09MADRID440 “Garzón Opens Second Investigation Into Alleged U.S. Torture of Terrorism Detainees.”

Date of cable: May 5, 2009
Origin: U.S. Embassy in Madrid
Classification: Unclassified/For Official Use Only

This cable details a meeting between Spain’s Chief Prosecutor Javier Zaragoza and a U.S. Embassy official to discuss the investigation started by Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzón into the U.S. torture program, and exposes Zaragoza discussing various ways he could “embarrass” Judge Garzón into dropping the case. It cites Zaragoza as saying there is a need for “a strategy to force … [Judge Garzón’s] hand,” and demonstrates U.S. concern that “forcing him” to drop the case “could take months.”

In reference to the “Bush Six” case, the cable states that “[a]t the urging of the Spanish prosecutors,” the case was assigned not to Judge Garzón but to another judge, Judge Eloy Velasco. The cable surmises that through the Letters Rogatory to the United States, inquiring whether investigations or prosecutions are underway there related to the “Bush Six,” Judge Velasco “appears to be trying to shelve the case.” [To date, the United States had not responded to these letters and the case remains pending before Judge Velasco.]