VZCZCXRO1537
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHMD #0863 1301720
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101720Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY MADRID
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2465
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0164
RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA PRIORITY 2676
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS MADRID 000863 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
EUR/WE FOR ALLEGRONE, CLEMENTS, AND CERVETTI 
L/LEI FOR JOHNSON, PROPP, AND KULISH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL MARR SP
SUBJECT: SPAIN: LEGAL SUIT AGAINST FORMER SECRETARY RUMSFELD 
 
¶1. (U) The AFP news wire service reported April 30 that the 
left-wing Spanish NGO "Seville Social Forum" had filed war 
crimes charges against former Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld 
in an Andalusian court for his role in the war in Iraq and 
for the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison.  The lawyer 
for the Seville Social Forum said the suit was directed 
against former SecDef Rumsfeld, but could be extended to 
other "military or civilian officials in the United States 
who played a role in the decision to invade Iraq."  The 
Seville Social Forum filed the suit in February at a local 
court in Seville, but the case was transferred to Spain's 
National Court, which has jurisdiction in cases of this 
nature. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Spanish media did not pick up the AFP story, so 
there was no additional public information regarding this 
case.  The Embassy legal adviser in the Consular Section 
contacted the National Court prosecutor's office on May 4 to 
determine the veracity of the AFP report.  National Court 
prosecutor Vicente Mota confirmed that the case was assigned 
to Central Examining Court Number 6 (the court of Magistrate 
Juan del Olmo, who investigated the March 11, 2004 Madrid 
train bombings).  On March 28, the National Court prosecutor 
presented a report to Judge del Olmo requesting that the case 
be closed due to lack of evidence.  Legat followed up on May 
7 with Judge del Olmo, who said that he expected to close the 
case shortly as there was no evidence to substantiate the 
charges presented by the Seville Social Forum.  (NOTE: Legat 
accompanied Judge del Olmo on a visit to the US the week of 
May 14-18; the visit will include a meeting with the FBI 
Director.  END NOTE). 
 
¶3. (SBU) The DCM also raised the Seville Social Forum charges 
against former SecDef Rumsfeld in a conversation with 
Secretary of State for Justice (Vice Minister level) Julio 
 
SIPDIS 
Perez Hernandez on May 10, noting that this matter had raised 
concerns in Washington regarding the use of Spanish courts 
for political purposes by various groups.  The DCM said that 
the USG understood that there was disagreement in Spain and 
in other EU countries regarding the war in Iraq, just as 
there was a political debate in the U.S. on the same issues. 
However, nobody in the U.S. political establishment or public 
would support war crimes charges against USG officials in 
connection with the war, and there was concern that this case 
could cause considerable bilateral friction if it were to 
progress.  Perez Hernandez said that he was completely 
unaware of the charges against Rumsfeld.  He expressed 
appreciation for the DCM's raising the matter with him and 
said he would investigate. 
 
//COMMENT// 
 
¶4. (SBU) While we expect the Seville Social Forum case to be 
terminated soon (a similar war crimes charge against former 
Spanish President Aznar has already been dismissed), the 
Spanish courts remain easily available to individuals and 
groups seeking to use legal pretexts for political purposes. 
The National Court Magistrates in particular seem ready to 
test the limits of universal jurisdiction, which is 
especially problematic since these magistrates have broad 
discretion and little oversight in exercising their judicial 
duties.  This will remain a challenging aspect of our 
judicial relations with Spain. 
Aguirre