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Comment by jacobwilliamroy | Hacker News Reader

Is it true that Bush Jr. can't leave the U.S. because he'd be arrested and tried for war crimes?

I'd assume not considering he has left the US multiple times since his presidency and does not seem to be under arrest. There was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuala_Lumpur_War_Crimes_Commis... but if you read about that the connection to the questioned claim (and the claims of the linked commission) have dubious basis at best.

When you hear something that makes you ask whether or not it's true it's best to try to validate or invalidate it quickly rather than hold onto it. In this case a simple Google search saves a lot of assumption.

Has he gone to europe before or since he cancelled that trip to switzerland in 2011, when those lawyers were threatening to have him arrested and tried?

After having a good think about it, I do believe it would be unwise for bush jr to enter any country which can prosecute criminals in universal jurisdiction. It would just be really awkward for everyone if some savvy lawyer filed the right paperwork to get him arrested. Either bush is executed or imprisoned, hurting international relations, or the state running the investigation simply ignores its own laws and demonstrates to the world that the U.S. can torture with impunity. Neither scenario would be fun to muddle through. Much less risky for everyone if bush jr just hangs out in texas painting watercolors.

No, where did you hear that?

Back in 2011 he cancelled a trip to switzerland after some human rights groups had threatened to have him arrested and tried if he ever set foot there.

  some human rights groups had threatened to have him arrested

I wasn't aware that random groups had arrest powers in Switzerland.

Well they don't. Not sure if the swiss legal system is set up to prosecute criminals in universal jurisdiction. In germany around 2006, a private citizen, Wolfgang Kaleck filed a lawsuit against Donald Rumsfeld and other criminals who perpetrated abu ghraib and guantamo, which the German government only barely managed to ignore because none of the targets of the lawsuit were actually on german soil at the time the suit was filed. I'm also curious to know if that ever went anywhere.

Actually they did one time when one of the ruthless generals of Algeria was got arrested in Switzerland because of two human rights peoples. but it was released.

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