Spanish prosecutors Thursday advised against going forward with investigations into six former U.S. officials charged with sanctioning torture as Washington releases memos justifying the use of waterboarding.
Spanish Attorney General Candido Conde Pumpido said the decision to hold back on the probe stemmed from the fact that none of the six – including former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales – did not take part in the torture of suspects at the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.
“If action is taken for the crime of mistreating prisoners of war, the complaint should target the actual authors of the crime,” he told reporters.
U.S. President George Bush made repeated claims while in office that U.S. interrogators did not practice torture on alleged terrorists following the tense geopolitical climate in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on America.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama said Thursday that CIA interrogators would not face prosecution for utilizing the extraordinary interrogation tactic known as waterboarding.
The Obama decision follows the release of four Bush-era memos providing legal justification for water-boarding, sleep deprivation and other hash tactics.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, issued a press statement Thursday to reporters saying he welcomed the decision to release the memos.
“I applaud the President’s decision to release the Second Bybee Memo and other Office of Legal Counsel memos to the public,” the statement read. “In doing so, the president has made good on his commitment that transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of his presidency.”
Former CIA Director Michael Hayden, for his part, blasted the Obama White House, telling The Associated Press the release of the memos gives terrorists the information needed to prepare for such interrogation techniques, adding it shows Washington “can’t keep anything secret.”
