Conyers Proposes Extending Statute of Limitations on Torture

The Public Record ^ | 1/26/09 | Jason Leopold

[LibWhacker]

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers has proposed extending to 10 years the statute of limitations on war crimes, torture, and domestic surveillance in the event an investigation into the Bush administration’s controversial policies turns up prosecutable evidence against former officials after statute of limitations laws currently on the books expire.

Congress should immediately consider “extending the statute of limitations for potential violations of the torture statute, war crimes statute, laws prohibiting warrantless domestic surveillance, or for crimes committed against persons in United States military custody or CIA custody to ten years.”

The recommendation by the Michigan Democrat was one of 47 included in his 487-page report, "Reining in the Imperial Presidency: Lessons and Recommendations Relating to the Presidency of George W. Bush”, published earlier this month.

Conyers has said he intends to aggressively pursue investigations into Bush administration policies enacted in the so-called “war on terror.”

In his report, Conyers called upon Attorney General designate Eric Holder to “appoint a Special Counsel, or expand the scope of the present investigation into CIA tape destruction [due to wrap up in early March], to determine whether there were criminal violations committed pursuant to Bush Administration policies that were undertaken under unreviewable war powers, including enhanced interrogation, extraordinary rendition, and warrantless domestic surveillance.”

“To be clear, torture is currently banned under United States laws (under the anti-torture statute, the War Crimes Act, the Geneva Conventions, and the Detainee Treatment Act). It is an unfortunate state of affairs that these prohibitions have been called into doubt by the Bush Administration and its insistence that it may avoid these laws simply by redefining the term “torture.”

Regarding issues revolving around the legality of the Bush administration’s domestic spy program, rumors have swirled inside the Beltway and on blogs over the past week that Republicans have delayed the confirmation of Attorney General designate Eric Holder in an attempt to run out the clock on the statute of limitations and thwart any attempt by the DOJ to launch a probe into George W. Bush’s decision five years ago to reauthorize warrantless surveillance program without prior approval from the Justice Department.

Under federal law, the White House needed to obtain recertification from the DOJ to operate the program every 45 days.

But in March 2004, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft was hospitalized with acute pancreatitis and it fell upon former Deputy Attorney General James Comey to recertify the program. But Comey and his colleagues at the DOJ refused to do so because the program appeared to be illegal.

In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee two years ago, Comey said Bush, Dick Cheney, and then White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales tried to override his refusal to reauthorize the surveillance program by pressuring Ashcroft, who was hospitalized and barely conscious, to sign off on the program, which Ashcroft had refused to do.

So beginning on March 11, 2004, on orders from Bush, the NSA illegally operated the surveillance program for about three weeks when administration officials could not obtain approval from the Justice Department.

Speaking to National Public Radio Monday, Gonzales commented on the incident that took place at Ashcroft’s hospital bed saying he was sent “on behalf of the President of the United States” following a top secret meeting with Congressional leaders who agreed that the program should continue.

“We had just had a very, left a very important meeting with the Congressional leadership about a very important intelligence program that the Congressional leadership agreed with the President should continue because it was a particularly heightened period of threats against the United States and against our allies,” Gonzales said. “And I might remind your listeners, that the very next morning you had the Madrid train bombings and so it was a very serious period of time. We had a very important program that the Congressional leadership and the executive branch leadership seemed to feel that this was something that should continue.”

Still, the incident that took place at Ashcroft’s hospital bed and the decision by Bush to operate the program without approval is of particular interest to Conyers and one he said needs to be further investigated to determine whether crimes were committed.

It’s unknown whether Congress will act on Conyers recommendations to extend the statutes of limitations. But according to Scott Horton, a renowned human rights attorney, law professor, and contributor to Harper’s magazine, Conyers proposal, particularly with regard to allegations of war crimes and torture, makes legal sense.

In an interview, Horton said, “statutes of limitation are procedural rules only, and when it comes to war crimes, it is a fairly common practice to change them after the fact.”

