Spanish court considers prosecuting Bush officials

Gil Gil said the attorney general's decision and the fact that the accusation is not brought by victims but rather by an "acusacion popular," or public prosecution, may narrow the case's chances for success. The suit was filed by a group of lawyers representing the Association Pro Dignity of Prisoners.

Gonzalo Boye, one of the lawyers who prepared the document, is hopeful Garzon will accept the case. If so, he said the scenario could be as follows: Judge Garzon would request the officials’ presence in Spain; if they did not come, an arrest warrant and extradition order could be issued.

If the officials do not leave the United States, it would be almost impossible to prosecute them. If they travel abroad, though, they could face arrest and extradition if they travel to a country that has an extradition treaty with Spain. Mexico and Canada, for example, have such treaties.

Ultimately, the decision is up to the government that would be extraditing the officials. Some countries, for example, refuse extradition if the detainee could face the death penalty in the country asking for extradition.

The 98-page document filed in court describes how objections by the legal departments of the Air Force, Navy, Army and the Marine Corps to 18 proposed new interrogation techniques were ignored. The concept of torture was redefined to permit these techniques, the document says.

To further support the alleged accusations, the document reasons that President Barack Obama’s executive order revoking Bush administration policies on the treatment of prisoners “confirms the existence of the legal framework to protect torture” and demonstrates that it was illegal.

The document points out that Article 2.2 of the Convention Against Torture states “no exceptional circumstances whatsoever” can justify torture. And it resolves, “Guantanamo does not constitute a 'judicial limbo' in any form, because it has never ceased being protected by international law and by the U.S. Constitution.”

The accusation concludes the actions of these U.S. officials provided those accused of terrorism with impunity, as evidence obtained at Guantanamo is not accepted in court. In Spain, two former Guantanamo prisoners charged with belonging to Al Qaeda, Hammed Abdurrahman and Lichen Ikassrien, were absolved and released when the courts said they could not use the interrogations obtained in Guantanamo because the defendants' fundamental rights had been violated.

The U.S. officials named in complaint are Gonzales; former Vice President Dick Cheney’s legal counsel David Addington; general counsel of the Department of Defense William J. Haynes; former undersecretary of defense for policy Douglas Feith; and Justice Department officials Jay S. Bybee and John Yoo.

Also:  The madness of George

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