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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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5

Spanish Judge to Investigate Torture at Gitmo

Declassified memos show there were abuses, Garzon says

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(Newser) – A Spanish judge has launched a probe into allegations of torture at the American prison at Guantanamo Bay, AFP reports. Baltasar Garzon initiated the investigation after reading statements by Spanish citizen Hamed Abderrahman Ahmed and three other prisoners about their treatment there. Garzon also said that the memos recently declassified by the Obama administration raised concerns about the Gitmo program.

The documents “have revealed what was previously a suspicion: the existence of an authorized and systematic program of torture and mistreatment,” Garzon said. Garzon famously ordered the arrest of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998, under the Spanish legal principle of universal jurisdiction in cases of crimes against humanity, terrorism, and genocide.

Soldiers in a Humvee patrol the perimeter of the Camp Delta detention compound, which has housed foreign prisoners since 2002, at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, in Cuba, Friday, June 6, 2008.
Soldiers in a Humvee patrol the perimeter of the Camp Delta detention compound, which has housed foreign prisoners since 2002, at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, in Cuba, Friday, June 6, 2008.   (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
In this image reviewed by the U.S. Military, a Guantanamo detainee holds onto a fence on the grounds of the maximum security prison at Camp 5, at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba, June 26, 2006.
In this image reviewed by the U.S. Military, a Guantanamo detainee holds onto a fence on the grounds of the maximum security prison at Camp 5, at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base, Cuba, June 26, 2006.   (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
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5 comments
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TerrifiedCitizen
Apr 29, 09 3:21 PM CDT
Good for you Garzon... you go boy. Reply
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+1
bacimom
Apr 29, 09 3:58 PM CDT
Why not? Cuba used to be theirs. Reply
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0
mickey61988
Apr 29, 09 6:57 PM CDT
somebody needs to do something besides just talk about it. Reply
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0
Rob
Apr 30, 09 6:04 AM CDT
Someone needed to launch an Inquisition, and the Spanish have stepped up again. Who expected this? Reply
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OWLWOMANXXXX
Apr 30, 09 8:08 AM CDT
I agree.. better if foreigners do the investigating Reply
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