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Spanish Judge to Probe Israel's Deadly Gaza Strike
MADRID - A Spanish judge on Monday decided to go ahead with a probe into alleged crimes against humanity in Gaza by top Israeli military figures despite a request by public prosecutors that he shelve the case.
Public prosecutors made their recommendation last month on the grounds that the alleged crimes in question were already under investigation in Israel, but National Court judge Fernando Andreu ruled that this is not the case, according to a copy of the ruling obtained by AFP.
Lietenant General Dan Halutz, seen here, in 2006, was head of the airforce in 2002 and responsible for ordering a deadly strike on Gaza City. A Spanish judge has decided to go ahead with a probe into alleged crimes against humanity by top Israeli military figures over an air force bombing in Gaza in 2002 that killed 15 people.
(AFP/File/Ariel Jerozolimski) The judge was responding to a complaint lodged with the court against seven Israeli officials, including former defence minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights over an air attack on July 22, 2002 on Gaza City.
The attack killed a suspected leader of the Islamist movement Hamas, Salah Shehadeh, along with 14 civilians, mainly children, and wounded some 150 Palestinians, according to the complaint.
Spain assumes the principle of universal jurisdiction in alleged cases of crimes against humanity, genocide, and terrorism.
In addition to Ben-Eliezer, the complaint names the then army chief of staff, General Moshe Yaalon, as well as the then head of the Israeli air force, General Dan Halutz.
It also names General Doron Almog, national security council head Giora Eiland, Michael Herzog, a defence ministry official, and Avi Dichter, director of the Shin Beth intelligence agency.
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17 Comments so far
Show AllSpain only wealthy country with huevos.
Is O going to squash this investigation also?
I recall Belgium using a universal jurisdiction law, indicting Henry Kissinger a few years ago. The US put huge pressure on tiny Belgium (who knows what the Imperial Thugs told the Belgians behind closed doors, bomb Antwerp?)to abandon any such prosecution of our beloved Kissinger. The Belgians backed down.
It will be interesting to see what Spain does here. Hats off to judge Fernando Andreu, he apparently has a conscience and cojones.
glenn ford, I think Obama will, the Justice Dept. just dropped charges against the two Zionist spys Steven Rosen, and Keith Weissman, and it looks like the Zionist/collabrator congressman Jane Harmon is also off the hook. You would think that after American tax payers gave the Zionists over a hundred billion dollars, the Zionists wouldn't kill our sailors, murder our citizens, or spy on us. you would think.
Looks like Spain is the new Land of the Free and Home of the Brave!
Who'da thunk it?
Bravo, España!
· Yr Obd't Servant
O B E D I E N T . S E R V A N T
Please do recall that the shattered memories of FRANCO's violence and fascism's twisted sickness, are well framed in the majority of adults in España.
I would guess that nearly everyone in España, over the age of 40 knows personally of someone who was either tortured, forced into labor, or killed -- or has married into a family of same.
¿ How could they ever forget ? The blood of their brothers and sisters ran through and stained the streets and heart of their capital Madrid.
And they do remember the "Abraham Lincoln Brigade' of volunteer Americans who fought and died for their freedoms, as Franco's reign of terror took over. Perhaps it is time for America to better honor those dedicated soldiers for freedom ( while our gov't and corporations, war-mongered and profited in the 30s ), and remember that the fight against torture and suffering extends beyond borders for civilized society
The Spanish people have totally had it, with their imperialistic, inquisitionistic, and totalitarian moments -- and they are not going to take it any longer.
Their courage to assemble millions in Madrid's squares -- in mere hours -- to protest ETA bombings, is a fierce testimony to their collective and unified commitment to justice and societal harmony.
Don't _ ƒ ⊃ © k _ with these people and expect to get a snooze, and by the way -- they really do CARE and are quite passionate.
They are an integral party of Earth's collective culture and human identity.
They are part of all of us, even for those who do not yet realize that.
¡ V i v a _ E s p a ñ a ! ...
