Originally issued as a CGS press release on November 11, 2004.
Gonzales’ Position on Prisoner Detention Undermines Basic Human Rights
Washington, DC – Citizens for Global Solutions is alarmed by President Bush’s selection of White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales to succeed John Ashcroft to the post of Attorney General and urges the Senate to oppose his nomination.
“In his tenure as White House Counsel, Alberto Gonzales has defended torture, trashed the Geneva Conventions, and urged the President to ignore the law,” said Charles J. Brown, President and CEO of Citizens for Global Solutions. “President Bush likes to talk about values. His nomination of Alberto Gonzales certainly does not reflect American values. Instead of truth, justice, and the American way, Mr. Gonzales stands for deception, injustice, and dishonor. Citizens for Global Solutions calls on the Senate to reject his nomination.”
Gonzales has been quoted as describing the Geneva Conventions as “obsolete” and “quaint”. He claimed that the war on terrorism makes such protections outdated. When there is not enough evidence for a case against a suspect, Gonzales has advocated denying due process by “seeking designation as an enemy combatant”. In remarks before the American Bar Association, Gonzales argued that “enemy combatants…need not be ‘guilty’ of anything” to be detained “for the duration of hostilities.” In the context of a global war on terror without visible end, this could mean lifelong imprisonment without trial.
Gonzales’ defense of torture during the interrogation of terrorist suspects in many ways laid the foundations for the prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib. The Justice Department is charged with upholding Americans’ rights and the rule of law.
“Appointing Gonzales, particularly in the wake of the events at Abu Ghraib, sends the wrong message to Americans and to the world,” said Don Kraus, Executive Vice-President of Citizens for Global Solutions. “We live in a world where telephone companies in Switzerland track down phone cards used in Pakistan to stop terrorist crimes in New York. Nominating Gonzales, who has ridiculed international law, as the chief U.S. law enforcer sends the wrong message to our friends and allies at time when the benefits of cooperation outweigh its cost.”
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