While the Obama administration has stuck to its promise of immunizing Bush administration officials who condoned and conducted torture, other countries have not signed on to that sort of intransigence.
A Spanish judge in Madrid, Judge Pablo Rafael Ruz Gutierrez, decided the court would further investigate the case of four released Guantanamo captives who allege they were abused while in U.S. custody. A review of “medical data, a translation of a Human Rights Watch report, elaboration on material made public by WikiLeaks, and testimony from three senior U.S. military officers who served at Guantanamo,” reports McClatchy, will take place to determine the legality of the detainee treatment.
The Bush administration officials included in the probe are former President George W. Bush, former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and two former Guantanamo commanders, retired Marine Maj. Gen. Michael Lehnert and retired Army Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller.
And in London, the Crown Prosecution Service and Scotland Yard said Thursday announced further investigation into allegations of British involvement in the “extraordinary rendition” program during the Bush years. They will attempt to determine whether British intelligence agencies helped deliver two Libyan dissidents to former leader Moammar Gadhafi, where they were tortured.
These cases are indicative of a new tactic on the part of human rights organizations who are now pushing for justice in European courts, after having faced blocks in U.S. courts as the state’s secrets privilege was invoked. The state’s secret privilege allows the government to stop a court case in its tracks on the basis that releasing information needed for the case would compromise national security. But the legal tool is used to shield U.S. officials from judicial scrutiny.
These tools were used to block justice during the Bush administration and now are used in the Obama administration. “There’s no accountability process,” said James Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative. “There’re no court proceedings. There’re no truth commissions. There’s even less appetite today than there was three years ago.”
Is this a propaganda for the european court or its justice system…? if that is the case let me ask this: what happened to the commission – inquiry in England which was going to investigate the Tony Blair and his Labor party involvement’s regarding Iraq invasion. Did this commission – inquiry or any other for that matter made any transparent conclusion about the British or American illegal Iraq war, did any court in England or for that matter in any other part of Europe ordered the arrest of alleged by the Interpol or any other international law enforcement? If not.., then the Europeans justice system is as corrupt as in USA is.
The Chilcot inquiry is still sitting and will likely publish its report sometime this coming autumn. It first lands on Prime Minister Cameron's desk, and he decides what to do with it. Nobody here who I've spoken with is seriously expecting that anything positive will come of this. So far all it seems to have done is provide a platform for the swivel eyed Blair to step up his rhetoric against Iran, on behalf of the Israelis.
This is only good if its real and not just for the public to feel good about there countrys.And if so should have been done long ago,but better late than never.
The courts in europe will suceed in indicting all who were complicit in war crimes and this includes tony blair and his cohorts.The question arises once indicted will they be extradited by their home country in this case america?
That judge will wind upo just like Judge Garzon when he pissed the CIA off.
You don't try to hold the US government accountable and get away with it.
Here is what is happening to Garzon: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2012/01/2012…
Both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are based on scare mongoring and outright propaganda. Iraq had no WMDs, Afghanistan played not role in 9/11. In fact the US advised Pakistsn's Foreign Secretary during the summer of 2001, that "the US will attack Afghanistan before the snow flies in October." This war was about regime change as negotiations surrounding the proposed Trans-Afghan-Pipeline were seen to be favoring Bridas of Argentine in place of UNOCAL, the American firm. An employee of the US State Dept threatened Sayed Hashemi, the Taliban representative in regards to the failing pipeline deal that "you either accept our carpet of gold or we will bury you in a carpet of bombs."
Both President Bush and VP Cheney should be indicted for launching a war of aggression, the supreme crime under international law, convention and treaty.