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Saturday, February 5, 2011

Ex-President George W. Bush--now officially "on the lam"

Yeehaw!

Good on you, Switzerland.

Check it out, according to The New York Times:

February 5, 2011

Bush's Swiss Visit Off After Complaints on Torture




GENEVA (Reuters) - Former U.S. 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 February 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.


Because, after all, as the article rightly and correctly points out:  Torture is a crime under international law and human rights experts say the absolute prohibition is very clear.
Unfortunately, technically he has diplomatic immunity and, likely, these human rights groups won't keep their pressure on forever but hey, at least for now, at least in this instance, it messed with his plans and he's at least remotely aware of how people around the world feel about the national and international laws he broke.
But at least, for right now, let's enjoy this moment.
Have a great weekend, y'all.


(and thanks to friend John McA. for bringing this article to my attention).

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