Michael Flynn Won’t Reject Trump’s Waterboarding Call: Rights Group
President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn for National Security Advisor demonstrates a deeply disturbing disregard for human rights principles and the laws of war, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today.
The human rights organization said that Flynn has repeatedly endorsed proposals by Trump that would constitute torture and other war crimes.
“Michael Flynn has shown a stunning contempt for the Geneva Conventions and other laws prohibiting torture,” said Sarah Margon, Washington director of HRW. “By offering this key post to Flynn, President-elect Trump is undermining US commitments to international laws that have been broken to America’s detriment.”
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On several occasions, according to HRW, Trump has said he would allow United States personnel to commit waterboarding and other methods of torture.
Flynn has repeatedly refused to rule out Trump’s proposed use of torture and other war crimes. “I am a believer in leaving as many options on the table right up until the last possible minute,” according to HRW, Flynn told Al Jazeera in May.
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On proposals by Trump to target for attack the families of suspected terrorists, Flynn said he “would have to see what the circumstances of that situation were,” HRW reported.
“Instead of adding proponents of torture to his administration, Trump should unequivocally renounce the use of torture under any circumstances,” Margon said.
Trump will begin his four-year term as U.S. President after the Inauguration Day ceremony on January 20, 2017.
