A Berlin-based human rights organization has called on German prosecutors to issue an arrest warrant against Gina Haspel, appointed CIA deputy director in February. Haspel oversaw questioning of prisoners in Thailand.
Symbolbild - CIA (picture-alliance/dpa)
The Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) has called on German federal prosecutors to issue an arrest warrant against Gina Haspel, the deputy director of the CIA, who was appointed on February 2.
The ECCHR first pressed charges against unknown CIA operatives in December 2014, after the US Senate Select Committee published its report on the CIA's detention and interrogation program. Though she was a clandestine agent at the time, Haspel's appointment as deputy director meant that she could be identified.
According to the ECCHR writ sent to the prosecutors and published on the group's website on Wednesday, "some of the already known events can now be attributed to her." A spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor confirmed to DW that it had received the writ and said it would be evaluating it carefully.
USA | Washington Treffen Obama und Amtsnachfolger Trump (Getty Images/W. McNamee)
Trump has said he believes torture works, despite the evidence
"We always have to try and find an angle or a new incentive for the prosecuting authorities," said Wolfgang Kaleck, ECCHR general secretary. "The interesting thing about Haspel is the comparison between her now-known career and the mention of her activities in the torture report."
Catching an alleged torturer
What makes Haspel's case more intriguing is that, as a CIA deputy director, Haspel is also expected to travel to Europe - potentially putting her in an awkward position if there is a European arrest warrant out for her. "That makes her vulnerable," said Kaleck. "She might be subject to a prosecution action, and we want prosecutors to be ready."
The accusations against Haspel center around her time as "chief of base" of the "Cat's Eye" prison in Thailand in 2002. Here, Zayn Al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn, also known as Abu Zubaydah, famously became the first terrorist suspect to be subjected to the "enhanced interrogation" techniques that were later called torture by the US Senate.
More:
http://www.dw.com/en/german-ngo-seeks-arrest-warrant-for-donald-trumps-deputy-cia-director/a-39150870What gives Germany jurisdiction over the actions of an American citizen in Thailand is beyond my ken. Still, it would be inconvenient for the warrant to be granted.
