U.S. Tried To Stop Spanish Torture Investigation

Between 2003-2005 lawyers working for the U.S. Justice Department wrote a series memos outlining the justification for the use of torture in President Bush’s War on Terror. Written by Jay Baybee and Steven Bradbury the memos provided legal cover for torture of detainee’s even though U.S. law , International Conventions and Treaties which expressly outlaw these abusive measures.

These ten techniques are: (1) attention grasp, (2) walling, (3) facial hold, (4) facial slap, (5) cramped confinement, (6) wall standing, (7) stress positions, (8) sleep deprivation, (9) insects placed in confinement box, (10) the waterboard. You have informed us that the use of these techniques would be on an as-needed basis and that not all these techniques will necessarily be used. The interrogation team would use these techniques in some combination to convince Zubaydah that the only way he can influence his surrounding environment is through cooperation

Neither man has been prosecuted for these violations in the United States even though they are clear violations of laws against violations of human rights. That hasn’t prevented the Spanish judiciary from pursuing the case.

WikiLeaks: How U.S. tried to stop Spain's torture probe

Don't indict former President George W. Bush's legal brain trust for alleged torture in the treatment of war on terror detainees, warned Mel Martinez on one of his frequent trips to Madrid. Doing so would chill U.S.-Spanish relations.
Rather than a resolution, though, a senior Spanish diplomat gave the former GOP chairman and housing secretary a lesson in Spain's separation of powers. "The independence of the judiciary and the process must be respected,'' then-acting Foreign Minister Angel Lossada replied on April 15, 2009. Then for emphasis, "Lossada reiterated to Martinez that the executive branch of government could not close any judicial investigation and urged that this case not affect the overall relationship.''

The cause for alarm at the U.S. Embassy was what a U.S. diplomat called a "well documented'' 12-inch-tall dossier compiled by a Spanish human rights group. In the name of five Guantánamo captives with ties to Spain, it accused the Bush legal insiders of laying the foundation for abuse of detainees in the months following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Of particular concern was that a swashbuckling Spanish magistrate, Baltasar Garzón, might get the probe under Spain's system, which gave judges extraordinary investigative powers.