I am under 40 and I live with the repression of the spanish state everyday. Why don't these judges clean their own homes before trying to judge torturers in other countries. I'll tell you why, because they are a bunch of hypocrites and because it's much easier to do so.
The spanish people have been trying to see all the criminals of Franco's days in front of a judge and it still hasn't happened. Instead they have been part of the spanish government and will die without having spent a day in jail. Manuel Fraga is a good example of that.
It's funny to see these propagand tactics still work these days. It's really disapointing to see supposedly "progressive" readers not questioning these types of actions and supporting torturers themselves just to clean ones own image.
Euskalduna - you have a point. The Reds were a part of Franco's regime and they protect their own. It's part of the horrible aftereffects of a county's civil war. I'm over 50 and lived in Madrid during & after Franco. There have been many amazing changes. Remember how the lid of the pressure cooker was taken off after Franco's death? The amount of needles you would find in the street gutters? The invasion of the oldest profession, "Las Suecas"?
There has been steady pressure to right the wrongs of Franco. I remember a building of La Guardia Civil, where it was said, "prisoners would go in, but never come out". It may not sound like much, but a large effort for "The Stolen Children" is going on. There has been a huge effort to revive the unjust horrors of Franco - unmarked graves, tales of torture, etc. Not only did Garcon go after Pinochet, but he tried to go after Fraga. Is that what you consider our "supporting torturers"?
About the only country I have heard, that seems to be truly trying to heal the wounds of a civil war, is Rowanda. Hutus now living in the same village as Tootsies, knowing that one's neighbor butchered his brother with a machete. Who knows how long that will last, maybe it will succeed?
What I find ironic is that the USA used to have a pretty good moral standing (if you forget about our horrible imperialistic foreign policies) and Spain, who used to be an imperialistic empire, now is leading us in moral standing. Did they deny the bombers of Atocha their rights in trial, send them to Egypt for torture? No, the USA throws innocent Japanese into internment camps, has McCarthy witch trials and re-interprets torture & habeas corpus, all with Congressional approval. And, we don't prosecute our guilty leaders. We are the ones who are practicing "pacto del olvido", the pact of amnesia.
As you said Garzon "tried" to procesecute Fraga, and "attempted" to find and open the "unmarked" graves but all of a sudden he decided to stop these prosecutions. Spain is still controlled by Franco's disciples.
The Guardia Civil still exists and still tortures, political parties are still banned. Wouldn't you be surprised if the SS were still be patrolling around Germany?
This is what I mean by supporting torturers, we all need to stop using double standards. We need a global solution for a global problem. We can't find a real solution if we can't distinguish the oppressed from the opressors!
Now if Spain will just include a "real" investigation of the current "Cast Lead" attack, maybe we will see some action. I know, it's a long shot, but at least, with current investigations by the UNEP, etc. we can force a way into the Gaza strip to see for ourselve, not counting on the "internal" investigations always denying their deeds. No justice, no peace!!!!!
Wild idea -- maybe O will support, or at least not obstruct, seeking justice via the Spanish courts because he's lost HOPE -- just like I have -- in the notion of justice at home.
Who gave these war criminals the weapons of war? Congress?
National Court judge Fernando Andreu doesn't seem to grasp the reality of izrael. If he goes ahead with this, and I am all for someone doing so just to expose the 'real' izrael, Andreu better get some protection because he will be dealing with the most ruthless group of people on earth, the hard right izraeli fundamentalist. And those people make any muslim fundamentalist look like kindegardeners playing in the school yard and they make any spoiled brat, w for instance, look like a choir boy because they take absolutely NO criticism. Paranoids of the extreme.
this story tells me one thing...
there are humans living in spain
My deepest respect for these Spanish judges!
I'm living in one of the oldest democracies in the world, Denmark, and our judicial system professes to be politically independant.
However, no Danish court would ever even dream of pursuing a human rights case against the United States or israel.
Bring America Back !!!!................Viva Espana !!!! May the Global Force
Be With You in Your Deliberations.
¡It's huevos, tonto!