“They have for instance recently been changed to allow victims of forced labor camps in World War II to assert certain claims, as well as to revive the claims of persons whose property was seized by the Nazis or their collaborators before and during World War II,” Horton added. “The major question to ask is simple: did the people in question have a meaningful chance to assert their claims? Or was the government reasonably diligent in enforcing the criminal law? If the wrongdoing occurred as a matter of government policy, it may be impractical to expect someone to bring a claim while the government is in power.

“In this case, the Bush Administration pretended that war crimes were not crimes and it refused even to conduct preliminary investigations into them--all acts which may be viewed as extensions of a criminal enterprise. It would be entirely appropriate to consider the statute of limitations tolled for this period, and that may be affected by an amendment, which extends the term during which claims may be brought. Also there is a practical reason for the change here, since it makes sense for charges to be brought only after a careful and thorough investigation, and some of the charges here would be covered by a six-year limitation, meaning that they would have to be brought now. It would not be proper to press a prosecutor to act in such a rushed way on something that is so important.”

On issues related to unlawful domestic surveillance activities, Horton said the same considerations would likely apply.

Whether the Justice Department intends to undertake a criminal probe, however, is another matter and will be determined by a highly anticipated report due in about two months by Special Counsel John Durham that will determine whether federal laws were broken when the CIA destroyed videotapes that showed terrorist detainees being waterboarded by interrogators, according to three DOJ attorneys.

But Horton said several important developments over the last two weeks have made prosecution of Bush administration officials more likely absent Durham’s report, which does not delve into questions whether the interrogation acts depicted on the videotapes constituted torture.

“First, [retired judge and head of military commissions at Guantanamo] Susan J. Crawford--the senior most official of the Bush Administration responsible for the Gitmo trials--openly acknowledged that torture had occurred,” Horton said. “That constitutes an admission against interest and it makes it virtually impossible for the Justice Department to avoid an investigation.

“Second, Bush left office without issuing a blanket pardon, so all of his torture team is now fair game. While the Military Commissions Act of 2006 furnishes a shield that would block prosecution of ground-level personnel in most cases, there is no such protection for the policy makers or the lawyers who were involved; they are now vulnerable.

“Third, our NATO allies and UN officials are now openly calling for a criminal investigation and reminding the new administration that it is solemnly obligated under Article 4 of the Convention Against Torture to take enforcement steps under American criminal law, failing which it is in breach. It may well be that Obama will issue pardons or that a professional prosecutor will conclude that the facts are insufficient to press charges--but these conclusions can only be reached after a comprehensive criminal investigation, and that has not yet occurred.”

Indeed, Manfred Nowak, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, said in an interview last week with a German news program that “the United States has a clear obligation" to take action against Bush administration officials who violated torture statutes.

“We have all these documents that are now publicly available that prove that these methods of interrogation were intentionally ordered by Rumsfeld," Nowak said. "But obviously the highest authorities in the United States were aware of this."

But Gonzales, in his interview with NPR Monday, doubted that he or anyone else would be prosecuted, let alone investigated, over the Bush administration’s interrogation and surveillance policies.

“I don't think that there's going to be prosecution, quite frankly,” Gonzales said. “Because again, these activities for the most part, based on what I know, and obviously there are going to be some actions and activities that I'm not aware of. But in terms of what people really focused on: they were authorized, they were known at the highest levels, they were supported by legal opinions at the Department of Justice. And so, based upon those facts, I think it would be difficult, again I can't pre-judge it and Mr. Holder if he is confirmed will have to make a decision whether to move forward with a prosecution. But under those circumstances, I find it hard to believe.”

[Numbers Guy]

Get all this out in public, let’s watch the Democrats in Congress who signed off on all this explain themselves.

[Ole Okie]

I thought Conyers was far too busy impeaching Bush to spend time with niggling little details like this.

[Azzurri]

Conyers should be more worried about his wife Monica, who is about to be hauled off in cuffs by the Feds, in the Detroit bribery scandal.

[JimSEA]

Time to wrap up that military career and move to friendlier climes. Having seen the Watergate frenzy, Conyers just might pull this off with the assist he is sure to get from the MSM.

[I see my hands]

It's a new kind of war. One where liberals destroy our nation with impunity while dopes on the radio or on the internet say words.

