[Anyone] Charged with torture, Rumsfeld flees France

[totem at laplaza.org]

> http://www.workers.org/2007/world/rumsfeld-1108/
> 
> 
>   Charged with torture, Rumsfeld flees France
> 
> By Greg Butterfield
> Published Nov 4, 2007 10:39 PM
> 
> Donald Rumsfeld reportedly fled France Oct. 26 after four human rights 
> groups filed a criminal complaint against the former U.S. secretary of 
> defense for "ordering and authorizing torture" of prisoners at 
> Guantnamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.
> 
> Rumsfeld was a key player in the illegal U.S.-led invasions and 
> occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan. According to the latest report from 
> the Congressional Budget Office, these imperialist adventures could wind 
> up costing more than $2.4 trillion, on top of hundreds of thousands of 
> lives. (The Pakistan Newspaper, Oct. 27)
> 
> Rumsfeld was spirited away from the U.S. Embassy in Paris following a 
> talk sponsored by Foreign Policy magazine. Hundreds of anti-war 
> activists were outside waiting to confront the former Bush 
> administration top gun. Rumsfeld can no longer claim immunity from 
> prosecution as a government official since resigning his post last year.
> 
> The International Federation of Human Rights, the Center for 
> Constitutional Rights, the European Center for Constitutional and Human 
> Rights and the French League for Human Rights filed the complaint with 
> the Paris prosecutor before the Tribunal de Grande Istance.
> 
> The criminal complaint was brought under the 1984 Convention Against 
> Torture, ratified by both the U.S. and France. It states that France is 
> obliged to take action "because of the failure of authorities in the 
> United States and Iraq to launch any independent investigation into the 
> responsibility of Rumsfeld and other high-level U.S. officials for 
> torture despite a document paper trail and government memos implicating 
> them in direct as well as command responsibility for torture," according 
> to a joint press release from the four groups.
> 
> It includes 11 pages of written testimony from Janis Karpinski, formerly 
> a high-ranking officer at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. 
> Karpinski said that abuses at the prison started with the arrival of 
> Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, who was personally sent by Rumsfeld to 
> "assist military intelligence interrogators." (New York Times, Oct. 27)
> 
> The complaint also cites three memoranda signed by Rumsfeld in 2002 and 
> 2003 "legitimizing the use of torture" such as hooding of detainees, use 
> of dogs and sleep deprivation.
> 
> Publicly, Rumsfeld repeatedly denied Washington's use of torture while 
> he was secretary of defense.
> 
> Activists point out that French officials are legally obligated to 
> pursue Rumsfeld wherever he goes in the European Union.
> 
> He has faced similar charges in Argentina, Sweden and Germany. German 
> courts dismissed two cases based on the immunity issue, but that was 
> before Rumsfeld's resignation.
> 
> Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger similarly fled France in 
> 2001 after charges were filed for his role in the bloody 1973 coup 
> against the government of Salvador Allende in Chile.
> 
> "We will not rest until those U.S. officials involved in the torture 
> program are brought to justice," said Michael Ratner of the Center for 
> Constitutional Rights. "Rumsfeld must understand that he has no place to 
> hide." CCR, based in New York City, represents many of the detainees 
> held at Guantnamo.
> 
> For more information on the case, visit www.ccrjustice.org 
> <http://www.ccrjustice.org>.