Spanish Judge Opens Probe Into Guantanamo Torture

[Ian David]

Source: AFP

2nd UPDATE: Spanish Judge Opens Probe Into Guantanamo Torture
Wednesday April 29th, 2009 / 16h31

MADRID (AFP)--A Spanish judge on Wednesday opened a new investigation into alleged torture at the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, according to a copy of the ruling seen by AFP.

Judge Baltasar Garzon would probe the "perpetrators, the instigators, the necessary collaborators and accomplices" to crimes of torture at the prison at the U.S. naval base in southern Cuba, it said.

<snip>

"It seems that the documents declassified by the U.S. administration mentioned by the media have revealed what was previously a suspicion - the existence of an authorized and systematic program of torture" at Guantanamo and other prisons including that in Bagram in Afghanistan, Garzon said.

The decision was unrelated to another investigation by Garzon into six officials of the former U.S. administration of George W. Bush over alleged torture at Guantanamo Bay.

<snip>

Spain has since 2005 operated under the principle of "universal jurisdiction," a doctrine that allows courts to reach beyond national borders in cases of torture, terrorism or war crimes, although the government reportedly aims to limit the scope of the legal process.





Read more: http://www.easybourse.com/bourse-actualite/fiat/2nd-update-spanish-judge-opens-probe-into-guantanamo-torture-IT0001976403-659321

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See also:

Spanish judge opens new case against US over Guantanamo torture
Posted : Wed, 29 Apr 2009 14:11:51 GMT
Author : DPA
Category :
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Madrid - Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon on Wednesday announced a new judicial investigation of those responsible for torture at the US prison camp in Guantanamo, Cuba. The National Court judge based the case on complaints filed by Hamed Abderrahman Ahmed, known as the Spanish Taliban, and three others who claimed to have been tortured at Guantanamo.

Documents declassified in the United States showed there was an "authorized and systematic plan of torture of and ill-treatment" of prisoners who had not been charged with any crimes, Garzon said in a court document.

The case was separate from an earlier one launched by the judge against former US attorney-general Alberto Gonzales and five other former officials of the George W Bush administration over human rights abuses at Guantanamo.

Prosecutors advised Garzon to hand that case over to another judge, who is to decide whether it should be investigated or shelved.

Garzon became known internationally for attempting to extradite former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in the late 1990s, and has investigated alleged human rights violations around the world.

More:
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/266564,spanish-judge-opens-new-case-against-us-over-guantanamo-torture.html

[Solly Mack]

1. K&R

[montanacowboy]

2. Great

if we won't do it then full speed ahead Spain

[Bette Noir]

5. My thoughts exactly.

[pat_k]

12. Having to look to our treaty partners. . .

. . .to deal with our war criminals is a shame I don't think the USA would ever fully recover from.

With Obama's "not my department" and Holder's "can't say they aren't crimes; won't say they are" we are clearly failing to meet our obligations. I'm thankful Spain is meeting their obligations, but hope pressure from Congress and the public will finally wake Obama up to the reality that prosecution is the only rational, moral, and lawful option.

[No Elephants]

3. Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon!

Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon!
Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon!
Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon!
Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon!
Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon!
Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon!
Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon! Go, Garzon!

[Vidar]

4. Bless Judge Garzon!

[GetTheRightVote]

6. On one hand I hate to say it, but it is about time for Bush & Company to pay

for their evil actions.

:kick:

[cali]

7. not that I object but it's ironic

when one considers Spain never managed to investigate its own torture under Franco.

[Tartiflette]

8. That's interesting

Your comment prompted me to google this, and it appears that when this was attempted, it was quickly shut down by the right wing (assuming the wsws is a credible source):

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/nov2008/garz-n22.shtml


Parallels to what would occur in the US?

[cali]

9. that;'s from the wsw

which is so not a reliable news source, but having said that, it's true that there has been no accountability for the horrors that took place under Franco. That's true of France and the torturers of Algeria as well. In fact, the French have twice granted amnesty to the Algeria torturers. I can think of no country in the world post Nuremberg that prosecuted torturers and abusers immediately upon a new gov't taking power. It may have happened, but I can't think of a single instance. It's hard as hell to do.

[liberation]

14. There are no parallels between Spain circa 1976 and the US in 2008

First off, they were not a democracy yet. The dictator had just passed away, and the best way they managed to move onto democracy was by neutering the possible successors to Franco from the military. It was achieved by a set of laws loosely translated as "new page" in which the fascist party was outlawed but there was a plea bargain which meant that the old regime members would not be prosecuted in exchange to having all the political prisoners freed and secret police records on the opposition to the dictatorship were scrubbed.

