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luke
Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Location: by the sea
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 Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 2:41 pm Post subject: Rumsfeld hit with torture lawsuit while visiting Paris!! |
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| Quote: | Rumsfeld hit with torture lawsuit while visiting Paris
Jason Rhyne, RAW STORY
October 26, 2007
Former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's jaunt to France was interrupted today by an unscheduled itinerary item -- he was slapped with a criminal complaint charging him with torture.
Rumsfeld, in Paris for a discussion sponsored by the magazine Foreign Policy, was tracked down by representatives of a coalition of international human rights groups, who informed the architect of the US invasion of Iraq that they had submitted a torture suit against him in French court.
The filed documents allege that during his tenure, the former defense secretary "ordered and authorized" torture of detainees at both the American-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the US military's detainment facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The head of one of the groups responsible for bringing the charges, the US-based Center for Constitutional Rights, told RAW STORY today by phone that the suit was a long time coming.
"We've been working on cornering Rumsfeld and getting him indicted somewhere going on three years now," said the Center's president, Michael Ratner. "Four days ago, we got confidential information he was going to be in France."
Joined by activists, attorneys for the human rights groups caught up with Rumsfeld on his way to a breakfast meeting. "He was walking down the street with just one person," said Ratner.
"Around 20 campaigners gave Rumsfeld a rowdy welcome...yelling 'murderer,' waving a banner and trying to push into the building," reports AFP.
Ratner, who wasn't personally at the scene, says his sources told him that the former defense secretary made some pre-scheduled remarks at the meeting before ducking through a door leading to the US Embassy.
According to Ratner, France has a legal responsibility under international law to prosecute Rumsfeld for torture abuses.
"If a torturer comes into your territory," he said, "there's an obligation to either prosecute the person or return him to a place where he will be prosecuted."
The rights groups notably cite three memorandums signed by the defense secretary between October 2002 and April 2003 "legimitizing the use of torture" including the "hooding" of detainees, sleep deprivation and the use of dogs.
Although his group has been a part of previous attempts to bring charges against Rumsfeld, including two former tries in Germany, Ratner believes French court has the highest chance of success.
"There are Guantananamo detainees who were tortured that are living in France," he said. "It gives French courts another reason to prosecute."
Ratner says Europe is "getting very hot for Rumsfeld," and suggests a French court could at least issue its version of a subpoena.
"We hope that this case will move forward," he said, "especially as the US says it can continue to torture people."
Other groups involved in the complaint include the International Federation of Human Rights, the French League for Human Rights and Germany's European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.
More details about the lawsuit are available at the website of the Center for Constitutional Rights. |
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faceless
admin
Joined: 25 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 2:57 pm Post subject: |
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| that's brilliant - hopefully something will come of it. |
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major.tom
Macho Business Donkey Wrestler
Joined: 21 Jan 2007
Location: BC, Canada
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| Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 6:27 pm Post subject: |
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I agree. This guy's "antics" while in office were deplorable. Since the U.S. won't prosecute him, someone else ought to.
The article mentions him ducking into the U.S. Embassy. Does anyone know if he's still working for gov't? I presume he was there under some manner of official capacity and not to see the Paris sights? |
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Mandy
Joined: 07 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 6:31 pm Post subject: |
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Something similar happened to an Israeli official who landed in the UK, and he was "tipped off" and allowed to stay on the Israeli plane which took off again later.
That was a scandal. He should have been arrested whilst on British ground.