It's a bloodless war where the bad guys don't need to arm and the good guys don't use the arms they have.

[bert]

Conyers is asking for death early. There are two sides to this question and the flipside might change the rules.

[ETL]

Sorry, but the following needs to be part of any John Conyers "investigation" thread...

FYI: Bush/Cheney/Rove investigators John Conyers and Maxine Waters have links to a group calling for the armed overthrow of the U.S. government: Revolutionary Communist Party/World Can't Wait--Drive Out the Bush Regime.

_____________________________________________________

Judiciary Chairman Conyers Issues Report Documenting Bush Abuses, Calling For Further Committee Investigation, Blue-Ribbon Panel, and Criminal Probes

For Immediate Release
January 13, 2009
Contact: Jonathan Godfrey, Lillian German

(Washington, D.C.) -- Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. released a nearly-500 page report documenting numerous abuses and excesses of the Bush administration. The report, titled "Reining in the Imperial Presidency: Lessons and Recommendations Relating to the presidency of George W. Bush," contains 47 separate recommendations designed to restore the traditional checks and balances of our constitutional system. Recommendations include calls for continued committee investigation, a blue ribbon commission to fully investigate administration activities, and independent criminal probes.

"Even after scores of hearings, investigations, and reports, we still do not have answers to some of the most fundamental questions left in the wake of Bush’s Imperial Presidency," Conyers said. Pointing to allegations of torture and inhumane treatment, extraordinary rendition, warrantless domestic surveillance, the Valerie Plame Wilson-leak, and the U.S. attorney scandal, Conyers continued, "Investigations are not a matter of payback or political revenge – it is our responsibility to examine what has occurred and to set an appropriate baseline of conduct for future administrations."

In addition to the set of recommendations, the report contains a foreword by Chairman Conyers and detailed discussions of: the administration’s legal approach to presidential power; the politicization of the Department of Justice; the administration’s far-reaching assaults on individual liberty (including torture, extraordinary rendition, and warrantless domestic surveillance); the misuse of Executive Branch authority; the administration’s retribution against its critics; and the administration’s excessive secrecy, noncompliance with congressional oversight, and manipulation of pre-Iraq War intelligence.

http://judiciary.house.gov/news/090113_1.html

The full report [487 pages on pdf]:
http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/printers/110th/IPres090113.pdf
_____________________________________________________

Seems to me like the "investigators" need to be investigated themselves!

FYI: House Judiciary Committee chairman, democrat John Conyers Jr of Michigan, and HJC member, Maxine Waters, have each given their endorsements to the Revolutionary Communist Party movement/organization, "World Can't Wait--Drive Out the Bush Regime".

Click on the WCW link just below and see: "Endorsers of the Call to Drive Out the Bush Regime Include". Conyers' endorsement appears right after Ward Churchill's. Al Sharpton's, Maxine Waters and Jesse Jackson Jr's are further down the list:
http://worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2538&Itemid=2
_______________________________________________________________________

Fact: World Can't Wait--Drive Out the Bush Regime is a Maoist-revolutionary movement organized by the Revolutionary Communist Party. (scroll down the list that appears (after clicking link) to find the World Can't Wait organization --rwor.org is the website of the Revolutionary Communist Party):
http://rwor.org/a/rwlink/links.htm
_______________________________________________________________________

Endorsers of the [World Can't Wait] Call to Drive Out the Bush Regime Include:

