Get News & Views Updates
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
Bringing the 'Bush Six' to Justice
If those responsible for the Bush administration's torture policy will not face charges in the US, then in Spain it must be
Today, the Center for Constitutional Rights filed papers encouraging Judge Eloy Velasco and the Spanish national court to do what the United States will not: prosecute the "Bush Six". These are the former senior administration legal advisers, headed by then US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who violated international law by creating a legal framework that materially contributed to the torture of suspected terrorists at US-run facilities at Guantánamo and other overseas locations. 
Friday's filing provides Judge Velasco with the legal framework for the prosecution of government lawyers – a prosecution that last took place during the Nuremberg trials, when Nazi lawyers who provided cover for the Third Reich's war crimes and crimes against humanity were held accountable for their complicity.
CCR would prefer to see American cases tried in American courts. But we have joined the effort to pursue the Bush Six overseas because two successive American presidents have made it clear that there will be no justice for the architects of the US torture program, or any of their accomplices, on American soil.
Thanks to the US diplomatic cables recently released by WikiLeaks, we now know why seeking justice abroad has also been fraught with difficulty – why there have been so many delays and even dismissals. The same US government that will not pursue justice at home, not even when the CIA destroys 92 videotapes that show detainees being tortured, has put a heavy thumb on the scales of justice in other countries as well.
During the Bush presidency, the US intervened to derail the case of German citizen Khaled el-Masri, who was abducted by the CIA in 2003 and flown to Afghanistan for interrogation as part of the U.S. "extraordinary rendition" program—until they realized they had kidnapped the wrong man and dumped el-Masri on the side of an Albanian road. A leaked 2007 cable reveals the extent both of U.S. pressure and German collusion. In public, Munich prosecutors issued arrest warrants for 13 suspected CIA operatives while Angela Merkel's office called for an investigation. In private, the German justice ministry and foreign ministry both made it clear to the US that they were not interested in pursuing the case. Later that year, then Justice Minster Brigitte Zypries went public with her decision against attempting extradition, citing US refusal to arrest or hand over the agents.
Will this toxic combination of American pressure and a European ally's acquiescence derail justice in Spain, as well?
This 1 April 2009 cable, released 1 December 2010, shows Obama administration officials trying their best to stop the prosecution of the Bush Six. They fret that "the fact that this complaint targets former administration legal officials may reflect a 'stepping-stone' strategy designed to pave the way for complaints against even more senior officials" and bemoan Spain's "reputation for liberally invoking universal jurisdiction". Chief Prosecutor Javier Zaragoza reassures the US that while "in all likelihood he would have no option but to open a case", he does not "envision indictments or arrest warrants in the near future", and will "argue against the case being assigned to Garzon" (a notoriously tough judge, who has since been removed from the case).
Judge Velasco, who has since been assigned to the case, has been scrupulous in his oversight. The Spanish court has thrice asked the US, in accordance with international law, "whether the acts referred to in this complaint are or are not being investigated or prosecuted", and if so, "to identify the prosecuting authority and to inform this court of the specific procedure by which to refer the complaints for joinder". Of course, no response to any of these requests has been received, because the Obama administration has no intention whatsoever of pursuing justice on this matter.
Democracy demands a fully functioning legal system – one that does not bend to hidden pressures and political agendas. We have faith that Judge Velasco will justify the US officials' concerns about Spain's independent judiciary, and its respect for international law, and move forward with the Bush Six case.
Comments
Note: Disqus 2012 is best viewed on an up to date browser. Click here for information. Instructions for how to sign up to comment can be viewed here. Our Comment Policy can be viewed here. Please follow the guidelines. Note to Readers: Spam Filter May Capture Legitimate Comments...
77 Comments so far
Show AllGiovanna. . . I read and research a lot. Google is good because you can get a balanced view on most anything - lots of views on any subject. Woodward is one of our best investigative reporters and I read all of his books. At 77 years of age, I have spent a good part of my lifetime reading about 3 books a month. I stay away from extreme media of both ends of the spectrum. I have friends in think tanks that help me from time to time. The Hoover Institute at Stanford I consider reliable. CSpan is good because you are watching congress and the hearings first hand. Biographies are one of the best ways to research history. I liked Obama's two books and Remnick's new biography on Obama, "The Bridge." It takes a great deal of research, thought and common sense to reach conclusions.
