© 2026 All Rights reserved WUSF
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Our daily newsletter, delivered first thing weekdays, keeps you connected to your community with news, culture, national NPR headlines, and more.

Spanish Court To Investigate Bush's 'Torture Team'

In his book <em>Torture Team,</em> Philippe Sands alleges that the use of harsh interrogation tactics against detainees constitutes a "betrayal of American values."
In his book Torture Team, Philippe Sands alleges that the use of harsh interrogation tactics against detainees constitutes a "betrayal of American values."

In his book, Torture Team, British attorney Philippe Sands makes a case that high-ranking members of the Bush administration were responsible for instituting harsh interrogation tactics against detainees at Guantanamo Bay.

Sands' book played a role in the Spanish court's recent decision to investigate the role six Bush Administration officials played in creating the legal framework for harsh tactics. The officials under investigation are: former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales; David Addington, chief of staff and the principal legal adviser to Vice-President Dick Cheney; John Yoo, a former Justice Department lawyer; Douglas Feith, former Under-Secretary of Defense for Policy; and lawyers Jim Haynes and Jay Bybee.

Sands is an international lawyer at the firm Matrix Chambers, and a professor and director of the Centre of International Courts and Tribunals at University College London.

Copyright 2023 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.

Thanks to you, WUSF is here — delivering fact-based news and stories that reflect our community.⁠ Your support powers everything we do.