A Spanish court has launched a criminal investigation into whether six Bush administration lawyers, including former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, violated international law by providing the legal framework to justify the Bush administration’s use of torture at Guantanamo. Spain’s law allows it to claim jurisdiction in the case because five Spanish citizens or residents who were prisoners at Guantanamo Bay say they were tortured there. The case was sent to the Spanish prosecutor’s office for review by Baltasar Garzon, the Spanish judge who ordered the arrest of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998. The other former Bush administration officials facing investigation are former Justice Department officials John Yoo and Jay Bybee, Pentagon official Douglas Feith, Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff David Addington, and Pentagon lawyer William Haynes. Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights praised the Spanish court’s decision and said arrest warrants might have already been issued.This is very welcome news, coming as it does on the heels of Seymore Hersh's hinting at Dick Cheney's secret assassination squad that reported only to him in the VP's office and Hersh's telling Terry Gross that Cheney left behind a mole in some of the White House offices and is still keeping his finger on what's going on.
The case in Spain may never land those guys in court. It would require extradition cooperation from our government, which is unlikely. But, if indictments are made, then those men will be unable to travel to any European Union country without being arrested and tried.
Ralph
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