Legal Research

The Association for the Dignity of Prisoners has filed a criminal complaint in Spain against the attorneys in the Bush administration who were behind the creation of the Guantanamo Bay detention center.  The complaint seeks to hold the attorneys responsible for basically authorizing torture at the center. Investigative Judge Baltazar Garzon has asked prosecutors to examine the six attorneys named in the complaint, who include John Yoo and former attorney general Alberto Gonzales.

Spain's universal jurisdiction statute allows its courts to reach beyond national borders in cases of torture, war crimes and terrorism.  Judge Garzon famously indicted Osama bin Laden and Augusto Pinochet.  Even if there are no practical effects from the Spanish case, it gives a new gloss to globalism - the whole world is watching, and judging, when human rights are violated here.