The main reason why Spain did not prosecute the members of the fascist elite was mostly that the country was so divided for so many decades after the civil war, that they did not want to risk another coup while there was a vacuum of power in the late 70s in Spain. It was not ideal, but probably the only way they managed to relatively heal the wounds of such decision and come together into the late part of the XX century.

Remember that the main reason why Franco's regime was in power for so long was in part due to the strong support of the US towards the generalisimo's regime. At the time Franco died, progressives and liberals in Spain had experienced first hand how the international community had abandoned them to their own devices. Thus Spain truly felt alone during the transition from dictatorship into a full fledged democracy, and if they had prosecuted the previous regime... it was not clear in the eyes of most Spaniards that the international community would support the democratic forces in the country if another military coup was to result as a reaction to the possibility of indictment for war crimes.

Also, in Nuremberg it was the international community who tried the nazi elite. Not the Germans themselves. In fact, I am hard pressed to find a precedent of a country which has prosecuted its own war crimes.

[Judi Lynn]

10. AP: Spanish judge opens new Guantánamo probe

Posted on Wednesday, 04.29.09
Spanish judge opens new Guantánamo probe

By DANIEL WOOLLS
Associated Press
MADRID -- A Spanish judge opened a probe into the Bush administration over alleged torture of terror suspects at Guantánamo Bay, pressing ahead Wednesday with a drive that Spain's own attorney general has said should be waged in the United States, if at all.

Judge Baltasar Garzon, Spain's most prominent investigative magistrate, said he is acting under this country's observance of the principle of universal justice, which allows crimes allegedly committed in other countries to be prosecuted in Spain.

He said documents declassified by the new U.S. government suggest the practice was systematic and ordered at high levels of the US government.

Garzon's move is separate from a complaint by human rights lawyers that seeks charges against six specific Bush administration officials they accuse of creating a legal framework to permit torture of suspects at Guantánamo Bay and other U.S. detention facilities.

Spanish prosecutors said on April 17 that any such probe should be carried out by the U.S. and recommended against it being launched in Spain. Their opinion has been endorsed by Attorney General Candido Conde-Pumpido. Garzon originally had that case, but ultimately it was transferred to another judge, who has yet to decide whether to investigate.

Now, Garzon is opening a separate, broader probe that does not name any specific suspects but targets ''possible material authors'' of torture, accomplices and those who gave torture orders.

More:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/story/1023652.html

[pat_k]

11. So, the belief that "Obama is doing enough" ain't flying in Spain.

If they believed the Obama administration was meeting our treaty obligation to bring suspected war criminals before a court, they would not be going forward with this.

Looks like they aren't buying the "assurances" of action that Holder peddled on the Hill. Not surprising given the administration's denial of reality ("can't say it's not a crime; won't say it is.")

[EFerrari]

13. I wonder. Maybe Obama signalled to Spain that he "understands"

them going forward unless/until our government can be moved to go forward.

I don't think they're denying reality. In releasing information, they're pushing reality.

[Lena inRI]

16. Heard Holder's comment today 4/29/09?

"Mr. Holder also told reporters that it was possible that the United States could cooperate with a foreign court’s investigation of Bush administration officials. He spoke before the announcement that a Spanish judge, Baltasar Garzón, had opened an investigation of the Bush administration over harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects at Guantánamo Bay."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/world/europe/30briefs-gitmo.html?ref=global-home

I'm getting the feeling

Team Obama conectando con Juez Garzon. . .

as Holder swings through Europe, the game plan to investigate. . .indict. . .and imprison is well under way !




http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3085482.stm

:bounce: :woohoo: :bounce: :woohoo: :bounce:

[pat_k]

19. Very Disturbing.

Spanish proceedings (or any other country's) only continue if the USA continues the course of dereliction. To say the USA may "cooperate" in Spanish proceedings assumes those proceedings will continue. Ergo, Holder intends to hold to the path of dereliction.

The national shame of living under a government that harbors war criminals, and thereby forces the American people to look to our treaty partners to bring us back into the community of civilized nations, is something the that the USA will never "live down."

We the People have an obligation to do everything in our power to avoid that fate and push the people we elected to serve us do what must be done. If it becomes clear that moving them to act is beyond our power, we will, of course, have to look to others.

If it comes to that, it will be a declaration that government by, for, and of the people HAS perished from this earth.

I know of no words that capture the magnitude of that loss. May it never come to that.

