Spain opens inquiry on Guantánamo

The NYT is reporting that Spain has opened a judicial inquiry into the question of whether USG officials committed torture in their interrogations of Guantánamo detainees.

Wait, what? How does a Spanish court have any claim to jurisdiction over the actions of Americans in Cuba? It's not, as would make slightly more sense, because one of the detainees in question is a Spanish citizen. No, it's because of "Spain's observance of the principle of universal justice."

"Garzon said he was acting under Spain's observance of the principle of universal justice, which allows crimes allegedly committed in other countries to be prosecuted in Spain."

Ouch! So now Spain can prosecute me for offenses supposedly committed anywhere in the world? I'm as much against torture as the next guy, but isn't that a significant expansion of jurisdiction? Can Spain prosecute me for breaking the laws of my own country in my own country? For breaking Spanish laws in my own country? For breaking "international laws?" I feel like I need an informational brochure on this.

"Garzon cited media accounts of the documents and said he would ask the U.S. to send the documents to him."

Ooh, so sorry, national secrets and all...sure you understand.

Bagram detainees gain access to U.S. courts

A U.S. District Court judge ruled today that three non-Afghan detainees who are currently being held at Bagram Air Field in Afghanistan have the right to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts. This ruling extends the Supreme Court's ruling, in Boumediene v. Bush, that detainees at Guantánamo could do the same thing (see this post for a discussion of who remains at Guantánamo).

In related news, I attended a talk a few days ago by NYU Law professor Stephen Schulhofer, who argued that the U.S. civilian criminal justice system is flexible enough to try the Guantánamo detainees, even accounting for questions of classified evidence, hearsay, and possibly torture. In contrast to the opinion, expressed elsewhere, that the Bush administration rendered dangerous people unprosecutable in civilian courts through the use of "enhanced interrogation methods," Schulhofer believes that any detainee who is unconvictable in U.S. civilian courts is probably not a danger to the United States. The Justice Department is reportedly in the process of analyzing the prosecutability of the remaining Guantánamo detainees.