El caso Couso

Cable sobre los trabajos de los ministros españoles "para desafiar las órdenes de detención"

Los titulares de Justicia y Exteriores, Juan Fernando López Aguilar y Miguel Ángel Moratinos, se comunican con el embajador estadounidense para hablar del 'caso Couso'

01 dic 2010 - 13:00CET

ID:	43323
Date:	2005-10-21 15:56:00
Origin:	05MADRID3694
Source:	Embassy Madrid
Classification:	CONFIDENTIAL
Dunno:
Destination:	This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 003694 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/21/2015 TAGS: PREL, PGOV, SP, American - Spanish Relations SUBJECT: SPANISH MINISTERS WORKING TO CHALLENGE ARREST WARRANTS Classified By: DCM Robert Manzanares for reasons 1.4 (b) & (d). 1. (C) SUMMARY. Soon after a Spanish judge announced arrest warrants on October 19 for three US soldiers associated with the 2003 death of a Spanish cameraman in Iraq, both the Justice Minister and the Foreign Minister reached out to Ambassador Aguirre to let him know that the GOS is doing everything in its power to challenge the Judge's decision. The chief Spanish prosecutor announced that he has contested the warrants, questioning the judge's jurisdiction over the case and citing procedural faults. FM Moratinos told the Ambassador that VP Fernandez de la Vega is also engaged and that the government supports challenging the warrants on procedural grounds, and then moving to appeal to higher courts if necessary. END SUMMARY. 2. (SBU) On October 19, Spanish Judge Santiago Pedraz of the National Court ordered the arrest and extradition of three US soldiers associated with the death of Spanish cameraman Jose Couso. Couso died in April 2003 when US forces shelled a Baghdad hotel. A subsequent CENTCOM investigation of the incident found that the US forces had acted properly and in accordance with their Rules of Engagement. CENTCOM made a comprehensive summary of its investigation available to the executive branch of the GOS in August 2003. USDOJ and DOD are still discussing possible responses to the judge's two MLAT requests. Judge Pedraz said that the US has not replied to his two MLAT requests for assistance with his investigation of the journalist's death. He said that he had to issue the international warrants because he has no other way to ensure the testimony of the accused soldiers. He cited the "nonexistent judicial cooperation" of US authorities as a reason for his action. 3. (C) Justice Minister Lopez Aguilar called the Ambassador on October 19 to tell him that the GOS will make every effort to challenge the judge's decision on technical grounds. FM Moratinos told the Ambassador in a separate call that Vice President Fernandez de la Vega is involved in the case. Moratinos said that if the judge fixes the technical flaws the Government would move to appeal. In public, both ministers expressed "respect" for the decision of the independent judge. Justice Minister Aguilar pointed out that the order is not yet final because it can be appealed. He also said that the US and Spain cooperate closely on judicial issues related to terrorism and international crime issues. 4. (SBU) On October 20, Attorney General Candido Conde-Pumpido publicly announced that the prosecutors who practice before the National Court have challenged the warrant for lack of jurisdiction in the death of a Spanish citizen during a foreign war and the lack of a pre-existing indictment against the soldiers. Normally in Spain requests for extradition are only based on pre-existing arrest warrants 5. (C) COMMENT. Top ministers moved quickly to let us know that the Government is working to resolve this situation. The Government must act carefully as it tries to influence Spain's fiercely independent judiciary. In order to avoid aggravating the situation, GOS leaders must publicly show their respect for the independent workings of the courts (just as we've asked them to respect the independence of our courts in cases like Posada Carriles.) We continue to reiterate that this matter has been fully investigated, the government has been fully informed, and that the soldiers' actions were justified. AGUIRRE