I consider myself a moderate hawk. I do not attach myself to any specific idology - other then a search for the truth - whatever that may be.
All of my stated data and conclusions can be readily verified by a little time on Google. Your responses to my essay do not show any degree of specific knowledge or research. To refute, please be specific and provide me your verifiable sources.
Yikes. If you consider yourself a moderate hawk, I'd hate to meet your industrialist buddy if he's what now qualifies as a real hawk in the universe that you inhabit.
Bill from Saginaw
Sir, you have been BRAINWASHED ...I wish I knew where you could go to get back to the real world, but I don't.
Perhaps reading, and stop watching Fox Entertainment . It is because of people like yourself, that we think, and act so small in America, and we continue to think War is the right thing to do. The World is getting tired of our Shit, and if we don't grow up, and change our ways soon, who knows what they will do to stop us from constantly attacking people !
Please take the time to look at another way of doing things....
"I'll never understand the 'no WMD' thing".
True, you probably won't. As for "the long arc of the moral universe (bending) towards justice", I hope you're right, because I'm sure looking forward to it.
You've really been drinking the Kool-Aid, dude. Who are YOU? Your little list of 20th century crimes seems a bit selective. Where is the six million (conservative) who died as a result of US criminal actions, either direct military invasion, the CIA or one of its surrogates, since WW II ended? At least 2 million Vietnamese were slaughtered. More than a million Iraqis were decimated from malnutrition and disease under GHW Bush and Clinton, and since Bush the Lesser's illegal invasion another million have died. The rate of mutated babies has skyrocked since 1990 in Iraq, a direct and proven result of exposure to depleted uranium munitions, which is a war crime to use. Jeez man I could go on and on and on, but you've got to get a grip. Your sources have failed you. The media you think are reliable--C-Span, Hoover Institution, and that other CIA book writer you cite, Woodward--are propaganda outlets. Good thing you've found Common Dreams. Stick around for a few years. You might learn something, and over time. It will be confusing and difficult, because you will have to lose a lot of your misplaced faith in the corporate media you now apparently trust.
A.Q Khan also provided some of the technology to Iran for construction of atomic weapons.
As did Dick Cheney. The centrifuge tubes in fact. As CEO of Halliburton, then with the transactions continuing until January 2006, per Censored 2007.This was the number two "censored" story of 2007.We don't hear them because the media feel we don't need to know. That's why we never heard about the tubes or A Q Khan and his role. Our media does not do it's job for the citizenry.
Penny. . . There have been books out for years on A.Q. Khan. I was not aware of the tubes - Haliburton - Cheney connection. What is your reliable source(s)?
Source was indicated in my post. Censored 2007, Media Democracy in Action, page 38-41.
fredynick,
Check this out: http://lautenberg.senate.gov/documents/foreign/REPORT_Halliburton_Iran.pdf
I tried, Ath, but I can't bring it up yet. But thanks for the response.
SIX?
FREE AMERICA
REVOLUTIONARY (DIRECT) DEMOCRACY
Isn't it interesting how an article from the UK/Guardian about holding the Bushies criminally accountable for torture and rendition was rather adroitly diverted and redirected by a single post into an apocalyptic discourse about swarthy foreign terrorist evil doers tinkering with atomic bombs and esoteric cause-and-effect technical speculations over the "real" events of September 11, 2001?
Happy New Year everyone.
Bill from Saginaw
Bill from Saginaw. . . Love your post - especially about the "swarthy foreign terrorists tinkering with atomic bombs" - from whom - I take it - we have nothing to fear - except fear itself. So let's chop off the heads of any that dare attempt to protect us from our vivid imaginations. Thus saith the ghosts of the 200 million murdered by the 20th century thugs - and our indifferance.
You have excellent literary skills.
Have a great life.
Well folks, I'm going to leave you - and wish you the best. After spending a week with you, my take is that our "parallel universes" are, of course, to do with perception. I see the world coming out into the broad sunlit uplands, and you choose to see all things as dark conspiracies - and things going to hell in a handbasket.
