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In thrall to the Bush lawyers

Under the heading "In thrall of the Bush lawyers" well-known international human-rights lawyer, Geoffrey Robertson QC, writes in The Age today:

"The term "Bush lawyer" is Australian slang for a hick counsellor, ignorant of the law. Thanks to recent decisions of the US Supreme Court and inquiries into torture at Abu Ghraib, it has been given a wider meaning, to denote the lawyers in US Government service who have misunderstood or misrepresented the fundamental rules of human rights in their advice to the President. Their mistakes have been so damaging that the British Attorney-General has taken to tendering his own advice to the White House about Guantanamo Bay - namely to close it. The case of David Hicks should provide his Australian counterpart with an opportunity to do likewise."

And:

"Given Australia's obligations under the Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute, and the history of demonstrably erroneous advice that the White House has received on interrogation, due process and treatment of foreign prisoners in Guantanamo, it may be time for the Australian Attorney-General to stand up to the Bush lawyers. He could echo the advice of his British counterpart: not only is closure of Guantanamo right in principle, it is right because "the historic tradition of the US as a beacon of freedom, liberty and of justice deserves the removal of what has become a symbol of injustice".

Read the full piece here.

Comments

Seabee said…
"it may be time for the Australian Attorney-General to stand up to the Bush lawyers"

Don't you just love that! The evil Ruddock - not in a million years.
August 18, 2006 12:20 am
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