| Show - - - - I OPINION lw Salt 'Ake Tribune Even if torture scandal implicates higher-up- s justice must be served BY ELIZABETH HOLTZMAN Special to Neviday At a Senate hearing on June 8 Attorney General John Ashcroft claimed that President Bush never ordered torture in connection with abusive interrogations of prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan and violated no criminal laws of the United States But the attorney general did not describe what the president did order with respect to these interrogations — and he refused to turn over key documents to the Senate The attorney general's sweeping denial disqualifies him from investigating and holding accountable those responsible for these interrogations Ashcroft should appoint a special prosecutor to ii4dmmoomommo do so Under a statute any American involved in the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners including the president of the United States could be guilty of a (4 federal crime 'I 4 i The War Crimes Act of 1996 punishes any US national ci-vilian or military who engages in a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions A grave breach means the "willful killing torture or inhuman treatment" of prisoners If death results the act imposes the death penalty The possibility of prosecution must have haunted President Bush's chief lawyer White House counsel Alberto Gonzales In order to "the threat" of prosecution for the brutal members interrogations of Taliban and Gonzales urged Bush (in a January 2002 memo) to opt out of the Geneva Conventions for the war in Afghanistan Although Gonzales doesn't mention that top officials could be targets of prosecutions under the War Crimes Act plainly that is his concern The president followed his advice Gonzales' logic was simple: Whenever the Geneva Conventions applied so did the War Crimes Act of 1996 Since Bush has repeatedly stated that the Geneva Conventions apply to Iraq the War Crimes Act clearly applies to willful killing torture or inhuman treatment of Iraqi prisoners Whether the gimmick of opting out of the Geneva accords precludes War Crimes Act liability for Afghanistan remains to be seen Clearly US personnel subjected Iraqi detainees to inhuman treatment such as forcing hooded prisoners into stressful positions for lengthy periods of time using dogs to intimidate and bite naked prisoners dragging naked prisoners on the ground with a leash around their necks forcing prisoners to engage in or simulate sexual acts beatings and on and on There is no shortage of evidence to document the inhuman treatment including the notorious photos of Abu Ghraib prisoners as well as Mai self-servin-g little-know- ? n ç re-du- 11 NE: kg Gen Antonio Taguba's inquiry which found "sadistic blatant and wanton criminal abuses" The UN high commissioner for human rights recently reached similar conclusions The International Red Cross repeatedly protested the treatment of Iraqi detainees The key question is how high up the responsibility goes for these abhorrent acts The War Crimes Act covers government officials who give the orders for inhuman treatment as well as those who carry them out Since the War Crimes Act punishes for inhuman treatment prosecutions under that act can bypass any disagreement over the exact meaning of torture — and whether the Justice Department's absurdly narrow definition is correct In addition under international law officials who know about the inhuman ----1 treatment and fail to stop it also are liable We need to know what direc- tives Bush gave for CIA and mil- itary interrogations in Iraq We also need to know what the pres- i ident and his subordinates such -- I as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld knew about the inhuman treatment of Iraqi prisoners — and when they knew it and what they did about it Bush must stop claiming that the problems lie with just a few bad apples That is simply not true We know that orders for inhuman treatment came directly from Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez the top military officer in Iraq But we don't yet know where he got his orders Similarly the president should disclaim the contention that his powers as commander in chief override US criminal laws it smacks of President Nixon's unsuccessful claim of "national security" during the Watergate scandal and is baseless We simply cannot prosecute only the "small fry" for this scandal that has undercut our mission in Iraq and besmirched our reputation We have to demonstrate that the rule of law applies to everyone responsible including the president if the evidence warrants — as we did in Watergate There must be a thorough investigation of the and that requires a full congressional higher-up- s inquiry and the appointment of a special prosecutor The horrendous treatment of Iraqi prisoners has disgraced the United States and endangered our troops and citizens The best way to vindicate our country and undo the damage done to Iraqi prisoners is to ensure that everyone responsible Is held accountable — without exceptions We may pay a terrible price if we fail to do so 4) AA9 Sunday June 20 2004 The mystely in my own back yard My dogs Sydney and Al lie were barking like mad downstairs but they always bark at innocuous things such as school kids and the mail delivery so I didn't pay much attention I was as the British say having a lie-i— having a lazy