Universal Jurisdiction... [Spain]

Overheal

This would belong in EU Politics but in a way it also ties up with the Middle East and adversely the United States.

MADRID, Spain (AP) — A Spanish judge's decision to investigate seven Israeli officials over a deadly 2002 attack against Hamas that had nothing to do with this Iberian country has renewed a debate about the long arm of European justice.


Critics say Madrid should mind its own business, particularly since Spain is still stuggling to address atrocities during its own bloody past. Supporters argue that some crimes are so heinous that all of humanity is a victim, and somebody has to step up and prosecute them.


And Spain is hardly alone. A number of European countries have enacted some form of "universal jurisdiction," a doctrine that allows courts to reach far beyond national borders in cases of torture or war crimes.


_ In 2001, a Belgian court brought charges against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in connection with a 1982 massacre in Lebanon.


_ French judges have opened investigations into Congolese security officials and convicted a Tunisian Interior Ministry official of torturing a fellow citizen on Tunisian soil.


_ And Spain has indicted the late Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and Osama bin Laden among others, including Argentine dirty war suspects.

The rest of the article can be found here.


I'm a little dumbfounded. At first the EU is blasting the US for being "The World Police" (taking Sadaam out in the process - now if you really want to talk about crimes against humanity..) and here is the EU making its own joke out of International Law.

Amid the debate is the diplomatically explosive prospect that a European court could bring charges against American CIA and military operatives accused of torture anywhere in the world, or even indict former Bush administration officials for war crimes.


Former Bush administration official Susan Crawford was quoted in a Washington Post interview published this month as saying the United States tortured one inmate at Guantanamo Bay, Saudi Mohammed al-Qahtani, in 2002. She was the first senior Bush administration official to make such a statement.


Eric Holder, President Barack Obama's designee for attorney general, has said he considers interrogation methods like waterboarding to be torture, but has not indicated he plans to bring charges against any CIA or military operatives that might have used the technique.


If European courts sense a reluctance on the part of American officials to act, analysts say, they could use that to justify bringing charges themselves.


"Without a doubt the United States is the next step," Portero said.

Somehow though I doubt the conviction of the EU to come in and apprehend a former US president on American Soil. Political stunt?

Serenity Now!

Thats Bertie f**ked then...

ejmaztec

But as yet, the EU hasn't bombed the crap out of the relevant countries.

OhNoYouDidn't

Overheal wrote: »

I'm a little dumbfounded. At first the EU is blasting the US for being "The World Police" (taking Sadaam out in the process - now if you really want to talk about crimes against humanity..) and here is the EU making its own joke out of International Law.

There is a slight difference between issuing an arrest warrant for a dictator to be enforced if they ever enter the EU (remember the legal wrangle over Pinochet when he landed in England and Spain issued an extradition paper) and lying to justify an illegal invasion of a state that was not a threat.

Overheal wrote: »

Somehow though I doubt the conviction of the EU to come in and apprehend a former US president on American Soil. Political stunt?

See Pinochet. If the gentleman in question is indicted there would be an warrent issued by the magistrate and an extradition warrent issued. If the US reject it and the chap in question stays out of Spain, what can they do.

No-one has ever suggested 'apprehending them'.

Serenity Now!

ejmaztec wrote: »

But as yet, the EU hasn't bombed the crap out of the relevant countries.

Yes, just supplied said bombs (and other weaponry, equipment, advisory)
Spain has some neck to politicise international judiciaries. The absence of above-board extradition treaties with its European neighbours ensures a nice retirement for every criminal who has ever settled there.