60 nations, minus US, sign treaty banning governments holding people in secret detentions

Doesn't this just make you proud of Bush? Gawd, what an ass.

Nearly 60 countries have signed a treaty banning forced disappearances, capping a quarter-century of efforts by families of people who have vanished at the hands of governments.

The United States was notably absent among the signatories Tuesday. U.S. President George W. Bush's administration opposed an early draft of the treaty, which bars governments from holding people in secret detention.

"Our American friends were naturally invited to this ceremony; unfortunately, they weren't able to join us," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told reporters after 57 nations signed the treaty at his ministry in Paris.

"That won't prevent them from one day signing on in New York at U.N. headquarters — and I hope they will," he said.

In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack declined comment except to say that the United States helped draft the treaty, but that the final text "did not meet our expectations." [emphasis mine]

Of course it didn't meet expectations unless it gave Bush carte blanche to do as he pleases to people.

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