No Spanish torture probe of US officials

[cali]

By PAUL HAVEN – 1 hour ago

MADRID (AP) — Spanish prosecutors will recommend against opening an investigation into whether six Bush administration officials sanctioned torture against terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, the country's attorney general said Thursday.

Candido Conde-Pumpido said the case against the high-ranking U.S. officials — including former U.S. Attorney-General Alberto Gonzales — was without merit because the men were not present when the torture took place.

"If one is dealing with a crime of mistreatment of prisoners of war, the complaint should go against those who physically carried it out," Conde-Pumpido said in a breakfast meeting with journalists. He said a trial of the men would turn Spain's National Court "into a plaything."

Prosecutors at Spain's National Court have not formally announced their decision in the case, but Conde-Pumpido is the country's top law-enforcement official in the country and has the ultimate say.

A Spanish investigative judge is not bound to accept the prosecutor's ruling, but it is highly unusual for a case to proceed without the support of prosecutors.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gw5KhIf6dRlptgQeY7ytP_39edTQD97JF1HO5

Disappointing but not surprising. The reason for not pursuing seems to be particularly weak.

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Very weak indeed - when there was an official policy about torture

then those who wrote it are responsible. It may be one thing to say "they never authorised what happened at Abu Ghraib, so you can't have a formal trial of Rumsfeld etc. for that" (it's debatable, but I can see there's 'reasonable doubt' there), but what was done at Guantanamo was done under orders, after the OK by Gonzales, Yoo etc.

[cali]

3. Precisely.

The Judge can still continue but without Prosecutoral support, it's hard to see it being productive. This is just a weak excuse from the prosecutor.

[liberalla]

2. Darn. I was looking forward to it.

Who's up for the challenge now? I wish we (U.S.) were.

Next!

[Solly Mack]

4. So weak it's sickly

Perhaps Spain got reminded of the extraordinary rendition flights that landed and took off from there....and maybe their involvement goes deeper than they have ever admitted.

[slipslidingaway]

5. knr for visibility n/t