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| |  | | Shawn Gibson | | | context : | Iraq  | | judgement place : | Spain | | status : | Dismissal - lack of jurisdiction | | particulars : | Spanish arrest warrant issued in October 2005; Indicted by a Spanish judge on charges of murder and crime against the international community on 27 April 2007; Case filed on 14 July 2009 due to lack of evidence | | position : | Sergeant in the 3rd Infantry Division of the US army in Iraq |
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| | | | There where at least four investigations into the killings of the journalists at the Palestine Hotel: two military investigations, one by the Committee to Protect Journalists, and one by Reporters Without Borders.
In late 2003, the Spanish National Court, acting on a request from Couso's family, agreed to consider filing criminal charges against three members of the tank crew.
On 19 October 2005, High Court Judge Santiago Pedraz issued arrest warrants for Sgt. Shawn Gibson, Capt. Philip Wolford and Lt. Col. Philip DeCamp (see “related cases”), considering that – subject to more specific qualification at a later stage - their conduct was indicative of a “crime against the international community” (Title XXIV of the Spanish Criminal Code), and more specifically a war crime proscribed by arts 611(1) and 608(3) of the Spanish Criminal Code.
The former provision incriminates attacks against civilians, whereas the latter defines who are “protected persons” for the purposes of the crime and includes civilians in the sense of the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949.
Stating that the arrest of the persons concerned was the only effective means to secure their participation in a possible trial, Judge Pedraz ordered their arrest and extradition to Spain for interrogation.
Under Spanish law, a crime committed against a Spaniard abroad can be prosecuted in Spain if it is not investigated in the country where it is committed.
The prosecutor's office at Spain's National Court asked the tribunal not to issue an international arrest warrant. According to prosecutor Pedro Rubira´s appeal on 20 October 2005, Spain lacks jurisdiction to investigate causes of death in a military conflict and death of a Spanish citizen resulting from U.S military gunfire.
On 28 October 2005, Judge Santiago Pedraz rejected the appeal by the Prosecutor and confirmed the arrest warrants. The judge affirmed that Spanish Courts have jurisdiction in the cases, accorded by the 1949 Geneva Conventions. The Prosecutor immediately appealed to the higher instance, the Criminal Chamber of the National Court.
On 13 February 2006 Court officials made it known that the US Department of Justice had denied the request, filed in June 2005 by the Audiencia Nacional, to question the three American soldiers on American territory.
On March 10, 2006, Judge Pedraz decided to put an end to the investigation, in the absence of premeditation. The acts were considered to be lawful acts of war, against a badly identified enemy.
In December 2006, the Audiencia Nacional granted an appeal by the killed journalist's family against the closure of proceedings. The arrest warrant against Gibson, DeCamp and Wolford was thus renewed on 16 January 2007.
On 27 April 2007 a Spanish Judge formally indicted Wolford, Gibson and DeCamp on charges of homicide and crime against the international community.
On 14 July 2009, the Audiencia Nacional decided to file the case due to lack of evidence. | |    | | Trial Watch would like to remind its users that any person charged by national or international authorities is presumed innocent until proven guilty. | |  |  | | also known as : | | | In the arrest warrant identified as Thomas Gibson | | | period of charges : | | | 08.04.2003 - 08.04.2003 | | | charges : | | | Other
War crimes | | | profile last modified : | | | 26.01.2010 |
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