Editing Universal jurisdiction (section)

==Particular states invoking universal jurisdiction==
Universal jurisdiction may be asserted by a particular nation as well as by an international tribunal. The result is the same: individuals become answerable for crimes defined and prosecuted regardless of where they live, or where the conduct occurred; crimes said to be so grievous as to be universally condemned.

Amnesty International argues that since the end of the Second World War over fifteen states have conducted investigations, commenced prosecutions and completed trials based on universal jurisdiction for the crimes or arrested people with a view to extraditing the persons to a state seeking to prosecute them. These states include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Mexico, Netherlands, [[Senegal]], Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.<ref name="AI-FAQ">{{cite web |date=December 2001 |title=UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION: Questions and answers |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/ior53/020/2001/en/ |access-date=6 February 2016}}</ref> Amnesty writes:
<blockquote> All states parties to the [[UN Convention Against Torture|Convention against Torture]] and the [[Inter-American Convention to Prevent and Punish Torture|Inter-American Convention]] are obliged whenever a person suspected of torture is found in their territory to submit the case to their prosecuting authorities for the purposes of prosecution, or to extradite that person. In addition, it is now widely recognized that states, even those that are not states parties to these treaties, may exercise universal jurisdiction over torture under customary international law.<ref name=AI-UJ>[https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/ior53/012/2001/en/?OpenDocument Universal Jurisdiction: The duty of states to enact and implement legislation – Chapter Nine (Torture: The legal basis for universal jurisdiction)], [[Amnesty International]] 1 September 2001. Section II. Universal Jurisdiction over torture</ref></blockquote>

Examples of particular states invoking universal jurisdiction are Israel's prosecution of Eichmann in 1961 (see {{section link||Israel}} below) and Spain's prosecution of South American dictators and torturers (see {{section link||Spain}} below).  More recently, the [[Center for Constitutional Rights]] tried first in Switzerland and then in Canada to prosecute former U.S. President [[George W. Bush]] on behalf of persons tortured in US detention camps, invoking the universal jurisdiction doctrine. Bush cancelled his trip to Switzerland after news of the planned prosecution came to light. Bush has traveled to Canada but the Canadian government shut down the prosecution in advance of his arrest.<ref name = "Center Prosecution">{{cite news |author=Matt Eisenbrandt |author2=Katherine Gallagher |title=Halting Canadian Bush Prosecution Violated International Obligations|url=http://jurist.org/hotline/2012/01/eisenbrandt-gallagher-bush.php |work=[[Jurist]] | quote=Canada disregarded an opportunity to shatter the global impunity Bush enjoys and in so doing violated international law. |date=17 January 2012  |access-date=2016-03-06 }}</ref> The center has filed a grievance with the United Nations for Canada's failure to invoke universal jurisdiction to enforce the [[Convention Against Torture]], a petition on which action is pending.<ref name = "Center Prosecution"/>