Prosecuting Bush Officials for Torture - Philippe Sands November 18, 2008

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Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2008/08/24/Philippe_Sands_on_Torture_Abu_Ghraib_and_Guantanamo

Author and legal scholar Philippe Sands discusses the likelihood that Bush Administration officials can or will be prosecuted under international law for authorizing the use of torture on terrorism suspects.

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Professor of International Law Philippe Sands tells the story of a memo. Sent in December 2002 to US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, it requested the approval of a number of coercive techniques of interrogation. As Sands tells Anna Funder, with his acceding signature, Rumsfeld pushed the United States beyond the pale of international law and directly towards the abuses of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay - Melbourne Writers Festival

Philippe Sands joined the Faculty at University College London in January 2002. He is Professor of Law and Director of the Centre on International Courts and Tribunals in the Faculty, and a key member of staff in the Centre for Law and the Environment. His teaching areas include public international law, the settlement of international disputes (including arbitration), and environmental and natural resources law.

Sands is notable for authoring a book, Lawless World, where he accuses US President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair of conspiring to invade Iraq in violation of international law. His follow-up book, Torture Team: Rumsfeld's Memo and the Betrayal of American Values, was released in May, 2008.

As a practicing barrister he has extensive experience litigating cases before the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, and the European Court of Justice. He frequently advises governments, international organisations, NGOs and the private sector on aspects of international law. In 2003 he was appointed a Queen's Counsel. He has been appointed to lists of arbitrators maintained by ICSID and the PCA.