Is ‘just following orders’ a defense for those who imposed torture on detainees? While it’s true that the U.N. Convention on Torture outlaws this defense, in the words of Izvestia’s Maxim Sokolov, ‘A convention is a convention, but real life is so much richer.’
Sokolov makes the point that it was fine to say ‘just following orders’ was inadmissible for Nazi war criminals, since the Third Reich was no more – and there was little concern about future Nazis thinking twice about obeying their superiors; whereas the same cannot be said about the United States.
After revealing that President Obama is widely regarded in Russia as the ‘new Gorbachev’, Sokolov writes in part:
“Even in a conventional war that can be conducted more or less according to the rules, there are situations in which the talkativeness of a prisoner must be stimulated – and everyone in the army who fights ‘for real’ must impose such stimulation. ‘I was just obeying orders-This is no defense‘ is a principle established after 1945 and is considered universal, although life tells a different story.”
By Maxim Sokolov
Translated By Yekaterina Blinova
April 23, 2009
Russia – Izvestia – Original Article (Russian)
After Barack Obama was hailed as a new Gorbachev and a reformer, public opinion has fluctuated about whether he’s a real Gorbachev or just an impostor – and about whether these incremental processes of perestroika [reform or restructuring] are reformist enough.
The latest doubts about Obama’s Gorbachevian nature came after the U.S. president visited CIA headquarters and assured U.S. chekists [spies] that the administration ‘will be as vigorous in protecting you as you are vigorous in protecting the American people.’ What was meant was not at all to show a sympathetic attitude toward the chekists, but rather to address to a specific dispute: will chekists who (in accordance with orders from higher-ups) practiced “special techniques” – i.e. torture – during interrogations of people suspected of terrorism, be prosecuted or not?”
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