To read this article, click here.

[Excerpts:]

"Spain is moving to rein in its investigative judges from trying alleged crimes against humanity from around the world, a role that has led to high-profile cases against the governments of the U.S., China, Israel and others. Under pressure from irate foreign governments, Spain’s Congress on Tuesday passed a resolution to limit the jurisdiction of the crusading judges to cases in which there is a clear Spanish connection — and no home-country investigation already under way." "Under the resolution, cases taken up by the judges would have to involve a Spanish citizen or the accused would have to be on Spanish soil. The Spanish government now will introduce legislation, which the major parties in Congress have agreed to back. It wasn’t clear whether the changes would apply to existing cases or only to future ones. The move to limit the judges alarmed human-rights campaigners. "There will be more impunity," Hugo Relva, legal adviser for Amnesty International, said before Tuesday’s vote. But the investigations by the judges, who are independent from the executive and legislative branches, have become a growing headache for the Spanish government. The Chinese government warned Spain that bilateral relations could be damaged over the case regarding Tibet crackdowns. The Israeli government strongly criticized the investigation into its 2002 attack on a Hamas leader, which killed 14 other people. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the case "makes a mockery out of international law.""