Note that the case was eventually dismissed, which also shows that the establishment will play along up to a point, then they will close ranks against the people. |
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luke
Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Location: by the sea
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| Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2007 9:15 pm Post subject: |
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democracy now covered this yesterday, apparently this is the fifth time they've tried to charge him!
mp3 here; http://www.archive.org/download/dn2007-1026/dn2007-1026-1_64kb.mp3
it starts 9:20 in
| Quote: | On Visit to France, Donald Rumsfeld Hit with Lawsuit for Ordering, Authorizing Torture
The complaint was filed with the Paris prosecutor’s office as Rumsfeld arrived in France for a visit. This is the fifth time Rumsfeld has been charged with direct involvement in torture since 9/11. We speak with two attorneys with the plaintiffs -- Center for Constitutional Rights president Michael Ratner and Jeanne Sulzer of the International Federation of Human Rights. [includes rush transcript] U.S. and European human rights groups filed a lawsuit in France today charging former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with ordering and authorizing torture. The plaintiffs include the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights and the Paris-based International Federation of Human Rights. They say Rumsfeld authorized interrogation techniques that led to abuses at US-run prisons in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.
The complaint was filed with the Paris prosecutor’s office as Rumsfeld arrived in France for a visit. This is the fifth time Rumsfeld has been charged with direct involvement in torture since 9/11. Michael Ratner is the president of the Center for Constitutional Rights. He joins me in the firehouse studio. Jeanne Sulzer is a French attorney with the International Federation of Human Rights. She joins me on the line from Paris.
* Michael Ratner. President of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
* Jeanne Sulzer. French attorney with the International Federation of Human Rights.
RUSH TRANSCRIPT
JUAN GONZALEZ: US and European human rights groups filed a lawsuit in France today charging former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with ordering and authorizing torture. The plaintiffs include the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights and the Paris-based International Federation of Human Rights. They say Rumsfeld authorized interrogation techniques that led to abuses at US-run prisons in Iraq and Guantanamo.
The complaint was filed with the Paris prosecutor’s office as Rumsfeld arrived in France for a visit. This is the fifth time Rumsfeld has been charged with direct involvement in torture since 9/11.
Michael Ratner is the president for the Center for Constitutional Rights; he joins me in our firehouse studio. Jeanne Sulzer is a French attorney with the International Federation of Human Rights. She joins me on the line from Paris. Welcome to both of you to Democracy Now!
JEANNE SULZER: Good morning.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Jeanne, I’d like to ask you, what happened this morning in France?
JEANNE SULZER: Well, the complaint was filed yesterday before the Paris prosecutor around 5:00 p.m. Paris time. This morning, Rumsfeld was present at the conference where he was scheduled. So what we are awaiting now is signs from the prosecutor to know whether an investigation has been opened or not. So what we needed here in France was to make sure that Rumsfeld was actually present on the French territory, which is the case. He’s still here in Paris.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And now, was he actually served with any papers there, or what happened when he actually spoke?
JEANNE SULZER: Well, actually, the information we have is that the complaint has not been served on him. He has not been yet asked to account for the accusations in the complaint. So, as of now, again, we are waiting to see whether the prosecutor is still reviewing the complaint, and hopefully he will not wait too long, because our fears are that Rumsfeld will escape as soon as he can. So now the big issue is the pressure on the prosecutor and, of course, the higher-ups of the French authorities to take a decision on the complaint. But France has a very clear obligation to investigate and prosecute into this case under the torture convention, as Rumsfeld is present on the French territory.
JUAN GONZALEZ: But my understanding is the place that he is speaking has a direct connection to the US embassy, a direct physical connection?
JEANNE SULZER: What I can tell you is that he came walking on the sidewalk this morning and went to the conference, and he never reappeared. So there are indications, it’s true, that the conference place is actually linked to the US embassy.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Michael Ratner, this is now the fifth case against Rumsfeld. Could you talk about some of the others and the difference between this particular one and the others that have been filed against him?
MICHAEL RATNER: Well, hello, Jeanne, and congratulations. This was really a great effort by all of us, but I know you, in particular. And I’m really excited by it. I mean, the big difference here with --
JEANNE SULZER: Thank you. Fingers crossed now.
MICHAEL RATNER: What? I’m sorry, Jeanne. What?
JEANNE SULZER: I said, “Thank you. Fingers crossed now.” I hope France will take the responsibility to move on.
