March 28, 2009

The noose is tightening for Bush Administration torture authorizers

Two years ago, former Bush Administration Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld hurriedly fled France, fearing he would be arrested by French authorities for "ordering and authorizing" the torture of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the U.S. facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Via Scott Horton comes news that more Bush Administration officials may be forced to cancel any upcoming European vacations.

Spain’s national newspapers, El País and Público reported that the Spanish national security court has opened a criminal probe focusing on Bush Administration lawyers who pioneered the descent into torture at the prison in Guantánamo... Público identifies the targets as University of California law professor John Yoo, former Department of Defense general counsel William J. Haynes II, former vice presidential chief-of-staff David Addington, former attorney general and White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, former Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee, now a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and former Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith.

The case was opened in the Spanish national security court, the Audencia Nacional. In July 2006, the Spanish Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a former Spanish citizen who had been held in Guantánamo, labeling the regime established in Guantánamo a “legal black hole.” The court forbade Spanish cooperation with U.S. authorities in connection with the Guantánamo facility. The current criminal case evolved out of an investigation into allegations, sustained by Spain’s Supreme Court, that the Spanish citizen had been tortured in Guantánamo.

Horton notes the Spanish court may authorize the arrest of any of those charged should they visit Spain or any of the 24 other nations that participate in the European extraditions conference. Horton also notes the magistrate in the case, Judge Baltasar Garzón, is Europe's best known counterterrorism judges. He has been involved in prosecuting the Basque terrorist group, ETA, as well as al Qaeda affiliated groups residing in Spain and Morocco. He's also best known for the criminal investigation that led to the arrest of former Chilean dictator, Augusto Pinochet.

On a related note, a criminal probe was recently opened in England to investigate the role of Britain's MI5 in the torture by the CIA of a British national.

The attorney general, Lady Scotland, announced the unprecedented move in light of damning evidence that Britain's security and intelligence agencies colluded with the CIA in (Binyam) Mohamed's inhuman treatment and secret rendition.

Scotland said that after reviewing a "substantial body of material, much of it highly sensitive", and after consulting the director of public prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, she concluded that the evidence should be passed to the police.

The Conservative leader, David Cameron, called for a "targeted and clear review ... to get to the bottom of whether Britain was knowingly or unknowingly complicit in torture". (Link)

The noose is tightening. With the recent news that another three damning Bush Administration era torture documents will be released soon, and today's story that a New York judge has ordered the CIA to release all information about the destruction of videotapes of detainee interrogations, it's becoming more and more likely the extent of Bush Administration criminal conduct will become clear.

Brace yourself.

Posted at 02:15 PM in War on Terror | Permalink