I loathed Bush as President and am a member of Amnesty International but I doubt I'll be renewing my membership after calls by the Canadian President to arrest Bush when he is here in BC next week.
Canada should arrest George W. Bush when he visits next week: Amnesty - Yahoo! News
Fortunately, that won't happen.
Canada cool to Amnesty's call for Bush arrest - Yahoo! News
OTTAWA - Amnesty International wants the federal government to arrest former U.S. president George W. Bush when he visits British Columbia next week.
The rights body said both Canadian and international law require Canada to detain Bush and investigate him for war crimes and torture.
"It is incumbent upon Canadian officials to investigate, arrest and prosecute former president Bush for torture when he arrives in Canada a week tomorrow," said Alex Neve, Amnesty Canada's secretary general.
Bush and former president Bill Clinton are scheduled to attend an economic conference in Surrey, B.C. next week.
Neve said many will argue that arresting Bush is unrealistic because the United States is a close and powerful ally or that the crisis after 9-11 required extraordinary measures.
"None of those arguments justify inaction under international law," he said.
Neve conceded that arresting a former president would likely cause tension with the United States, but "taking a principled step merits that sort of strain."
Neve said Bush admitted in his memoirs that he authorized the use of torture against terror suspects.
Canada should arrest George W. Bush when he visits next week: Amnesty - Yahoo! News
Fortunately, that won't happen.
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada brushed off a call by Amnesty International on Wednesday to arrest former U.S. President George W. Bush for human rights abuse, saying the organization was engaging in cheap stunts.
Amnesty said Bush - due to attend an event in the province of British Columbia on Oct 20 - had authorized the use of torture techniques such as waterboarding during his time as President, which ran from 2001 to 2009.
Canada's right-of-center Conservative government made it clear there was little chance officials would arrest Bush, who has made at least two trips to Canada since his second four-year term in office ended.
"Amnesty International cherry-picks cases to publicize based on ideology. This kind of stunt helps explain why so many respected human rights advocates have abandoned Amnesty International," Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said.
Kenney noted in an email that in the past, Amnesty had not asked for Canada to bar Cuban leader Fidel Castro, even though the rights organization itself said he had presided over "arbitrary arrests, detention, and criminal prosecution".
Canada cool to Amnesty's call for Bush arrest - Yahoo! News