Wikileaks: US Pressured Spain over CIA Rendition and Guantánamo Torture

[EFerrari]

Published on Wednesday, December 1, 2010 by The Guardian/UK
Wikileaks: US Pressured Spain over CIA Rendition and Guantánamo Torture

by Giles Tremlett in Madri




WikiLeaks cables reveal that investigations by Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón were of greatest concern to the US. (Photograph: Dominique Faget/AFP/Getty Images)


US officials tried to influence Spanish prosecutors and government officials to head off court investigations into Guantánamo Bay torture allegations, secret CIA "extraordinary rendition" flights and the killing of a Spanish journalist by US troops in Iraq, according to secret US diplomatic cables.

Among their biggest worries were investigations pursued by the magistrate Baltasar Garzón, who US officials described as having "an anti-American streak".

"We are certainly under no illusions about the individual with whom we are dealing," they said after he opened an investigation into torture at Guantánamo Bay prison camp. "Judge Garzon has been a storied and controversial figure in recent Spanish history, whose ambition and pursuit of the spotlight may be without rival."

The revelations contained in the leaked documents will be embarrassing to Spanish prosecutors who shared information on cases they were involved in, and whose identities the Americans wanted protected.

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/12/01

[seafan]

1. Wikileaks: US pressured Spain over CIA rendition and Guantánamo torture

Spain weighs torture inquiry for 6 former Bush officials, March 29, 2009



Wikileaks: US pressured Spain over CIA rendition and Guantánamo torture

Giles Tremlett in Madrid
Guardian

30 November 2010 21.30 GMT

.....

The revelations contained in the leaked documents will be embarrassing to Spanish prosecutors who shared information on cases they were involved in, and whose identities the Americans wanted protected.

They included the attorney general, Candido Conde-Pumpido, national court chief prosecutor, Javier Zaragoza, and fellow prosecutor Vicente González Mota, responsible for the CIA flights affair.
Zaragoza is revealed as a valuable source who accuses Garzón of opening some human rights cases in order to "drum up more speaking fees". He proved to be an ally as the US tried to stem a flood of investigations at Spain's national court – one of the world's most vigorous courts in exercising international jurisdiction over human rights crimes.

A major worry was a torture case brought by a Spanish non-governmental organisation against six senior Bush administration officials, including the former attorney general Alberto Gonzales.

Senator Mel Martinez, a former Republican party chairman, and the US embassy's charge d'affaires visited the Spanish foreign ministry to warn the investigation would have consequences. "Martinez and the charge underscored that the prosecutions would ... have an enormous impact on the bilateral relationship," the officials reported.

Officials in Madrid discussed with Zaragoza ways in which a US investigation into the same allegations might be opened in order to force the Spanish court to close its own case. "Zaragoza has also told us that if a proceeding regarding this matter were underway in the US, that would effectively bar proceedings in Spain. We intend to further explore this option with him informally," they said.

.....

They noted that Garzón was already in hot water over his investigation into human rights crimes committed under Spain's former dictator General Francisco Franco. As a result Garzón now looks set to be removed from his job by supreme court judges next year.

"Zaragoza doubts Garzón will risk a second such complaint," they said.

But US officials worried he would go down fighting. "It is hard for us to see why the publicity-loving Garzón would shut off his headline-generating machine unless forced to do so," they reported. "We also fear Garzón – far from being deterred by threats of disciplinary action – may welcome the chance for martyrdom, knowing the case will attract worldwide attention."

.....

They were especially alarmed when magistrates and prosecutors in both Spain and Germany began comparing notes. "This co-ordination among independent investigators will complicate our efforts to manage this case at a discreet government-to-government level," they warned.

Officials noted, however, that their own government had not explicitly denied the allegations.

.....

Mel Martinez. Another one of the snakes involved in this.




LINK
Jeb Bush and Mel Martinez


As I recall, Jeb Bush made some trips to Spain as well.



When it comes to prosecution for torture and human rights abuses, the US went out of its way to smear and threaten a Spanish judge who was going after these crimes against humanity.




Revelations such as these will shake our country to its core.



Thanks for all your efforts, EFerrari. For those of us following this closely, these cables are damning confirmation of what we dug out several years ago.


The truth is such a disinfectant.


WikiLeaks, bring it on.

[EFerrari]

20. I'm surprised at how much we've been able to dig out and untangle

given the government snowblowers and the media standing right by them, keeping their feet warm. Wikileaks has been a real gift so far in confirming so much of that.

:thumbsup:

[Solly Mack]

2. K&R

:)

[me b zola]

3. K&R

[hunter]

4. You must be mistaken. Our mainstream media says these wikileaks are frivolous gossip.

:sarcasm:

[EFerrari]

13. The American media just took a huge hit.

I'm going to shop for a dress for the funeral.