morning I had worked late the night before and sometime after nine Tuesday morning I was still in bed engrossed in a mystery book the Then simultaneously phone rang and I heard what sounded like someone stomping on my front porch Again the dogs were going crazy I envisioned some friend determined to roust me calling me on her cell phone and bounding up my front steps at the same time All the activity forced me to put the book aside Anticipating the doorbell I jumped into some clothes listening to the message being left for my husband on our answering machine as I ran down the stairs The doorbell never rang I put the dogs out into our fenced back yard leaving the back door open for the sun to warm the chilly floor and walked through the house opening curtains and raising blinds By the time I opened my front door to see if a package had been delivered or something Sydney was in the front yard and Mlle was halfway down the block Somehow they had found their way out of the back yard and they were running freely which we don't allow I called them into the house and went into the back yard to see what was going on Our side gate was open which it never is I closed and latched it and went through the yard toward the alley at the back of our property trying to figure out why I smiled thinking about the detective in my novel wondering what she would be making of these clues Our back gate was open and I heard voices Going closer I saw to grab a fact sheet about the house for sale All this normal neighborhood activity was gobut with cops ing on everywhere Suddenly at the bottom of my front steps a police officer emerged creeping with his gun drawn Ile's outside and I'm inside but he's no more than eight feet from me with his gun in his hand Then he took a few more steps and was out of my view I couldn't see a thing Just lots of cop cars and the surreality of normal things going on Out of nowhere I was now living a thriller of my own I knew enough to stay inside but I was feeling like Gladys Kravitz looking through the curtains to try to see what was happening I thought of the woman in Sandy or somewhere who recently had a man with a gun in her back yard The police had shot and killed him right there on her patio Eventually a police officer came and knocked on my door "We got him I thought I'd come let you know We got him and he's going away for a long fol i - - ' 1 ' BARB Guy a police officer standing in our alley his motorcycle parked nearby The officer saw me and we said hello "Do you live there" he asked pointing to my house Trying to smooth my I said "Yes what's going bed-hea- d on?" "We're looking for a man with a gun — he just went through your yard Will you do me a favor?" "Yes" I said turning back for my house anticipating the favor "Go in your house and lock the door behind you Is your front door locked?" "No I'll go do it" By the time I got to my front door I was wondering if I was locking myself inside my house with the man with the gun The dogs seemed oblivious and I took that as a good sign but who knows what they would do? I looked out the front window to see several cop cars and some police officers standing in my street They hadn't been there a minute ago when I had to round up my dogs I stayed in my living room breathing quietly and with my heart in my throat Meanwhile were people walking down the sidewalk like nothing was going on People with strollers people with dogs on leashes cars slowing to look at the house for sale next door people even hopping out of cars time" "Great" I say instantly glad that I didn't see my man with a gun didn't have to reckon with having him killed on my patio "He broke into the house a couple of doors down and he was in there changing into a different shirt when we found him" The officer continued "I need to go back into your back yard and look for the gun I hope your day gets better now" "Same to you You guys are heroes — thank you" I said aware how lame it sounded My mystery which had been so engrossing earlier couldn't hold a candle to the interruption of my lie-i- n Barb Guy is a regular contributor to the Sunday Opinion Section sç 4McIft The Next Stage Elizabeth Holtzman is a former congresswomNew York City comptroller and Brooklyn district attorney She served on the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment of President Nixon an : I Cyt4—filAyPti A 1 0 t 0 11-t-!1 11 Blake Laurie Higginson Anne Patterson Tyler Briggs Cindy Huffaker Jay Pead Jeremy Campbell Tate Jack Nicholas Peterson James Chubak Sky ler Johnson Shaylah Coltrin Amy Jones Brayden Quintana Bryce Rachiele Samantha Dale Renee Keefer Gary Rich Thayne Dial Matthew Kingston Carolyn Ridens Jerry Eaton Christopher Legg Jacqueline Rogers Sean Emerson Sylvia Lutz Karl Taylor Grace Emerson Sylvia Lyman Carolyn Tollstrup Nicole Gace Alex McGee Robert Willson Donald Gibson Sarah Millen Roger Wo !ford Joseph Giles Gary Orr Amanda Woodruff Courtney 2' CA 2LI2R1 -- -- 3 - ' 1 L 4— s t 001 41 4 month's honor carriers were all recommended for their exceptional service by our readers ?'iiii r--1 -- I 's This ' H I ' 1 : ' r t ' r 4 l'!t 1 I ' N e '4 s e 1 ' - N gt p f:lo $ ) ''' 1 ' 1 i ie V e e I ' Get a free DVD movie when you open a Checking Package Caden Rhoton Gabriel Adobatto Kathryn Boswell Kelly Brown - Rachael Bryson ir ' : - AI I- - ---- - - b: 3 I ! 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