June 03, 2015

Are Bush and Cheney convicted war criminals?

located:	Malaysia
editor:	Vanessa Ellingham

The man who served as the chief counter-terrorism adviser to George W Bush gave an interview this week in which he agreed that the former President, along with Dick Cheney, had committed war crimes.

"I think things that they authorized probably fall within the area of war crimes," said Richard Clarke.

The interview served as a reminder of something which may have passed under many a radar: Bush, along with seven members of his administration, were found guilty of war crimes by a Malaysian court in 2012.

"Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and their legal advisers Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, William Haynes, Jay Bybee and John Yoo were tried in absentia in Malaysia.

"At the end of the week-long hearing, the five-panel tribunal unanimously delivered guilty verdicts against Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and their key legal advisors who were all convicted as war criminals for torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment."

It is unclear whether the International Criminal Court would pursue this ruling, although it is certainly within its mandate.

Clarke himself isn't sold on the idea: "Whether that would be productive or not, I think, is a discussion we could all have."