'/> Uncommon Hours: Spain initiates war crimes investigation against Bush administration officials
Blogging on culture, politics, and the environment since 2008.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Spain initiates war crimes investigation against Bush administration officials

By MARLISE SIMONS
Published: New York Times, March 28, 2009

LONDON — A Spanish court has taken the first steps toward opening a criminal investigation into allegations that six former high-level Bush administration officials violated international law by providing the legal framework to justify the torture of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, an official close to the case said.

The case, against former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and others, was sent to the prosecutor’s office for review by Baltasar Garzón, the crusading investigative judge who ordered the arrest of the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. The official said that it was “highly probable” that the case would go forward and that it could lead to arrest warrants.

Read more.