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Memos have been released by the White House detailing the legal
justification used by Bush administration officials for interrogation through torture.

At the same time, President Obama announced that agents who used these methods would not be prosecuted, even though they qualify as war crimes.

A federal Judge in Spain has begun to prepare a case against six former Bush administration officials for authorizing torture at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay. According to Spanish law, juristiction can be claimed because several Spainish citizens were held at the prison camp and tortured. The Judge has made it clear that this case would not be neccesary if the Obama administration had begun prosecution on its own.

UPDATE: April 29th- Judge Baltasar Garzon has confimed that he will proceed with an investigation into allegations of torture at Guantanamo bay, and probe the "perpetrators, the instigators, the necessary collaborators and accomplices" of these atrocities. In light of the memos already released by the Obama administration, this investigation can only lead to a trial..

UPDATE: May 14th- President Obama has not kept his word to release classified photos to accompany the interrogation memos. In April he stated these images would be made public, but he now says they would "inflame anti-American opinion and put our troops in greater danger". This reversal makes it appear that he has something to hide. It may be up to the Supreme Court to force the White House to release the photos.

May 14th, 2009- Nancy Pelosi now admits that she was aware of waterboarding and other practices as early as 2002- a fact that contradicts many statements she previously made, and indicates that Congress was informed of and involved in the torture program.

Update, from NY Times, November 1, 2015- by Charlie Savage- Guantanamo remains open, and still holds 113 inmates .

President Obama is still debating the course he will take. He wants to keep his campaign promise to close the prison, but is forbidden to transfer any prisoners to US soil, according to laws passed by the last 3 US Congresses. If he uses executive privilege to override the law, he is continuing Bush's abuse of executive powers, which Bush used to institute torture in the first place. If he doesn't, it will be a failure of Obama's legacy as president.

In any case, Obama's dilemma is hardly relevant to the guy who's being tortured. To be held indefinitely, without due process, is a torture in itself. CLOSE GUANTANAMO!!