Amnesty's report

I've been a supporter of Amnesty International for many years and participate in their email activism program. I've paid attention to what has been written about the organization and I have every reason to trust its overall integrity. So when Amnesty sends a warning to America's leaders, I take that very seriously. The article I want to call to your attention is by John Riley and is entitled, "Amnesty takes aim at Gitmo". Here's how it gets started:

Amnesty International Thursday called the U.S. military's anti-terror prison at Guantanamo Bay the "gulag of our times" and warned that American leaders may face international prosecution for mistreating prisoners."

When the most powerful country in the world thumbs its nose at the rule of law and human rights, it grants a license to others to commit abuse with impunity and audacity," said Amnesty Secretary General Irene Khan at a London news conference releasing the group's annual report on global human rights, a blistering, 308-page survey.

The influential human-rights monitoring group has criticized U.S. detention practices before. But Tuesday marked its first call to close Guantanamo, and the group used unusually sharp language in demanding an independent investigation of torture and abuse of prisoners there and at detention facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If U.S. officials don't act, other countries will, warned Amnesty's U.S. director, William Schultz. "The apparent high-level architects of torture should think twice before planning their next vacation to places like Acapulco or the French Riviera, because they may find themselves under arrest," he said.

Perhaps that's what we need - for U.S. officials to be afraid to leave the country because they may be apprehended and prosecuted for crimes against humanity. The closer I get to my trip to Ireland this summer, the more I feel ashamed to be an American traveling abroad. Our image has been so justifiably tarnished, it's tragic.