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Could George W. Bush face arrest in Switzerland?

New York – The former president canceled a trip to Geneva amid threats by human rights groups that they'd pursue legal charges against him for sanctioning torture

Former President George W. Bush was forced to forgo a planned trip to Switzerland this week as human rights activists exertedon the Swiss governmentto arrest him for allegedly sanctioning "the torture of terrorismsuspects" held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.Left-wing protesters even threatened to file acriminalcomplaint against the former president. Here, a brief guide to the controversy:

Why was Bush heading to Switzerland?Bush was slated to be theat a February 12 Jewishcharity gala in honor of the Switzerland-based United Israel Appeal.

What were the activists planning to do?Groups including Amnesty International, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch, and the International Federation of Human Rights said they would file a 2,500-page complaint against the president under the international Convention Against Torture. Two men supposedly inspired the complaint: Majid Khan, who is reportedly still at Guantanamo, and Sami al-Hajj, a former Al Jazeera cameraman, who was released in May 2008. Organizers were also planning protests outside the hotel where Bush was going to speak, and were urging demonstrators to bring shoes to the rally, a gesture intended to evoke the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoe at Bush in 2008.

Could Bush really have been arrested? It'sunlikely. An "initial assessment" by the Swiss Justice Ministry determined that the former president would have immunity from prosecution for his actions while in office, .The activist groups disputed that. But even if Bush could have beenbrought up on charges, prosecutors would likely have run out of time to investigate them and take actionbefore he left thecountry.

So why was his appearance canceled?Representatives of the charity say security fears, not legal threats, led them to cancel Bush's appearance. "We regret that the speech has been canceled," a Bush spokesman told The Associated Press. He said the president "was looking forward to speaking about freedom and offering reflections from his time in office." But the groups seeking Bush's arrest question these official statements: "Whatever Bush or his hosts say, we have no doubt he canceled his trip to avoid our case."

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