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PARIS: A group of U.S. and European human rights organizations is pursuing a legal complaint against Donald Rumsfeld in a Paris court that accuses the former defense secretary of being responsible for torture.
The group, which includes the International Federation for Human Rights, the French League for Human Rights and the Nork York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, filed the complaint late Thursday and unsuccessfully sought to confront Rumsfeld as he left a breakfast meeting in central Paris on Friday.
Jeanne Sulzer, a lawyer for the group, said the complaint was filed with a state prosecutor, Jean-Claude Marin, who has the power to pursue the case because of Rumsfeld's presence in France.
Similar legal complaints against Rumsfeld have been filed in countries like Sweden and Argentina. German prosecutors dismissed a case in April, saying it was up to the United States to investigate the issue.
In France, the group is seeking to press charges against Rumsfeld for authorizing torture at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq under the 1984 Convention Against Torture, which France has used in previous torture cases.
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Homes still at risk on sixth day of firesTorture claim is filed against Rumsfeld in FranceGeorgia court orders man freed in sex caseAs part of their complaint, the group submitted 11 pages of written testimony from a former U.S. army brigadier general, Janis Karpinski.
Karpinski was the military police commander Abu Ghraib but was demoted to colonel and lost her post at the base. She contended that the abuses started after the appearance of Major General Geoffrey Miller, who was sent as an emissary by Rumsfeld to assist military intelligence interrogators. Miller criticized the interrogators for "being too nice to the prisoners," she said, and promised more resources.
In her statement, Karpinski said he summed up the new approach in two sentences: "Look, you have to treat them like dogs. If they ever felt like anything more than dogs, you have effectively lost control of the interrogation."
Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, said in a statement that the aim of the latest legal complaint was to demonstrate "that we will not rest until those U.S. officials involved in the torture program are brought to justice."
The group, which includes the International Federation for Human Rights, the French League for Human Rights and the Nork York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, filed the complaint late Thursday and unsuccessfully sought to confront Rumsfeld as he left a breakfast meeting in central Paris on Friday.
Jeanne Sulzer, a lawyer for the group, said the complaint was filed with a state prosecutor, Jean-Claude Marin, who has the power to pursue the case because of Rumsfeld's presence in France.
Similar legal complaints against Rumsfeld have been filed in countries like Sweden and Argentina. German prosecutors dismissed a case in April, saying it was up to the United States to investigate the issue.
In France, the group is seeking to press charges against Rumsfeld for authorizing torture at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq under the 1984 Convention Against Torture, which France has used in previous torture cases.
Today in Americas
Homes still at risk on sixth day of firesTorture claim is filed against Rumsfeld in FranceGeorgia court orders man freed in sex caseAs part of their complaint, the group submitted 11 pages of written testimony from a former U.S. army brigadier general, Janis Karpinski.
Karpinski was the military police commander Abu Ghraib but was demoted to colonel and lost her post at the base. She contended that the abuses started after the appearance of Major General Geoffrey Miller, who was sent as an emissary by Rumsfeld to assist military intelligence interrogators. Miller criticized the interrogators for "being too nice to the prisoners," she said, and promised more resources.
In her statement, Karpinski said he summed up the new approach in two sentences: "Look, you have to treat them like dogs. If they ever felt like anything more than dogs, you have effectively lost control of the interrogation."
Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, said in a statement that the aim of the latest legal complaint was to demonstrate "that we will not rest until those U.S. officials involved in the torture program are brought to justice."