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Methodology

The research for this report is based on five visits to Madrid between April and September 2004. Interviews were conducted with nongovernmental organizations, community associations, legal aid attorneys assigned to the defense of 11-M suspects, three 11-M suspects on provisional release, defense attorneys for defendants in the case against an alleged al-Qaeda cell, and government officials. The office of Judge Juan del Olmo, the Audiencia Nacional examining magistrate in charge of the 11-M investigation, denied our request for an interview on the grounds that he never discusses ongoing cases. Human Rights Watch conducted an interview with Judge Baltasar Garzón, the examining magistrate in charge of the investigation into an alleged al-Qaeda cell in Spain, on matters of law. Judge Garzón declined to comment on matters relating to ongoing cases.  

All of the persons interviewed by Human Rights Watch in connection with the investigation into the March 11 bombings, including legal aid attorneys, suspects, and others close to the investigation, and some of the defense attorneys for those accused of membership or collaboration with al-Qaeda requested that their names be withheld.