My bottom line is that our president's primary role is national security. I grade both GW Bush and Obama high in that role. No successful terrorist acts on American soil since 9/11/01. A rebuilt and effective intelligence community - over 5,000 planned terrorist attacts detected and stopped in nine years (thanks in part to water boarding and sleep deprevation, etc.). Iraq, and the world, have been freed from a thug, Iraq is safer from violence then we are, and Iraq is headed towards freedom, safety, democracy and prosperity. We're downsizing our military and reshaping it for this new type of warfare - which is getting ever more non violent. Score - year 1900 - no nation free, democratic and with universal suffrage. Year 2000 - all but seven of the 194 nations free, democratic with - or heading towards - univeral suffrage. Thanks to America standing against the thugs of the world - and being a shining beacon as a model that the world has chosen to copy. Thank you, George W. Bush and your team of the best and brightest.
The long arc of the moral universe bends towards justice.
Peace be unto you, brothers and sisters,
Please remember not to vote. And please, feel free to continue to talk to yourself and each other - and without fear - thanks to GWB.
"Score - year 1900 - no nation free, democratic and with universal suffrage. Year 2000 - all but seven of the 194 nations free, democratic with - or heading towards - univeral suffrage. Thanks to America standing against the thugs of the world - and being a shining beacon as a model that the world has chosen to copy."
Is this what they are teaching the new CIA recruits now? fredy, I'd encourage you to read some John Stockwell, former CIA agent. He can enlighten you a little bit about what your employer is really up to. The Company controls many media outlets, and writers like Woodward. Oh, and read Confessions of an Economic Hitman, too. Lots of information in there that will bring clarity to what US foreign policy has REALLY been about since 1945. And it has nothing to do with providing freedom and democracy to the world.
fredynick, i know you must be disappointed that i didn't respond to your intentional incitement with anger or insults. Obviously, that is what you came here for.
Peace unto you as well, brother. May the mothership beam you up to a planet where everyone thinks exactly as you do. And may it have all of the torture prison sites that your heart desires. You deserve to have your dreams come true.
It is a sad day for America. Living in a country where persecution of pot smokers is an everyday event and destroys countless peoples lives while the real criminals who enforce these laws are free to violate human rights everyday. The amazing thing is that our leaders can kill unknown numbers of people, torture who knows how many innocent people, destroy the entire sanitation, water, transportation and electrical grid of Iraq and still be thought of as good guys, not guilty of any crimes whatsoever. This is an illegal occupation and a violation of International law. The lesson that the world learns is that the leaders of our country are above the law and that law or justice is only to be used against the little people. The old saying that no one is above the law is proven a lie. Some people are above the law. No equal justice for all. In America the people have lost control of law to a bunch of wealthy oligarchs. We are no longer a nation of laws. We have become a nation of lawlessness. Hopefully, other nations that are free and live by the rule of law will understand that it is up to them to bring war criminals to justice. The most important thing is a trial so these persons can be judged by the world community. The US as it currently exists seems to not care about justice or the law. It is time for the world community to stand up and help free and liberate the US from tyranny. The longer the world community remains silent the longer this tyranny goes on. The people of the US are helpless. The free press only exists on the internet. Our newspapers only protect the oligarchs. I urge any person that reads this post to carefully consider what I have asked the world community to do. If I am wrong than I am sorry. At least a trial would clear my mind of certainty. I could be believing a lie. The only way to know for certain would be a trial to either convict or clear these people. I think the world as well as I want to know. Are these people responsible for war crimes or not? The only way to clear the air is a public trial based on the precedents of Nuremberg.
It was the US/UK who 'proudly' wrote the Nuremburg Protocols that sent the Nazi chieftains to the gallows.
Today, these same criminal bastards would go to prison 'for life' if these same protocols were applied to the US/Israel/UK 'genocide triplets!'
TheAZCowBoy
Tombstone, AZ.
I'll say one thing for fredynick...
He sure has the MSM message nailed down.
Hooray to abandoning our rights to protect us.
-30-
Rita (readytotransform)...
I apologize if I offended you personally, and came across as if to incite and with anger and insults. None of that has any value in my "universe." That was and is not my goal or desire. True happiness includes inner peace and the ability to forgive oneself - ever if the offendee cannot forgive. My hope would be to bridge our differences and work together to further bend the long arc of the moral universe towards justice. This is an unqualified "I'm sorry."
I found that spending a couple of weeks exposed to CommonDreams shook my universe - and my psyche. I have the delusion that I am open to all input, but choose not to expose myself to other's "far out" and delusional mind sets. I do not include you in that description.
