By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
December 10 --
After the much
anticipated US
torture report
was released
on the morning
of December 9,
at that day's
UN noon
briefing in
New York Inner
City Press
asked UN
spokesman
Stephane
Dujarric for a
comment from
Ban Ki-moon,
which was
expected.
But
Dujarric said
that there was
no comment,
that the UN
was following
it. Video
here, and
embedded
below.
Fully 24 hours
later, still
no comment
from Ban
Ki-moon, during
a time frame
he commented
on Lesotho
elections, for
example.
Instead,
at the
December 10
noon briefing
Dujarric read
out a
statement from
Geneva by the
UN High Commissioner
for Human
Rights, Prince
Zeid.
Inner City
Press asked
Dujarric why
Ban hadn't
commented in
his own name.
He is
commenting
through me,
Dujarric
replied, and
stands with
Prince Zeid's
comments.
Inner
City Press
asked if Ban
stands with
the comments
of UN Special
Rapporteur Ben
Emmerson, that
there should
be
prosecutions.
Apparently not
-- the answer
was
UNclear.
Video
here.
Dujarric added
that Ban has
no intention
to discuss the
report with
any US
official. And
so it goes in
Ban's UN.
The UN
Security
Council
churned on --
UN
Peacekeeping
chief refused
to answer a
simple Inner
City Press
question as he
left the
Council, here
-- even with
some of the
countries
which hosted
“black sites”
for torture
members of the
Council.
An
Amnesty
International
representative
said that
countries that
are members of
the
International
Criminal
Court, which
hosted such
sites, could
be acted
against by the
Court. UN
expert Ben
Emmerson
chimed in,
calling for
prosecutions:
“the
summary of the
Feinstein
report which
was released
this afternoon
confirms what
the
international
community has
long believed
- that there
was a clear
policy
orchestrated
at a high
level within
the Bush
administration,
which allowed
to commit
systematic
crimes and
gross
violations of
international
human rights
law.. The
identities of
the
perpetrators,
and many other
details, have
been redacted
in the
published
summary report
but are known
to the Select
Committee and
to those who
provided the
Committee with
information on
the program...
Torture is a
crime of
universal
jurisdiction.
The
perpetrators
may be
prosecuted by
any other
country they
may travel to.
However, the
primary
responsibility
for bringing
them to
justice rests
with the US
Department of
Justice and
the Attorney
General.”
But
still, from
Ban Ki-moon,
silence. Watch
this site.
, 
