"The Spanish judge who has made a world name for himself fighting terrorism launched a stinging attack on Sunday against US President George W. Bush, saying his government was trampling on the rights of suspects."

"The Bush administration does not recognise the rights of terrorists to defend themselves and has made those rights all but disappear," Baltasar Garzon said in an interview with El Pais newspaper. Garzon, who has fought against Basque separatists in Spain and led international efforts to prosecute former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet for war crimes, said Bush had crushed personal liberties since the September 11 attacks."

"The fight against terrorism since September 11 has increased the risk of a false system of security being put in place to the detriment of freedoms and rights," he said. "The case of terrorists held in Guantanamo (the US base in Cuba), Afghanistan and Pakistan proves that security is trumping every other principle of justice or rights," Garzon said."

Link via Buzzflash.