MICHAEL RATNER: The big difference with this case and the other cases is Rumsfeld is actually in France. And when an alleged torturer goes into a country, but particularly France, the obligation on the prosecutor to begin an investigation is much stronger than in other cases of so-called universal jurisdiction. We brought two cases in Germany; one of those is still on appeal. There’s a case in Argentina, and there’s a case in Sweden.
I think the point of all of this is to really give Rumsfeld no place to hide. And the French case, really, because he is there, is extraordinary. I mean, that he was, in my -- in a sense, Juan, dumb enough to go to France, knowing that they have this kind of jurisdiction, is shocking.
And, you know, I think one of the things that people can do right now is to put pressure on the French prosecutor to make sure he opens an investigation. We’re going to have that fax number, etc., on our website, which the Center has a new website now: ccrjustice.org, ccrjustice.org, which in a couple of hours you can go to to fax materials. So this is a very, very exciting effort, and I think we’re going to really pin Rumsfeld in in this.
I have a question, Jeanne: if they somehow don’t open the prosecution and he leaves, do they still have an obligation to open the prosecution, even after he’s gone?
JEANNE SULZER: In theory, there is, because what you need is, when the complaint is being filed, that the person, the alleged person, is present on the territory, and he was when the complaint was filed. So, yes, but they could, of course, say that now that he is not present on the territory anymore, there is no jurisdiction. But, yes, they should -- actually, the investigation should be opened now. If he escapes today, there is still basis for the French jurisdiction.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And, Michael, what does this particular case charge him with?
MICHAEL RATNER: Well, he’s charged with torture. I mean, he’s charged that he basically was both directly involved in torture, which is to say he wrote memos, he set down the Rumsfeld techniques, which are all those techniques we’ve talked about at Guantanamo and other places, of chaining to the floor, stripping, hooding, dogs, etc. So he’s charged with the memos, the techniques, and actually personally involvement in torture, and particularly in Mohamed Al-Kahtani’s case, who’s currently at Guantanamo and who was tortured, as far as we understand, under his direction.
We also have in this case Janis Karpinski, who, as people may remember, was in charge of the prisons in Iraq, was willing to be a witness against Donald Rumsfeld in this case. So it’s a very strong case. This is not -- the evidence here -- I don’t think there’s an issue, Juan. I mean, this guy is a torturer-in-chief. And the only question is whether the French, with their heavy obligation now to either prosecute or extradite Rumsfeld to a place where he can be prosecuted or should be, will actually comply with the law.
JUAN GONZALEZ: And, Jeanne Sulzer, did his visit to France get much attention beforehand in the press there?
JEANNE SULZER: No, it was very confidential. His visit was very confidential. He was invited by Foreign Policy, the newspaper, and it was very confidential; not many people knew about it. So, apparently he did not really want to make a big thing out of his visit. Maybe he was afraid of something happening to him.
But I just want, too, to stress what Michael just said. It’s an extremely strong case. And legally, legally, there should be absolutely no obstacle for opening an investigation. France has an obligation, and the investigation should be opened, and he should be prosecuted. Now, the issue is essentially a political issue now with the French authorities.
MICHAEL RATNER: Jeanne, I have a question: were you there when he actually showed up at the conference, or were others there? And what happened in front?
JEANNE SULZER: I wasn’t there. I arrived five minutes later, but I know that he arrived alone or with just one person, walking quietly in the street, which may indicate that he did not know about the complaint, because after that he actually never really showed up again.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Michael, I’d like to ask you on another issue, the Michael Mukasey nomination -- Patrick Leahy, the head of the Judiciary Committee, has said he’s going to hold up a vote on him until he adequately answers his position on whether waterboarding is torture, constitutes torture. Your assessment of what’s going on there?
MICHAEL RATNER: Right, you know, what’s going on there, as I’ve said on this program before, is the Democrats have essentially caved in. Finally, Mukasey, when he made an answer to the question of waterboarding, you know, that “Well, I’m not sure what the technique is.” And then he says, “Well, you know, I don’t really know. If it’s torture, then, yes, I’m against it,” which is, you know, a ridiculous comment. And even then, the Democrats, like Leahy, you know, then have to say, “Well, if he’s not going to say waterboarding is torture, you know, how can we really go forward?” because that’s just too embarrassing for the Democrats.
