"Spain weighs torture inquiry for 6 former Bush officials; Rights group says international laws ignored at prison" by Marlise Simons, New York Times | March 29, 2009
LONDON - A high-level Spanish court has taken the first steps toward opening a criminal investigation against six former Bush administration officials, including former attorney general Alberto R. Gonzales, on whether they violated international law by providing a legalistic framework to justify the use of torture of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, an official close to the case said....
The official said that it was "highly probable" that the case would go forward and that it could lead to arrest warrants.
I've heard that talk before (Israel, Gaza) and yet we wait.
While the move represents a step toward ascertaining the legal accountability of top Bush administration officials for allegations of torture and mistreatment of prisoners in its so-called war on terror, some US specialists experts said that even if warrants were issued their significance could be more symbolic than practical, and that it was likely that they would not lead to arrests if the officials did not leave the United States.
Or even if they do. Bush just went to China, Yoo was creeping around London, nothing.
The complaint under review also names John C. Yoo, the former Justice Department lawyer who wrote secret legal opinions saying the president had the authority to circumvent the Geneva Conventions, and Douglas J. Feith, the former undersecretary of defense for policy.
The move was not entirely unexpected, as several human rights groups have asked judges in different countries to indict Bush administration officials. Spain can claim jurisdiction in the case because five citizens or residents of Spain who were prisoners at Guantanamo Bay have said they were tortured there.
The five had been indicted previously. The Spanish Supreme Court overturned the conviction of one of them in 2006, saying that Guantanamo was "a legal limbo" and that no evidence obtained under torture could be valid in any of the country's courts.
The 98-page complaint, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, is based on the Geneva Conventions and the 1984 Convention Against Torture, which is binding on 145 countries, including Spain and the United States. Countries that are party to the torture convention are obliged to investigate torture cases, especially when a citizen has been abused.
The complaint was prepared by Spanish lawyers, who also relied on legal specialists in the United States and Europe, and filed by a Spanish human rights group, the Association for the Dignity of Prisoners. Gonzalo Boye, the Madrid lawyer who filed the complaint, said that the six Americans cited had had well-documented roles in approving illegal interrogation techniques, redefining torture, and abandoning the definition set by the 1984 Torture Convention.
The other Americans named in the complaint were William J. Haynes II, former general counsel for the Department of Defense; Jay S. Bybee, Yoo's former boss at the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel; and David S. Addington, who was the chief of staff and legal adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney. Yoo declined to comment yesterday, saying that he had not seen or heard of the petition.--more--"
"Torture probe opposed by AG; Spanish judge could still act" by Jason Webb, Reuters | April 17, 2009
MADRID - Spain's attorney general said yesterday that he would not recommend a criminal investigation into six former Bush administration officials over torture at Guantanamo Bay, reducing the chances the probe will go forward.
The truth is, we don't need any more investigations. We know what they did.
High Court Judge Baltasar Garzon, who came to world prominence when he issued an arrest warrant for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, had requested the attorney general's advice on whether to investigate former officials including former US attorney general Alberto Gonzales over the US base in Cuba.
"We cannot support that action," Attorney General Candido Conde-Pumpido told reporters. "If you investigate the crime of abuse of prisoners, the people probed have to be those who were materially responsible."
And if they had disobeyed their murderous masters orders?
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Asked about the case, President Obama told CNN en Espanol: "I'm a strong believer that it's important to look forward and not backwards, and to remind ourselves that we do have very real security threats out there."
(Blog editor is so discouraged that this guy continues with the barf-bag lies)
Under Spanish law, jurisdiction can be claimed in the case because five Spanish citizens or residents who were prisoners at Guantanamo Bay say they were tortured there. Human rights lawyer Gonzalo Boye, a member of the Association for the Dignity of Prisoners, which lodged the investigation request, said he hoped Garzon would proceed and the case might even lead US courts to act.
I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it -- unless they waterboard you!
"According to the [United Nations] Convention Against Torture, the United States will have to take a position on this. Either hand these people over or put them on trial themselves," said Boye.
My bet is on neither.
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