From Bushit posted on Whitehouse.gov (before they scrub it):
June 26, 2003
Statement by the President [sic]
United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture
Today, on the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture,the United States declares its strong solidarity with torture victims across the world. Torture anywhere is an affront to human dignity everywhere. We are committed to building a world where human rights are respected and protected by the rule of law.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Stop it, you're killing me!
Oh but there's more. Much more:
The Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment, ratified by the United States and more than 130 other countries since 1984, forbids governments from deliberately inflicting severe physical or mental pain or suffering on those within their custody or control.
It seems that in 2003, there was "clarity" about what torture meant. How odd.
Yet torture continues to be practiced around the world by rogue regimes ....
I'll say!
... whose cruel methods match their determination to crush the human spirit. Beating, burning, rape, and electric shock are some of the grisly tools [as opposed to potent ones?] such regimes use to terrorize their own citizens. These despicable crimes cannot be tolerated by a world committed to justice.
So, we're not going to immunize these guys, right? Only ourselves?
Notorious human rights abusers, including, among others, Burma, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, and Zimbabwe, have long sought to shield their abuses from the eyes of the world by staging elaborate deceptions and denying access to international human rights monitors.
Which I'm sure never happened at Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, or Baghram. And I'm sure torture never happened to the 14,000 prisoners in Bush's European gulags.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
The most compelling evidence of all lies in the stories told by torture survivors...
Which under the McCain Torture Act we will never hear of, because the Republicans have removed the right to habeas corpus from the Constitution.
... who are recounting a vast array of sadistic acts ...
But look, let's be reasonable. Did any of these so-called sadistic acts involve organ failure? Alright, then.
... perpetrated against the innocent. Their testimony reminds us of their great courage in outlasting one of history's most brutal regimes, and it reminds us that similar cruelties are taking place behind the closed doors of other prison states.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
The United States is committed to the world-wide elimination of torture and we are leading this fight by example.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
I call on all governments yadda yadda yadda. I further urge governments to join America and others in supporting torture victims' treatment centers, contributing to the UN Fund for the Victims of Torture, and supporting the efforts of non-governmental organizations to end torture and assist its victims.
Where are those torture victims treatment centers, anyhow? I haven't heard a lot about them, lately. Say, maybe we could have Parsons build them?
No people, no matter where they reside, should have to live in fear of their own government. Nowhere should the midnight knock foreshadow a nightmare of state-commissioned crime.[ Nossiree, Bob! The suffering of torture victims must end, and the United States calls on all governments to assume this great mission.
No knock on the door, eh?
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