Spanish Inquisitors – Baltasar Garzon and Eloy Velasco |
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| By: JohnEly Tuesday May 5, 2009 10:19 pm | |
In Spain, Judge Garzon has sent the case back to Judge Eloy Velasco. The key figures under investigation in Spain are Alberto (‘Fredo’) Gonzales, Yoo, Addington, Haynes, Feith and Bybee.
Here is a bio of Garzon from BBC. Here is a recent summary of that status of the investigation.
This story is thus developing alongside the question of how Holder will evaluate the DoJ internal investigation of the same group.
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I have taken the liberty of making some small edits to your excellent diary – you are doing great with links – keep up the good work.
” MADRID, May 5 (Reuters) – A Spanish judge moved closer on Tuesday to investigating former Bush administration officials over torture at Guantanamo Bay, raising the possibility that two Spanish probes could focus on activities at the U.S. base.
In a ruling, Judge Eloy Velasco asked U.S. authorities to confirm if an investigation already exists in the United States into accusations of complicity with torture against six men including former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
The request is a formality because it is public knowledge that Gonzales and the other men face no judicial probe in their home country. But it is necessary so Judge Velasco can argue that he can open an investigation. “
http://www.alertnet.org/thenew…..534094.htm
Israel might be next in line.
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” The United Nations anti-torture committee has demanded access to an Israeli secret prison where torture is allegedly being practiced.
The UN Committee Against Torture in Geneva prepared a document on Israel’s record on torture on Tuesday and called on Tel Aviv to release information on the alleged “Facility 1391″ which is situated in an “undetermined location within Israel and which is not accessible to the International Committee of the Red Cross or detainees’ lawyers or relatives.” “
http://atheonews.blogspot.com/…..raeli.html
Welcome and recommend John.
Viva Garzon !
may I pile on ?
saw an item Monday wherein Saddam Hussein accused his captors of torturing him.
not that we wouldn’t be stupid enough to torture our highest profile prisoner (tell us about Atta old man !) but now there’s no reason for the world to doubt we did.
they spanish are certainly getting in their redemption for the inquisition. good on them.
thanks and recommended.
and bluebutterfly, thanks for the news about the u.n. following up on israel.
..and what a redemption it is..well worth the wait..’g’
Thanks for your encouragement and help with the links.
Re: Israel. Wikipedia has references, if I recall, in its article on torture, referring to polls done in Israel, presumably in the context of the Supreme Court decisions there limiting torture, that upwards of 60% of the Israeli population as polled supported some variant of torture. Obviously, it is quite interesting when modern states with representative government and etc. begin polling themselves on such topics.
The US, especially in the WaPo Dan Balz version where it is the ‘left’ that wants to ‘criminalize’, and the center which is ‘moderate’ on the subject, with means-ends-time-bomb right is taken as a representation of US public opinion. Curious if anyone has ever seen polling data on such questions in countries other than the US (Pew Report) or Israel?
” 24 June 2008 – The majority of people polled in 19 countries were against the use of torture, even in the case of terrorists who have information that could save innocent lives, according to a survey presented at the United Nations in New York today.
The findings of the WorldPublicOpinion.org poll were released ahead of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, observed on 26 June, and as part of this year’s 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
“These discussions take place at a moment when human rights are very much under fire internationally for a range of reasons – some of them related to the ascendancy of unhelpful notions of security and counter-terrorism, others related to destructive approaches to global economics,” Craig Mokhiber of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights told a news conference.
“Today the focus is on what the people are saying,” he stated. “Do they still share the vision as outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?”
Some 19,000 people were polled in the survey, which found that, in 14 of the 19 nations, most people favoured an unequivocal prohibition against torture. On average across all nations polled, 57 per cent of the public opted for unequivocal rules against torture. Four nations – India, Nigeria and Turkey with clear majorities and Thailand with a plurality – favoured an exception for terrorists if innocent lives were at risk.
