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President Bush Should Issue a Cease and Desist Order Against Torture and Humiliation of Prisoners. |
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Friday, May 14, 2004 Contacts: The Abu Ghraib outrage mirrors widespread reports of prisoner abuse in Texas under Gov. Bush, note Greens. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders called on President George W. Bush to issue an immediate order to all military, intelligence, law enforcement, and prison personnel prohibiting further torture, humiliation, degradation, murder, and all other physical and mental mistreatment of prisoners. The order should protect prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other nations, including 'enemy combatants' in Guantanamo Bay, and those in U.S. prisons as well, and should expressly outlaw the transfer of prisoners by U.S. personnel to nations that allow torture, say Greens. "Why hasn't the President issued such an order yet?," said Greg Gerritt, secretary of the Green Party of the U.S. "President Bush and [Secretary of Defense Donald] Rumsfeld have apologized, but they still haven't taken the first step towards preventing future abuse of prisoners. Is such abuse only a crime if the media reveal it? Are they serious about preventing further abuses, or are Mr. Bush and Mr. Rumsfeld reserving the right for the U.S. to allow such treatment in the future?" The President's failure to issue an order against future abuse was first noted in The Progressive Review on May 11 (Undernews: "Missing in Action" <http://prorev.com>). "The shame of Abu Ghraib mirrors the numerous reports of mistreated prisoners in Texas while George W. Bush was governor," said Sara Amir, Green Party national delegate from California. "Human Rights Watch has documented widespread violence, rape, mistreatment by guards amounting to torture, deteriorating facilities, and other abuses in Texas prisons during Gov. Bush's tenure, as well as record numbers of executions, execution of juveniles, and disproportionate executions according to race. After what happened in Texas, the scandal in Iraq should have been predictable." In 2003, the Green Party of the United States called for the impeachment of President Bush <http://www.gp.org/press/pr_07_21_03.html>. Greens recently demanded the resignation of Mr. Rumsfeld, CIA chief George Tenet, and Iraq administrator Paul Bremer, citing the Abu Ghaib scandal and other abuses of power <http://www.gp.org/press/pr_05_10_04.html>. MORE INFORMATION The Green Party of the United States Human Rights Watch: Reports on U.S. prison conditions "Pentagon Approved Tougher Interrogations" Forward! 2004: Green Party Presidential Nomination
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