So the question is how he answers that letter. He’ll probably evade it, much like he did there, which it’s just to say, “I don’t really know how it’s being done. It’s national security,” etc., which, as I said to you when we started, that’s like saying to somebody, “Well, is crucifixion torture?” and then they’re saying, “Well, it depends on how it’s done. It’s classified. I don’t know how it’s done.” So it’s an outrageous thing, and if he’s not held up for this, Juan, you have to say -- when the New York Times starts saying we have one party in the country, you realize that this sadly may be the case.
JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, I’d like to thank you, Michael Ratner, for being with us, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Jeanne Sulzer, a French attorney with the International Federation of Human Rights, joining us on the phone from Paris. |
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/26/1452236 |
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luke
Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Location: by the sea
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| Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 2:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | Rumsfeld flees France fearing arrest
Former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld fled France today fearing arrest over charges of “ordering and authorizing” torture of detainees at both the American-run Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and the US military’s detainment facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, unconfirmed reports coming from Paris suggest.
US embassy officials whisked Rumsfeld away yesterday from a breakfast meeting in Paris organized by the Foreign Policy magazine after human rights groups filed a criminal complaint against the man who spearheaded President George W. Bush’s “war on terror” for six years.
Under international law, authorities in France are obliged to open an investigation when a complaint is made while the alleged torturer is on French soil.
According to activists in France, who greeted Rumsfeld shouting “murderer” and “war criminal” at the breakfast meeting venue, US embassy officials remained tight-lipped about the former defense secretary’s whereabouts citing “security reasons”.
Anti-torture protesters in France believe that the defense secretary fled over the open border to Germany, where a war crimes case against Rumsfeld was dismissed by a federal court. But activist point out that under the Schengen agreement that ended border checkpoints across a large part of the European Union, French law enforcement agents are allowed to cross the border into Germany in pursuit of a fleeing fugitive.
“Rumsfeld must be feeling how Saddam Hussein felt when US forces were hunting him down,” activist Tanguy Richard said. “He may never end up being hanged like his old friend, but he must learn that in the civilized world, war crime doesn’t pay.”
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) along with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), and the French League for Human Rights (LDH) filed the complaint on Thursday after learning that Rumsfeld was scheduled to visit Paris. |
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luke
Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Location: by the sea
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| Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 11:22 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | French prosecutors throw out Rumsfeld torture case
PARIS (Reuters) - The Paris prosecutors' office has dismissed a suit against Donald Rumsfeld accusing the former U.S. defense secretary of torture, human rights groups who brought the case said on Friday.
The plaintiffs, who included the French-based International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) and the U.S. Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), said Rumsfeld had authorized interrogation techniques that led to rights abuses.
The FIDH said it had received a letter from the prosecutors' office ruling that Rumsfeld benefited from a "customary" immunity from prosecution granted to heads of state and government and foreign ministers, even after they left office.
It said in a statement it was "astonished at such a mistaken argument" and said customary immunity from prosecution did not exist under international law.
The suit was filed in October during a visit to France by Rumsfeld.
The Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq hit the headlines in April 2004 when details of physical abuse and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers were made public, badly damaging the reputation of the U.S. military.
Former prisoners at the U.S. detention camp in Guantanamo Bay are suing Rumsfeld and 10 military commanders, alleging torture and violations of their religious rights during their detention there.
The CCR and FIDH filed suits in Germany in 2004 and 2006 in an attempt to have Rumsfeld tried for rights abuses. |
'customary' ie 'based on custom or tradition rather than written law or contract.'
bunch of weasels |
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Mandy
Joined: 07 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 11:30 am Post subject: |
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And they wonder why people become cynical of the politics and law of the land.
