In a resurrection of last year’s “waterboarding” fiasco, the Justice Department has recently publicized documents that describe “brutal interrogation methods” used by the CIA on terror suspects. In response, President Obama issued a statement saying that the men and women involved at the CIA will not be prosecuted for their roles in the so-called illegal torture. Some of the methods, which were approved by the Bush administration in 2002, included keeping victims awake for long time periods and putting them inside a dark box filled with items to fuel their fears, such as insects. According to the article, some of the techniques detailed in the reports are ones that Japanese officials were prosecuted for after World War II. For some time the Obama administration has been divided over the release of the documents, but, obviously, they eventually were due in some part to the lawsuit filed by the ACLU. The release of the documents indicated that President Obama has sided with the proponents of full disclosure from the CIA and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) almost immediately issued a statement calling for an official inquiry that would “offer immunity in return for candid testimony.” Senator Leahy would like a full investigation of the events.

Around two weeks ago, a Spanish court announced that it would pursue charges against six former Bush administration officials, who are now commonly known as the “Bush Six”. The six officials first appeared in a book written by British barrister named Philippe Sands entitled Torture Team. The six men are: former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Douglas Feith; former Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales; former Justice Department lawyer, John Yoo; former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney, David Addington; the former Pentagon general counsel, William Haynes; and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee. The charges are to be leveled by Spain because of the alleged torture of five Spanish citizens at Guantanamo Bay. Sands spent two years travelling the United States, interviewing some of the accused, as well as human-rights officials to compile research for his book. In an interview, “Feith called [the] book ‘wildly inaccurate’.” It is difficult to know what will be the next course of action, but the Obama administration may have to move in the near future. The article believes that the administration will either have to extradite the officials to Spain, or open its own investigation. Sands says he supports Obama, and believes he “will [do] the right thing.”

Also in Spain, it has been reported that the leader of the Basque separatist group ETA has been arrested. Jurdan Martitegi Lisazo was arrested in southern France during a joint raid by French and Spanish police units. All in all, nine militants in both Spain and France were captured, and police believe they were plotting an attack in Spain. Martitegi is believed to be the chief military and operations leader of the ETA, and is the fourth such individual arrested since May 2008. The ETA has killed well over 500 people in its fifty years of operations, and these arrests are believed to have put the group on its last legs. The group is designated by the State Department and the European Union as a terrorist organization.

I fear a resurrection of the “waterboarding” fiasco because it so bitterly drives the country apart. Partisanship is already at the highest levels it has ever been, so the last thing the country needs is the resurfacing of torture accusations. However, the U.S. must now be quite vigilant in policing human rights abuses within its own borders if it wants the rest of the world to do the same. So the, if these men truly deserve a trial, I believe that the Obama administration should allow it to happen or should conduct one itself. We cannot expect others to follow our lead if we do not set a great example. I personally do not believe that these men deserve to go to trial for their actions and be charged with crimes against humanity. They made terrible mistakes in their former positions, ones that I certainly would not approve of. Certain things need to stay behind closed doors.

The arrest of another senior ETA member is great new for Spain and the Basque region. The ETA has long terrorized the area and killed civilians at will. It is encouraging to see the Spanish police making such progress, and hopefully the group can be eliminated within the near future, or at least shift its focus away from military tactics.