Arrest Castro, too

That a glorious thought: Fidel Castro called to account in a Spanish court for the death of the 18,000 people killed or disappeared since he seized power in 1959, and for violating the human rights of countless others whom he ordered tortured, imprisoned without due cause, or forced out of Cuba.

Would that it happens. Would that a Spanish court takes cognizance of the ``crimes against humanity'' in Cuba and assign a judge to investigate, as it did with Chile's former dictator, Gen. Augusto Pinochet.

The Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba, allied with the Cuban American National Foundation here, filed suit last week in the same Spanish court that seeks to try Gen. Pinochet. There are legal distinctions to be made between Gen. Pinochet and Castro, but their offenses are the same: systematic terrorism, kidnappings, killings. The suit also names Castro's brother, Raul, who is Cuba's defense minister; Osmani Cienfuegos, who's tourism minister and former army commander; and Cuba's ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Carlos Amat.

Guillermo Alonso Olarra, the Madrid lawyer representing Cuban exiles, specifically cites some 51 murders and 200 cases of torture, including the horrific 1994 sinking of the 13 de Marzo tug in Havana Harbor, killing 41 people. Also included are nine prisoners captured during the abortive U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961; the men suffocated when transported in an unventilated truck from Playa Giron to Havana, an 11-hour trip. Five of the victims of torture were Spanish citizens, but victims also include U.S. citizens. The latter is worthy of note in the U.S. State and Justice departments.

Granted, the Pinochet case is far from settled, and a sitting head of government has more protection from arrest when traveling outside his or her country than a former head of government. Moreover, Gen. Pinochet already had been charged when he traveled to London.

Spain hasn't acted on the suit against Castro -- yet. Still, the principle that crimes against humanity are subject to universal jurisdiction has been recognized since the International Military Tribunal of Nuremberg. So, too, is the personal culpability of people who commit, order, or condone grave violations of human rights. If they were not prosecutable, tyrants would multiply.

It's problematic whether a Spanish court will assert jurisdiction over Castro. Yet every action forcing the world to examine his monstrous abuses of power ensures that history will never absolve this iron-fisted dictator.