The surveys were conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org, a consortium of 22 research centres studying public opinion on international issues. “
http://www.un.org/apps/news/st…..&Cr1=
November 2003
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” Facility 1391: Israel’s secret prison
It has been removed from maps and airbrushed from aerial photographs. But Facility 1391 certainly exists – you just have to ask the Palestinians and Lebanese who have been imprisoned and tortured there.
“Our main conclusion is that it exists to make torture possible – a particular kind of torture that creates progressive states of dread, dependency, debility,” says Manal Hazzan, a human rights lawyer who helped expose the prison’s existence. “The law gives the army enough authority already to hide prisoners, so why do they need a secret facility?”
Unlike any other Israeli prison, the International Red Cross, lawyers and members of the Israeli parliament have been refused access. One leftwing MP, Zahava Gal-On, describes Facility 1391 as “one of the signs of totalitarian regimes and of the third world”. The Israeli government declines to discuss the secret prison other than to issue a standard response: “Facility 1391 is situated on a secret military base. The base is used by the security services for various classified activities and thus its location is kept confidential.”
But it is not just human rights lawyers and leftwing MPs who have a problem. Ami Ayalon is a former head of Israel’s intelligence service, the Shin Bet. He was told about 1391 but says he refused to have anything to do with it. “I knew there was a facility not under the responsibility of the Shin Bet, but under the responsibility of the military. I didn’t think then, and I don’t think today, that such an institution should exist in a democracy,” he says. “
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl…..14/israel2
” But it may come as an unpleasant surprise for the American public to learn that for over 30 years, Israel has also repeatedly detained, tortured and incarcerated Americans of Arab origin, without suffering any sanctions or even a public reprimand from Washington.
Responding to a question in the April 2, 2002, press briefing, a State Department spokesman confirmed that Israel was holding at least 18 American citizens on “security” charges, and had detained at least 22 more since “the current violence began last fall.” He also noted that “we have no way of knowing for certain the numbers of American citizens who may have been detained for short periods and released.” Since it is a legal obligation of every host government to notify the local diplomatic mission within 48 hours of the detention of a foreign national, this is an alarming admission.
In addition, Israeli and international human rights organizations have gathered evidence that such prisoners are routinely denied family visits for long periods and deprived of access to legal counsel. Their interrogations routinely include torture. Such cases are heard by one military officer at a hearing conducted in a settlement on the West Bank, which enables authorities to deny the detainee a civil trial. The detainee is not allowed to challenge the charges or offer a real defense. “
http://www.ifamericansknew.org…..rture.html
We are told that SERE is the only program being used at Guantanamo. Really? Maybe some other country had some influence. Israeli contractors were used at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. This is from 1999. Detect any difference between Guantanamo and Israel?
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” Until the 1999 High Court of Justice ruling of 1999, the Israeli security forces tortured thousands of Palestinian detainees each year. According to PCATI’s estimates, almost all interrogees during this period of time were the victims of at least one form of torture during their interrogation.
The GSS interrogation process was not regulated in law but was conducted according to the recommendations of the Landau Commission. Only a part of the Landau Commission report has been published, the section detailing interrogation methods remains classified.
Methods of interrogation and torture used by the GSS included:
* Binding in painful position for hours over consecutive days while covering the head of the interrogee with a wet, foul-smelling sack.
* Beating.
* Shaking (shaking the body and head of the detainee back and forth by a GSS agent who grabs the interrogee by the shoulders or shirt).
* Sleep prevention and withholding of food.
* Exposure to cold or heat.
* Binding to a small, slanted chair.
* Verbal abuse, cursing and psychological humiliation.
* Exposure to loud music.
* Threats against the detainee or his family.
* Prevention of basic hygienic conditions and changes of clothes.
* Isolation from the outside world (including from attorneys and family members) at times for months. “
http://www.stoptorture.org.il/en/skira90-99
Well, it sure doesn’t seem like Holder is going to do this. I wonder if we will be embarrassed when they are convicted in a Spanish court.
I wonder about Obama’s government; he’s still got a lot of Bushies in there and apparently, many in former Bush “administration” are putting pressure on Holder.
It’s like we have two governments going at once. Very confusing.