James Abourezk, Aris Anagnos, Rocky Anderson, Anti-Flag, Edward Asner, Russell Banks, Ed Begley Jr., Harry Belafonte, St. Clair Bourne, Gabriel Byrne, Margaret Cho, Ward Churchill, Paulette Cole, US Rep John Conyers Jr., John Densmore, Jesse Diaz Jr., Michael Eric Dyson, Steve Earle, Niles Eldredge, Daniel Ellsberg, Eve Ensler, Laura Flanders, Jane Fonda, Martin Garbus, Senator Mike Gravel, Andre Gregory, Sam Hamill, Suheir Hammad, Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Jr., Mumia Abu-Jamal, Rickie Lee Jones, Sarah Jones, Brig. Gen. (Ret) Janis Karpinski, Jonathan Kozol, Rabbi Michael Lerner, US Rep. Cynthia McKinney, Robin Meyers, Mark Crispin Miller, Tom Morello, Viggo Mortensen, John Nichols, US Rep. Major Owens, Grace Paley, Harvey Pekar, Sean Penn, Michelle Phillips, Harold Pinter, Michael Ratner, Mark Ruffalo, US Rep. Bobby Rush, Susan Sarandon, Richard Serra, Jeff Sharlet, Rev. Al Sharpton, Cindy Sheehan, Martin Sheen, Nancy Spero, Gloria Steinem, Lynne Stewart, Serj Tankian, Sunsara Taylor, Studs Terkel, Gore Vidal, Kurt Vonnegut, Alice Walker, Naomi Wallace, US Rep. Maxine Waters, Cornel West, Ann Wright, Howard Zinn, and thousands more who have already joined us.

http://worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2538&Itemid=2
_______________________________________________________________________

On Oct 5, 2006, Democrat Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, John Conyers Jr, the same guy who is leading the 'investigation' of the Bush administration, gave a SPEECH to the World Can't Wait--Drive Out the Bush Regime organization, the "anti-war" front for the Revolutionary Communist Party!
http://www.worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3801&Itemid=69
_______________________________________________________________________

On October 5, 2006, on the basis of the Call, The World Can't Wait - Drive Out the Bush Regime!, people throughout the country will be stepping forward in a day of mass resistance. The breadth, the depth, the impact and the power of that day depends not only on those in The World Can't Wait organization, and others, who are already organizing for this day -- it depends on you, on us, on all those who have been hoping and searching for a means to do something that will really make a difference.
http://worldcantwait.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2655&Itemid=223
_______________________________________________________________________

From David Horowitz's FrontpageMag.com /DiscoverTheNetworks.org:
Profile: World Can't Wait (WCW)

*Revolutionary communist movement that stages protests against the Bush administration

*Organizes college and high-school students

*Founded in June 2005 by Charles Clark Kissinger, a longtime leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7213
_______________________________________________________________________

Mission Statement from the Revolutionary Communist Party website (revcom.us or rwor.org):

"Create Public Opinion, Seize Power: We are preparing minds and organizing forces for the time when there is a major crack in the system, whenever it comes and wherever it comes from: an opening that makes it possible to bring the future Revolutionary Army of the Proletariat (R.A.P.) into the field and wage a revolutionary armed struggle that actually has a chance of winning.

And we have said that building our party itself is the most important part of organizing forces for revolution. This is true now, and it is true looking forward to the creation of that future R.A.P. and the waging of that armed struggle.":

http://revcom.us/a/v20/1000-1009/1000/barw.htm
_______________________________________________________________________

Also from the Revolutionary Communist Party website:
"Tearing Up the U.S. Paper Tiger in Korea:
How 300,000 Chinese Troops Snuck into Korea and Kicked the Ass of the U.S. Armed Forces"
RW #1059, June 18, 2000:
http://rwor.org/a/v22/1052-059/1059/korea.htm
_______________________________________________________________________

Re: House Judiciary Committee member, Maxine Waters...
(she also endorsed the World Can't Wait--Drive Out the Bush Regime organization/movement)

From David Horowitz's FrontpageMag.com /DiscoverTheNetworks.org:
"Throughout its history, one of RCP's [Revolutionary Communist Party] principal objectives has been to foment civil unrest in the United States. The most notable example of such efforts occurred on April 29, 1992, when RCP members looted and trashed the downtown and government districts of Los Angeles, triggering the infamous Rodney King riots. During the days immediately preceding the violence, RCP -- which maintained close ties to the L.A. gangs known as the Crips and the Bloods -- had circulated throughout South Central Los Angeles a leaflet featuring a statement by RCP National Spokesman Carl Dix, titled 'It's Right To Rebel' -- a quote popularized by Mao Zedong.

