Spanish courts are considering prosecuting six of George W. Bush’s lawyers under international law. Roots Action, the activist group recently launched by Daniel Ellsberg and other progressive movers and shakers, is asking its supporters to sign a letter to the Spanish people, in support of the prosecution. In an email alert sent out today, Roots Action says:
March 1 is the deadline set by Spanish Judge Eloy Velasco to determine if he will prosecute the “Bush Six” – the group of Bush-era government lawyers including then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, for violating international law by creating a “legal” justification for torture. It was a court in Spain that indicted Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet…
…Over the weekend, former President George W. Bush cancelled plans to travel to Switzerland after he learned that groups sought indictment of him there for torture. Bush has openly admitted authorizing waterboarding on national television, explaining that “the lawyer” said it was legal.
The Roots Action letter urges Spanish citizens to “do what the U.S. won’t do: Prosecute torture.” The group plans to publish the letter in prominent Spanish newspapers, deliver it to Spain’s embassy in Washington DC and to Spanish consulates in seven U.S. cities.
Roots Action’s alert also notes that:
the Obama administration declared last year that it would not pursue prosecutions, ignoring the U.N. Convention Against Torture. Recent documents released by WikiLeaks demonstrate that the Obama government has been heavily pressuring Spanish authorities not to pursue prosecution.