[nadinbrzezinski]

18. For the most part, yes, yes they are

Those are the majority of cables.

A few are significant, but giventhe volume even half a percent make for fascinating reading.

[cali]

5. does this surprise anyone?

[Luminous Animal]

6. Is information supposed to surprise us?

[cali]

7. does this surprise anyone?

[Ichingcarpenter]

8. Wikileaks is a danger

to official US torturers and government sanctioned War Crimes......

[Solly Mack]

9. ...

[EFerrari]

10. U.S. Pressured Spain to Drop Case of Cameraman Killed in Palestine Hotel

Leaked U.S. embassy cables from Madrid reveal the United States pressured the Spanish government to close a court case brought by the family of a Spanish cameraman, José Couso. Couso was killed in Baghdad when a U.S. Army tank fired on the Palestine Hotel, which was filled with journalists, on April 8, 2003. Three U.S. soldiers have been indicted in Spanish court for Couso’s death. "I am outraged," says Javier Couso, the brother of José Couso. "I can’t believe my government conspired with a foreign government… It seems we are citizens, or at least a small province, of the empire of the United States."

Guests:
Javier Couso, brother of José Couso, a cameraman with the Spanish TV network Telecinco, who was killed in 2003 when the U.S. military attacked the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad. His family has pushed for justice in the Spanish courts.

Maria Carrion, Independent freelance journalist based in Madrid, Spain. She provided translation for Javier Couso.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/12/1/us_pressured_spain_to_drop_case

Audio, video, transcript.

[EFerrari]

11. WikiLeaks Cables Reveal U.S. Tried to Thwart Spanish Probes of Gitmo Torture and CIA Rendition

The latest disclosures from the massive trove of diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks reveal U.S. officials tried to influence Spanish prosecutors and government officials to drop court investigations into torture at Guantánamo Bay and CIA extraordinary rendition flights. We speak to Scott Horton, an attorney specializing in international law and human rights and a contributing editor of Harper’s Magazine.

With Scott Horton, Harper's

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/12/1/wikileaks_cables_reveal_us_tried_to

Audio, video, transcript

[leftstreet]

12. K&R

Interesting article!

[EFerrari]

14. .

[Mnemosyne]

15. KnR for truth and visibility. n/t

[Octafish]

16. I remember when the United States prosecuted war criminals.

Now we are one.

[EFerrari]

17. It's like the whole world has been taken over by Heathers.

And, frankly, it's bizarre to me to see so many people identifying with them and even, taking their side.

lol

:hi:

[Kaleko]

21. Decades worth of brainwashing are hard to undo. It hurts, it's like a psychological death.

Wikileaks plays a huge part in the ongoing "lifting of the veil", which is the literal translation of the Greek word apocalypse.

Cheers to more veils being lifted every single day.

[EFerrari]

22. That's a very good point.

It is like a narcissistic wound, a blow to one's identity as "an American".

[Kaleko]

24. Exactly. The resistance to Wikileaks disclosures is the terror of seeing the myth

of the "good American" being blown to bits. And swiftly too, just like the WOT towers along with building 7 collapsing within seconds into their own footprints. We're witnessing an enormous shift in perception of what is real and what is bullshit fed to the masses for population control purposes since FDR.

[EFerrari]

25. Yep, it was counter insurgency. And we thought all this time

that it only happened in those other countries.

But as Solly Mack and I were remarking up thread, the pronouns get very slippery when our political class and when their media talk. They bind us all up in their "we" as if our interests are identical.

We're finding out, more or less traumatically, that they hate us, the law, democvacy and each other. It's like an intervention, isn't it? And interventions are very, very painful.

[Kaleko]

26. Good analogy. Wikilieaks as an intervention to straighten out the criminally insane junkie

that acts on the world stage in the name of America.

[EFerrari]

27. And remember, the whole rest of the family goes through it, too,

not just the one that is using out of control.

[Kaleko]

28. We're all related, we are a worldwide family - this now becomes ever more clear.

Thank you for recognizing these implications and spelling them out, E.

[EFerrari]

29. Not being outside of this either, it's so helpful to have you all

to unpack this with.

Thank you!

[Uncle Joe]

19. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, EFerrari.

[EFerrari]

23. Thank you, Uncle Joe.

:hi:

[spanone]

30. k&r

[slipslidingaway]

31. knr nt

[Solly Mack]

32. ....

[EFerrari]

33. Check out this representation of Assange with Iran sticking out of his head.

I found it at this article (which I give a "meh" to.)

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2034276-4,00.html

[Imagevision]

34. Obama caved to Bush crime family and don't forget his letting BP slide...

[EFerrari]

36. We don't seem to own any part of this government. n/

[Bluebear]

37. You said it my friend

[suffragette]

35. K&R

[davidwparker]

38. K&R