Encouraged by Dix, RCP activists helped lead the riots that would leave 58 people dead, more than 2,300 people injured, some 5,300 buildings burned, and $1 billion in property damaged or destroyed. On the ten-year anniversary of the rioting, RCP member Joseph Veale fondly recalled the violence as 'the most beautiful, the most heroic civil action in the history of the United States.'"
http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=6197
_______________________________________________________________________

"The RCP upheld the 1992 sometimes-violent unrest in Los Angeles and nationally as a 'rebellion' in the aftermath of the Rodney King verdicts. Then-LAPD chief Daryl Gates alleged that the RCP was involved in the 'riots'. Los Angeles has long been one of the RCP's larger and more active branches. William 'Mobile' Shaw was a local leader who recently passed and received public commendation from the party."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutionary_Communist_Party%2C_USA
_______________________________________________________________________

Maxine Waters on the Los Angeles riots of 1992/Rodney King riots
(Maxine AGREES with the Revolutionary Communist Party: it was an "acceptable rebellion":
"[Maxine] Waters has been criticized for her comments regarding the Los Angeles riots of 1992. In defense of the people that looted stores and damaged property, Waters said 'If you call it a riot it sounds like it was just a bunch of crazy people who went out and did bad things for no reason. I maintain it was somewhat understandable, if not acceptable. So I call it a rebellion.'[5] She also said it was 'a spontaneous reaction to a lot of injustice' and 'The anger in my district is righteous. I'm just as angry as they are.' She responded to the mass looting of Korean-owned stores by saying: 'There were mothers who took this as an opportunity to take some milk, to take some bread, to take some shoes. They are not crooks. Everybody in the street was not a thug or a hood.'"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxine_Waters#Los_Angeles_riots_of_1992
_______________________________________________________________________

Voice of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA [Maoist]
Revolution interview with ["Peace Mom"] Cindy Sheehan: October 29, 2005:
['Revolution' is the newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist Party]
http://rwor.org/a/021/cindy-sheehan-interview.htm
_______________________________________________________________________

[Revolution] Interview with Bill Ayers, Revolution #63, October 1, 2006:
"On Progressive Education, Critical Thinking and the Cowardice of Some in Dangerous Times"
http://rwor.org/a/063/ayers-en.html
_______________________________________________________________________

Here's the Revolutionary Communist Party (see link below) boasting of a FULL PAGE 'World Can't Wait--Drive Out the Bush Regime' ad of theirs which appeared in the New York Slimes. (either "rwor.org" or "revcom.us" takes you to the website of the Revolutionary Communist Party). The NY Times has since allowed several additional full-page RCP/WCW ads.
Article title: "Who Hated the Bush Step Down Ad in the New York Times? ...And what that Tells Us About Why We Must and How We Can Drive Out the Bush Regime"(actual title)
http://www.rwor.org/a/028/who-hated-bush-ad.htm

[randomhero97]

It's a new kind of war. One where liberals destroy our
nation with impunity while dopes on the radio or on the
internet say words.
It's a bloodless war where the bad guys don't need to arm
and the good guys don't use the arms they have.

Quoted for truth

[chaosagent]

President Bush really disappointed me on this.

If I had been him I would have issued the blanket pardon for everyone under him and then dared the Dems to come after him alone.

[torchthemummy]

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers has proposed extending to 10 years the statute of limitations on war crimes, torture, and domestic surveillance in the event an investigation into the Bush administration’s controversial policies turns up prosecutable evidence against former officials after statute of limitations laws currently on the books expire.

Beyond the absolute hypocrisy and BS of this whole "movement" the fact is that when one extends a statute of limitation the clock is started over. That is you can't have a retroactive application. I could be wrong but I certainly would warn the Dems that this would be a standard applied to a variety of statute of limitation issues.

[madison10]

What an idiot! I profusely apologize to the nation for this loser...

[blueplum]

quite frankly, I’m more interested in a special council being appointed to look into prosecution for banking crimes against the american people first...

[Hanna548]

What is this about firing all of the attorney’s? Is that something a new admin doesn’t normally do or something they are not supposed to do or?????

And is this basically about being able to bring Bush and his admin up on charges of torture etc?

[4woodenboats]

Saved for futher study.

Thank you for your diligence.