The Deportaion of Jan Demjanjuk

Barack H. Obama, April 16, 2009 --“In releasing these memos, it is our intention to assure those who carried out their duties relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice that they will not be subject to prosecution.”

"Superior Orders is, in essence, the plea that a soldier not be held guilty for crimes committed during the course of war due to the orders of a superior officer. One of the most noted uses of this defense was by the accused in the Nuremberg Trials, such that it is also called the Nuremberg Defense. It was during these trials that the defense was no longer considered enough to escape punishment; merely enough to lessen punishment.[4]"

Nuremberg Principles

Principle I
Any person who commits an act which constitutes a crime under international law is responsible therefore and liable to punishment.

Principle III
The fact that a person who committed an act which constitutes a crime under international law acted as Head of State or responsible government official does not relieve him from responsibility under international law.

Principle IV
The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him. "I was following orders", is not an excuse.

Principle VI

b) War Crimes:
Violations of the laws or customs of war which include, but are not limited to, .... murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war ...

Demjanjuk is accused of being a guard, a military underling, at Sobibor prison. Those thugs conducting torture in OUR NAME were highly paid agents of the CIA. They were not under military orders. They did not face imprisonment or execution for refusing to torture, they merely had to quit theur lucrative jobs. They tortured for MONEY! The legal minds who justified torture faced no legal penalties for refusing to write the opinions, they only stood to lose their posh political careers. They justified torture for MONEY and CAREER advancement.

The ONLY people prosecuted for torture have been low-level military personnel. Like Demjanjuk.

Demjanjuk faced a firing squad for refusing to carry out orders, but we deported him. Demjanjuk and the rest of the guards and torturers and murderers who were cogs in the wheels of the shoa were following orders in good faith, no? Again, its a matter of scale. Our minions only tortured and killed a few hundred, but they ALL deserve to be tried-top to bottom.