for the executive branch does not make a man immune to consequences and that a time of great fear does not change what we are. Our elected officials need a friendly reminder of what it is they have sworn oaths to uphold. We have to show them the law.
What Can I Do?
If you care about this issue, if you want to ensure that future administrations do not think they get a free pass, if you want to make it clear to the world that no one is above the law, take a minute of your time, download the documents listed below and email them to your representative. Take a few sheets of paper and a stamp, and send your representatives and your senators, your governor and your President, the Judiciary Committee and the Attorney General, a copy of the documents I’ve quoted today. They should be inundated by the Constitution. There should be one in their inbox every day until they realize that criminal acts in this country must be prosecuted. Send as many copies as you want to as many officials as you want.
In addition, or if you’re green-minded and would like to save paper, I encourage you to chip in as little as $1 to my effort to send bound copies of the Constitution, the Geneva Conventions and the UN’s Convention Against Torture to every member of Congress, President Obama, Vice President Biden and AG Holder. Everyone sending their own copies and emails will send a powerful message, but none of these officials wants to be seen tossing what is clearly a copy of the U. S. Constitution in the trash. Also, any hand-mailed copies use a lot of paper. I’ve paired with Herron Printing & Graphics to print environmentally friendly copies of these documents. As my thanks for donations, each copy of the Constitution will be accompanied by a list of all those who helped deliver it to them, under the inscription, “Provided to you with the understanding that you might not already have a copy.”
The Recipients
I will send Constitutions to as many of the following officials as my funds allow, and I encourage you to send your own copies (Click an official’s name for an appropriate mailing address):
Executive Branch:
Congress:
House Committee on the Judiciary
For elected officials from your state, click here and enter your zip code in the ‘Find Your Representatives’ search box.
The Documents
The Constitution of the United States of America (for color printers) (for b&w printers)
Geneva Convention III (for color printers) (for b&w printers)
Convention Against Torture (for color printers) (for b&w printers)