Charged with torture, Rumsfeld flees France

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 Guantánamo 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 Guantánamo.

For more information on the case, visit www.ccrjustice.org.