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The Bush Six is a term which refers to six former officials of the United States government under the presidency of George W. Bush (2001–09), following the filing of criminal charges against them in Spain.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] In March 2009 Baltasar Garzón was asked to consider whether Spain should allow charges to be filed against:

Jane Mayer, writing in The New Yorker, reported that Phillipe Sands had predicted that charges would be laid against the six men back in his 2008 book Torture Team.[4] Mayer reported that after hearing news of the Spanish charges, Sands told her, "This is the end of these people’s professional reputations! This is no joke. We’re talking about the serious potential deprivation of liberty.”

Scott Horton, writing in The Daily Beast, reported on April 13, 2009, that his sources said formal charges would be filed on April 14, 2009.[5][11][12] Horton reported that Garzón had been urged to allow another judge, Ismail Moreno, to conduct the case, because he was still involved in the possible prosecution of Spanish former Guantanamo captives. Paul Havens, reporting for the Associated Press reported that an unnamed source within the Spanish prosecutors office had told him that the charges would be filed during the week of April 14, 2009.[13] CNN, also quoting an unnamed source within the Spanish prosecutor's office, reported that charges were not expected for several days.[14]

On April 16, 2009, the Spanish Attorney General stated he thought the Spanish investigative magistrate should drop the consideration of charges against the six men.[15]

Under the Spanish justice system, investigating magistrates like Garzón are not under the authority of the Attorney General, and he can continue to consider laying charges even though the Attorney General has advised against it.[15]

On April 23, 2009, Eloy Velasco took over responsibility for determining whether or not the six former Bush officials should face Spanish charges.[16]

The Guardian reported on April 29, 2009, that Garzón initiated a formal investigation into whether confessions from four former Guantanamo captives was the result of the use of abusive interrogation techniques.[17][18][19] The four men: Hamed Abderrahman Ahmed, Lahcen Ikassrien, Jamiel Abdul Latif al Banna and Omar Deghayes, had previously faced charges in Spanish courts, based on confessions they made while in US custody. Their charges had been dropped based on their claims that their confessions were false and were the result of abusive interrogation techniques.

On May 5, 2009, Investigating Magistrate Eloy Velasco formally requested the USA to indicate whether they were going to conduct a domestic inquiry into the six men's conduct.[20] Spain's principle of universal justice allows third party states to charge non-citizens, and request their extradition, only when their country of citizenship has not conducted its own investigation.[20]

On May 20, 2009, the New York Times reported that some Spanish legislators were proposing a law to strip investigating magistrates of the authority to pursue international human rights cases.[21] This law, however, would not retroactively put an end to the progress of current cases. It would merely have stopped the initiation of similar cases.

According to historian Andy Worthington, writing in the Huffington Post, Spanish newspaper Público had reported that Garzón was proceeding to the next phase of his investigation.[22]

See also

References

  1. ^ Katherine Gallagher (2009). "Universal Jurisdiction in Practice: Efforts to Hold Donald Rumsfeld and Other High-level United States Officials Accountable for Torture". 7 (5). Journal of International Criminal Justice: 1087–1116. Retrieved 2010-04-08. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) mirror
  2. ^ Kai Ambos (2009). "Accountability for the Torture Memo: Prosecuting Guantanamo in Europe: Can and Shall the Masterminds of the "Torture Memos" Be Held Criminally Responsible on the Basis of Universal Jurisdiction?". Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law. Retrieved 2010-04-08. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) mirror
  3. ^ Mori Dinauer (2009-03-30). "Lightning round: Incompetent or evil?". American Prospect. Archived from the original on 2009-05-06.
  4. ^ a b Jane Mayer (2009-04-13). "The Bush Six". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 2009-05-06.
  5. ^ a b Daphne Eviator (2009-04-14). "Bush Six to Be Indicted Today (In Spain)". Washington Independent. Archived from the original on 2009-04-14.
  6. ^ Steve Anderson (2009-04-13). "The Bush Six - The Chile connection: Is There A Silver Lining In The Dark Clouds?". Valparaiso Times. Archived from the original on 2009-04-14.
  7. ^ Jake Tapper (2009-04-14). "Report: The "Bush Six" to Be Indicted by Spanish Prosecutors". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2009-04-14.
  8. ^ Amy Goodman (2009-05-21). "Analysts expect US torturers to be brought to justice in long run despite current delays, setbacks". Middle East Online. Retrieved 2010-04-08. mirror
  9. ^ Pere Rusiñol (2009-06-09). "No hay barrera legal para juzgar en España". Publico. Retrieved 2010-04-08. mirror
  10. ^ "Spain may decide Guantanamo probe this week". Reuters. 2009-03-28. Archived from the original on 2009-03-29. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
  11. ^ Scott Horton (2009-04-13). "Bush Six to be indicted". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 2009-04-14.
  12. ^ Annie Lowery (2009-04-14). "Spain to indict the "Bush Six" over torture". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 2009-04-14.
  13. ^ Paul Havens (2009-04-14). "Decision likely in US torture case in Spain". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2009-04-14.
  14. ^ "Spanish court to decide over Bush officials trial". CNN. 2009-04-14. Archived from the original on 2009-04-14.
  15. ^ a b "Prosecutor: Drop case against Bush officials". CNN. 2009-04-16. Archived from the original on 2009-04-16.
  16. ^ Al Goodman (2009-04-23). "Spanish court sends Guantanamo case to new judge". CNN. Archived from the original on 2009-05-02.
  17. ^ Giles Tremblett (2009-04-29). "Spanish court opens investigation of Guantánamo torture allegations". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2009-04-29.
  18. ^ "Spanish judge opens probe into Guantanamo torture". Agence France Presse. 2009-04-29. Archived from the original on 2009-04-29.
  19. ^ Gerald Warner (2009-04-29). "Spanish judge uses memos released by Barack Obama to pursue Bush officials". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2009-04-29.
  20. ^ a b Daniel Woolls (2009-05-05). "Spanish judge asks US if it will probe torture". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2009-05-05.
  21. ^ Victoria Burkett, Marlise Simons, (2009-05-20). "Push in Spain to Limit Reach of the Courts". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2009-05-21.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ Andy Worthington (2009-09-08). "Spanish Judge Resumes Torture Case Against Six Senior Bush Lawyers". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 2009-09-08.
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