Funny how I didn't hear about this custom in relation to the Nurenberg trials -- or in relation to Saddam Hussein.
This totally undermines individual culpability to war crimes where it isn't a defence to say "I was following orders" (or, worse, giving them as in this case) |
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luke
Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Location: by the sea
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| Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 12:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Mandy wrote: | | And they wonder why people become cynical of the politics and law of the land. |
i think that all went out the window with the illegal invasion. by the nuremberg standards ( if international law applied to the powerful states ) bush and blair would be hung for waging a war of aggression - 'the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole'. which is why the media never mention it ...
i just hope, one day ... |
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major.tom
Macho Business Donkey Wrestler
Joined: 21 Jan 2007
Location: BC, Canada
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| Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 3:35 pm Post subject: |
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In a way, they're being entirely honest. By custom, "our side" is virtually immune to international law. Even the Nurenburg trials, which went to lengths to not appear as victor's justice, failed to either identify as crimes anything the allies had done or to try any allies for war crimes.
Charging those responsible for fire bombing Japanese cities would've been a pretty good follow-up. |
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luke
Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Location: by the sea
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| Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 3:51 pm Post subject: |
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| major.tom wrote: | | Even the Nurenburg trials, which went to lengths to not appear as victor's justice, failed to either identify as crimes anything the allies had done or to try any allies for war crimes. |
yeah there were germans who were being charged with stuff who in their defense brought in allies who'd done the same thing and then got off - because we'd done it also, it was no longer a war crime!  |
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major.tom
Macho Business Donkey Wrestler
Joined: 21 Jan 2007
Location: BC, Canada
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| Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 1:26 am Post subject: |
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| Mandy wrote: | Funny how I didn't hear about this custom in relation to the Nurenberg trials -- or in relation to Saddam Hussein.
This totally undermines individual culpability to war crimes where it isn't a defence to say "I was following orders" (or, worse, giving them as in this case) |
Good points, Mandy. The only minor exception is that when it comes to trying soldiers for the crimes at Abu Ghraib, it's down to a few bad apples (individuals). But that's where the responsibility stops, despite the fact that Bush and Rummy are ultimately responsible for every crime conducted by their subordinates.
Perhaps one day they will face trial for their crimes. If that day ever comes, I'll party like it's 1999 (to borrow a line from Prince).
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Mandy
Joined: 07 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 7:34 am Post subject: |
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luke
Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Location: by the sea
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| Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2008 10:34 am Post subject: |
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Rumsfeld influenced Abu Ghraib abuse - Senate report
Former US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other senior US officials share much of the blame for detainee abuse at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and Guantanamo Bay, according to portions of a report released by the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The report's executive summary, made public by the committee's Democratic chairman Senator
Carl Levin of Michigan and its top Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona, said Mr Rumsfeld contributed to the abuse by authorising aggressive interrogation techniques at Guantanamo Bay on December 2nd, 2002.
He rescinded the authorisation six weeks later, but the report said word of his approval continued to spread within US military circles and encouraged the use of harsh techniques as far away as Iraq and Afghanistan.
The report concluded that Mr Rumsfeld's actions were "a direct cause of detainee abuse" at Guantanamo and "influenced and contributed to the use of abusive techniques . . . in Afghanistan and Iraq."
"The abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib in late 2003 was not simply the result of a few soldiers acting on their own," the executive summary said.
"Interrogation techniques such as stripping detainees of their clothes, placing them in stress positions and using military working dogs to intimidate them appeared in Iraq only after they had been approved for use in Afghanistan and at [Guantanamo]."
The detainee scandal at Abu Ghraib and later revelations of aggressive US interrogations such as "waterboarding" led to an international outcry and charges that the United States allowed prisoners to be tortured, a claim denied by the Bush administration.
The White House has since recanted the policies under pressure from Congress, while President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to close the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay.
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from http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2008/1212/breaking3.htm |
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luke
Joined: 11 Feb 2007
Location: by the sea
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| Posted: Tue Dec 16, 2008 10:21 am Post subject: |
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