Madrid - Spanish judge Baltasar Garzon on Wednesday announced a new judicial investigation of those responsible for torture at the US prison camp in Guantanamo, Cuba.

The National Court judge based the case on complaints filed by Hamed Abderrahman Ahmed, known as the Spanish Taliban, and three others who claimed to have been tortured at Guantanamo.

Documents declassified in the United States showed there was an "authorized and systematic plan of torture of and ill-treatment" of prisoners who had not been charged with any crimes, Garzon said in a court document.

The case was separate from an earlier one launched by the judge against former US attorney-general Alberto Gonzales and five other former officials of the George W Bush administration over human rights abuses at Guantanamo.

Prosecutors advised Garzon to hand that case over to another judge, who is to decide whether it should be investigated or shelved.

Garzon became known internationally for attempting to extradite former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in the late 1990s, and has investigated alleged human rights violations around the world. (dpa)