il sogno
11-15-2006, 09:48 AM
A lawsuit has been filed in Germany by civil rights groups. They are going after the Bush Administration for war crimes at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo. The suit names among others, Rummy and George Tenet.
Former General Janis Karpinski has offered to testify. They tried to hang the Abu Ghraib fiasco on her. Looks like she's not gonna take it lying down.
12 Detainees Sue Rumsfeld in Germany, Citing Abuse
By MARK LANDLER
Published: November 15, 2006
FRANKFURT, Nov. 14 — A week after President Bush announced that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld would resign, lawyers asked a German prosecutor to investigate Mr. Rumsfeld and other American officials for suspected war crimes stemming from the treatment of prisoners in military jails in Iraq and Cuba.
The lawsuit filed in Karlsruhe on Tuesday cites 11 other current and former American officials, including Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, who it says helped formulate legal reasoning legitimizing the use of torture.
The suit, filed by civil-rights legal groups on behalf of 12 detainees — 11 Iraqis and a Saudi — asserts that they were subjected to beatings, sleep deprivation, withholding of food and sexual humiliation.
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This is the second time lawyers have asked German prosecutors to investigate Mr. Rumsfeld in connection with accusations of war crimes. Prosecutors turned down a request in February 2005, saying the case would be better handled by United States prosecutors.
The lawyers contend that almost two years later, the United States has done nothing to investigate the role of senior Bush administration officials in the treatment of prisoners who are suspected terrorists.
Moreover, they contend, the Military Commissions Act, passed in September, will make it harder to prosecute American officials at home if charged with violating the Geneva Conventions because it is intended to provide retroactive immunity dating to the Sept. 11 attacks.
“We’ve had two years of complete inaction by the Bush administration,” said Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, which has expressed support for the case. “They’ve been very good at prosecuting lower-level officials, but done nothing to investigate high-level officials.”
Among the others charged in the suit are John C. Yoo and Jay S. Bybee, two former Justice department lawyers who were integral in drafting the administration’s legal arguments for treatment of suspected terrorists. It also cites George J. Tenet, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
From the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/15/world/europe/15german.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)
Former General Janis Karpinski has offered to testify. They tried to hang the Abu Ghraib fiasco on her. Looks like she's not gonna take it lying down.
12 Detainees Sue Rumsfeld in Germany, Citing Abuse
By MARK LANDLER
Published: November 15, 2006
FRANKFURT, Nov. 14 — A week after President Bush announced that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld would resign, lawyers asked a German prosecutor to investigate Mr. Rumsfeld and other American officials for suspected war crimes stemming from the treatment of prisoners in military jails in Iraq and Cuba.
The lawsuit filed in Karlsruhe on Tuesday cites 11 other current and former American officials, including Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, who it says helped formulate legal reasoning legitimizing the use of torture.
The suit, filed by civil-rights legal groups on behalf of 12 detainees — 11 Iraqis and a Saudi — asserts that they were subjected to beatings, sleep deprivation, withholding of food and sexual humiliation.
................
This is the second time lawyers have asked German prosecutors to investigate Mr. Rumsfeld in connection with accusations of war crimes. Prosecutors turned down a request in February 2005, saying the case would be better handled by United States prosecutors.
The lawyers contend that almost two years later, the United States has done nothing to investigate the role of senior Bush administration officials in the treatment of prisoners who are suspected terrorists.
Moreover, they contend, the Military Commissions Act, passed in September, will make it harder to prosecute American officials at home if charged with violating the Geneva Conventions because it is intended to provide retroactive immunity dating to the Sept. 11 attacks.
“We’ve had two years of complete inaction by the Bush administration,” said Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, which has expressed support for the case. “They’ve been very good at prosecuting lower-level officials, but done nothing to investigate high-level officials.”
Among the others charged in the suit are John C. Yoo and Jay S. Bybee, two former Justice department lawyers who were integral in drafting the administration’s legal arguments for treatment of suspected terrorists. It also cites George J. Tenet, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
From the NY Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/15/world/europe/15german.html?_r=1&oref=slogin)