The inescapable reality of our national crisis

• U.S. Government officials subjected persons in U.S. custody to cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment "under color of law." To commit such acts under the pretense of "law" (i.e., the kind of unlawful orders and "authorizations" issued by the bushcheney regime) is the definition of a War Crime under USC 18, Sec 2441. This is not a "belief" or opinion. It is a fact.


• Just as with any other crime committed in broad daylight, the duty to seek to bring the perpetrators to justice is a given.


• Stating that the participants in the criminal enterprise, from the President down, have clearly committed prosecutable crimes does not interfere with DOJ independence.


• In the case of war crimes, the USA is bound by treaty to bring persons known (or even just suspected) of committing war crimes before a court of law. The moment the USA acts to fulfill its duty to charge and judge the suspects in accord with our rules of criminal procedure, treaty partners are obligated to suspend proceedings.


• In our justice system, prosecutorial discretion is broad, but when it comes to war crimes, failure to charge if a prosecutor abuses discretion by refraining from charging when warranted, they merely shift the obligation to treaty partners.


• The duty to act does not only rest with the DOJ. As head of state, Obama is obligated to publicly acknowledge the fact that officials committed crimes and to commit to meet treaty obligations by ensuring that the DOJ vigorously prosecutes, from the top of the chain to the bottom, to meet treaty obligations.



• We know crimes have been committed. We can identify the participants. The questions remaining for the criminal justice system involve jurisdiction, evaluation of proofs, specific charges for specific actors, and legitimacy of defenses. Specifically
  
  
  • Jurisdiction -- U.S. Distict Court/Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Court Martial/Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ)
  
  
  • Specific charges -- One or more of 18 USC 2441 (war crimes), USC 113C (torture), USC 241 (conspiracy), 28 USC 1350 (torture victim protection), various UCMJ Articles, or ??
  
  
  • Defenses -- in general terms: followed orders, lacks required intent, coerced, insanity (probably doesn't meet the legal definition, but the belief that water torture, head bashing, and so on is not cruel, inhumane, or degrading is certainly seems nuts).
  
  Justice demands that these questions be answered case-by-case in accord with judicial process, not by presidential or prosecutorial fiat.


• U.S. government officials have two choices: duty or dereliction.


• The Obama administration has, to date, chosen dereliction.
  
  
  • They maintain the pretense that the crimes may or may not be crimes, which makes about as much sense as claiming that a bank robbery committed in broad daylight might actually have been an "alternative method of cash withdrawal" (to paraphrase Jonathan Turley).
  
  
  • They announced their intent to ensure the government employees that carried out the orders are no prosecuted.ted) of committing war crimes before a court of law.


• By abdicating its duty, the Obama administration merely shifts the duty to our treaty partners.ted) of committing war crimes before a court of law.

[Lena inRI]

20. Thanks for your thorough legal explanation. . .

. .especially how officials on Team Obama are "legal derelicts" regarding torture issue.

I guess I'm already at this point that you also foresee:

"If it becomes clear that moving them to act is beyond our power, we will, of course, have to look to others."

Seeing the Bush-Cheney cabal convicted A N Y W H E R E is all I can hope to see before I depart from this dear life.

:smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke: :smoke:

[struggle4progress]

15. Spanish court opens investigation of Guantánamo torture allegations (Guardian)

Spanish court opens investigation of Guantánamo torture allegations
• Allegations include 'sexual abuse' and 'beating'
• Eric Holder urges European countries to take detainees
* Giles Tremlett in Madrid and agencies
* guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 29 April 2009 18.50 BST

... Judge Baltasar Garzón, an investigating magistrate at the National Court in Madrid, said he would investigate allegations made by four detainees who were held at the centre and later released without charges, according to a court document quoted by the Spanish press.

The torture allegations include "sexual abuse", "beating" and the throwing of fluids into prisoners' eyes ...

Judge Garzón reportedly cited "documents declassified by the US administration" as giving evidence "of what previously could be intuited: an official plan of approved torture and abuse of people being held in custody while facing no charges and without the most basic rights of people who have been detained."

He said he would now formally request copies of the documents from the United States ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/29/spain-court-guantanamo-detainees-torture

[sce56]

17. I sure hope the judge has security you know what happens when you mess with the BFEE!

Just ask all those people that had their planes fall out of the sky like Wellstone and Tower and JFK Jr.

[MasonJar]

18. Stay out of it, Barack, and let Judge Garzon perform his miracles.

Vive, la Spain!!!!!!!

[EFerrari]

21. Our government can't really stay out of it.

International law via Geneva says if you discover an incidence of torture you MUST investigate it or you are also in violation of Geneva.

But, if Spain goes forward, it will be easier politically for Holder to go forward. Imho, it's all good.