Perhaps what bothers me the most is the consideration that some of you on CommonDreams are intelligent, thoughtful, concerned, civil and sincere - for starters. That you truly believe, deep inside, what you are suggesting – and I see those ideas as being counterproductive to the progress of the human conditions. The great irony of the 20th century was both it being the most horrific in its mass murder, while at the same time being the most progressive toward universal peace, humanity, democracy and security. Running the numbers alone verify this. The numbers are - two hundred million horrific deaths in the wars and intranational genocides against a few million collateral deaths during the border wars that were a tradeoff against the potential carnage from the neo thugs left unchallenged. My view is that it was the model and the intervention of America that caused the shift. My view is that America had to knock some heads and rattle some cages, and made some mistakes, along the journey – for the greater good. Your view is that America is the bad guy – the greater Satan – and that Satan is not the mass murderers that still threaten.
Perhaps it is that long ago I chose the belief system that included - that all humans are doing the best they can, based on their nature, nurture and circumstance. This includes that the gifted mass murderers of this and the 20th century, e.g. Mao, Stalin, Hitler, Imperial Japan, Pol Pot, Saddam, Kim Il Sung, etc. rationalized that what they were doing was best for the "greater good." Consider that the worst of these - China, Germany, Japan - are come out into the broad sunlit uplands of the world community and now are progressive and good world citizens, joined in the cause of improving the human condition and ecological challenges facing the planet.
The healthy psyche abhors wars and the killing of our own kind - which is why most veterans of front line combat are forever altered and haunted by what they did and witnessed. Humankind abhors what the mass murderers did. But it cannot be just wished, debated or ignored away. In diplomacy, in the exchange between the statesman and the prevaricator, in recent history the prevaricator comes out on top. There must be a physical intervention to stop the thug.
The naughty nations and individuals are at an all time low in human history - but the dangers they present, e.g. atomic weapons, WMD, perverted science, porous borders, attitudes, freedoms of travel and communications, etc. make these few the greatest threats in human history.
The explosions of a few atomic bombs in the low atmosphere or in major metropolitan areas can cripple the planet, sending us into chaos and back into a horrendous darkness. It has the potential to cut off our food and water supply to the masses, and hundreds of millions would die because most of us cannot survive long without the basic necessities. That is why we must stand against the few remaining thugs on the planet. We must not allow the further proliferation of perverted science. We must continue to reduce our stockpiles of atomic weapons and eventually eliminate them altogether - from the planet. America and Russia started that process years ago. Obama and Putin are continuing in that direction. Even Kim Il Sung in North Korea, and Iran are feeling the international pressure put on them to back off.
The big picture is that America stands almost alone in standing against the thugs and injustices remaining. And America is being reviled and vilified by a few for our minor infractions in our quest for a better and nobler humanity. Fortunately, many in the world community recognize the good that America is accomplishing by our foreign and domestic security policies – combined with our recent history of humanitarian activities to those in need. It just doesn't seem to be fashionable to recognize this. The song’s the same – the lyric has changed to,
You gotta’ accentuate the negative,
Eliminate the postitive,
Latch on the cynical,
Don’t mess with mister in between.
Suggesting that George W. Bush and America are the villains is absurd.
Love and without rancor,
Fred
Obama thinks it's just fine to order the murder of Americans citizens whom he feels are somehow involve in "terrorism" (whatever THAT word means this morning).
Bush made a big show of Osama bin Laden "wanted dead or alive."
When the legal means of bringing war criminals to justice does not exist -- as it does not exist in the US -- it might not be unreasonable to declare these war criminals "wanted dead or alive." Poetic justice, if nothing else.
Liberty & Justice,
sj
Hey Fredynick---
In your litany of atrocities and atrocity creators, you sort of left out a couple or so of items...
Like,
* WWII firestorming of Dresden and carpet bombing of Hamburg
* Hiroshima and Nagasaki
* Post-War support for many right-wing regimes in Europe, including the Greek generals who exterminated people deemed Left
* Repetition of this model in Latin/South America for decades resulting in the deaths of untold millions and the degradation of the lives of many more
* Viet Nam
* A Democrat Secretary of State who said on television that half a million dead children in Iraq was "worth it"
* Etc.
Your self-styled open-ended persona is actually a "passive-aggressive" hiding behind a wall of ultimately silly words.
Scoundrel.
-30-