28 March 2009

Torture Investigation Finally!



Well, if we won't do it, I guess the Spaniards will!

Spanish judge accuses six top Bush officials of torture

Legal moves may force Obama's government into starting a new inquiry into abuses at Guantánamo Bay and Abu Ghraib

Criminal proceedings have begun in Spain against six senior officials in the Bush administration for the use of torture against detainees in Guantánamo Bay. Baltasar Garzón, the counter-terrorism judge whose prosecution of General Augusto Pinochet led to his arrest in Britain in 1998, has referred the case to the chief prosecutor before deciding whether to proceed.

The case is bound to threaten Spain's relations with the new administration in Washington, but Gonzalo Boyé, one of the four lawyers who wrote the lawsuit, said the prosecutor would have little choice under Spanish law but to approve the prosecution.

"The only route of escape the prosecutor might have is to ask whether there is ongoing process in the US against these people," Boyé told the Observer. "This case will go ahead. It will be against the law not to go ahead."

The officials named in the case include the most senior legal minds in the Bush administration. They are: Alberto Gonzales, a former White House counsel and attorney general; David Addington, former vice-president Dick Cheney's chief of staff; Douglas Feith, who was under-secretary of defence; William Haynes, formerly the Pentagon's general counsel; and John Yoo and Jay Bybee, who were both senior justice department legal advisers.

Court documents say that, without their legal advice in a series of internal administration memos, "it would have been impossible to structure a legal framework that supported what happened [in Guantánamo]".

When Nancy Pelosi took impeachment off the table, I knew the idea of holding the Bush administration accountable for their crimes was probably a lost cause. The current administration doesn't seem very gung ho to investigate either.

Why?

Torture is wrong. Period. There is no evidence that I can find of a "24" like instance where the world was saved by beating or waterboarding someone. In fact, Huff Post is linking to a Washington Post article regarding the "harsh treatment" of Abu Zubaida. No plots were foiled, time was wasted and we undermined our principals. Pretty sure that = EPIC FAIL!
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Supporting AK Muckraker & the Mudflats

This is a copy of an e-mail I received directly from the Mudflats. Since my last post discussed the situation - I felt my readers might want this information.

Date: Sat, 28 Mar 2009 10:37:12
To:
Subject: AKMuckraker "outed" by Alaskan Politician


Hi everyone,

You may recall that some time ago Rep Mike Doogan was sending some crazy emails to people who emailed him and AKMuckraker was one of the bloggers involved in exposing his craziness.

Apparently this did not sit well with Rep Doogan. He has been trying to find out who AKMuckraker was for several months now and he has finally managed to do it. He then sent out a message to people on his mailing list via his official legislative newsletter, advising them of the real name of AKMuckraker.

Whether or not people support AKMuckrakers opinions, it seems most people support her right to remain anonymous. We feel it is a right that everyone on the internet is entitled to - people make the decision for their own reasons, some because they have been cyber stalked in the past, some to prevent being cyber-stalked in the future.

This may be the first known case of an anonymous blogger being cyber-stalked by a politician determined to find out their real identity and out them, though!

http://www.themudflats.net/2009/03/27/in-exposing-the-identity-of-mudflats-rep-mike-doogan-exposes-himself/

We are not certain at this stage but it is possible that Rep Doogan has broken the law, and there may be legal action that AKMuckraker can take. Whether or not AKMuckraker chooses to do that is another question and one I am sure she will consider this carefully over the coming days.

You can read posts from bloggers on this subject via the following links -
http://progressivealaska.blogspot.com/2009/03/mike-doogan-outs-mudflats.html
http://shannynmoore.wordpress.com/2009/03/27/my-friend-mudflats/
http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2009/03/you-know-difference-between-rep-mike.html
http://mamadance.wordpress.com/2009/03/27/a-sad-day-mudflats-is-changed-forever/
http://palingates.blogspot.com/2009/03/doogan-broke-federal-law-by-outing.html
http://www.thinkalaska.com/2009/03/rep-mike-doogans-missuse-of-legislative.html
http://werenotthatstupid.blogspot.com/2009/03/epic-failmike-doogan-plays-god.html

We also have a thread on this on the forums, where you can feel free to add your comments.

http://www.themudflats.net/forum/index.php/topic,6675.0.html

Updates and possible calls for action will be posted in that thread, so make sure to check it regularly.. We will also try and keep up with links to posts on the subject - and possibly media stories.

You may find it difficult to access the mudflats blog and forums over the next few days - especially if the mainstream media pick up this story - until we move them to a server with a larger capacity. This will cost us around $200 a month but we feel that the demand for accessing the sites over the next few weeks will make it difficult for the usual mudflats readers to keep up to date, so we are biting the bullet and hoping that people will assist with donations.

You can donate to AKMuckraker via the paypal buttons found on both the blog and the forums.

You can also email messages of support to AKMuckraker at akmuckraker@yahoo.com - be aware that a lot of people are doing so at the moment so you may not get a reply but we feel it is important to let AKMuckraker know that she is supported.

Regards,
Snoskred
On behalf of The Mudflats Team.

http://www.themudflats.net/forum/index.php

This email is being sent to all members of The Mudflats forums, even if you have chosen not to receive announcements. We apologise if you did not wish to receive it. We felt this was important news that all would want to be alerted to.

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