Source: http://www.time.com/time/nation/printout/0,8816,1557842,00.html

Exclusive: Charges Sought Against Rumsfeld Over Prison Abuse

A lawsuit in Germany will seek a criminal prosecution of the outgoing
Defense Secretary and other U.S. officials for their alleged role in
abuses at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo

By ADAM ZAGORIN

Just days after his resignation, former Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld is about to face more repercussions for his involvement in the
troubled wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. New legal documents, to be filed
next week with Germany's top prosecutor, will seek a criminal
investigation and prosecution of Rumsfeld, along with Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales, former CIA director George Tenet and other senior U.S.
civilian and military officers, for their alleged roles in abuses
committed at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison and at the U.S. detention facility
at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The plaintiffs in the case include 11 Iraqis who were prisoners at Abu
Ghraib, as well as Mohammad al-Qahtani, a Saudi held at Guantanamo, whom
the U.S. has identified as the so-called "20th hijacker" and a would-be
participant in the 9/11 hijackings. As TIME first reported in June 2005,
Qahtani underwent a "special interrogation plan," personally approved by
Rumsfeld, which the U.S. says produced valuable intelligence. But to
obtain it, according to the log of his interrogation and government
reports, Qahtani was subjected to forced nudity, sexual humiliation,
religious humiliation, prolonged stress positions, sleep deprivation and
other controversial interrogation techniques.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs say that one of the witnesses who will
testify on their behalf is former Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, the
one-time commander of all U.S. military prisons in Iraq. Karpinski — who
the lawyers say will be in Germany next week to publicly address her
accusations in the case — has issued a written statement to accompany
the legal filing, which says, in part: "It was clear the knowledge and
responsibility [for what happened at Abu Ghraib] goes all the way to the
top of the chain of command to the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
."

A spokesperson for the Pentagon told TIME there would be no comment
since the case has not yet been filed.

Along with Rumsfeld, Gonzales and Tenet, the other defendants in the
case are Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen Cambone;
former assistant attorney general Jay Bybee; former deputy assisant
attorney general John Yoo; General Counsel for the Department of Defense
William James Haynes II; and David S. Addington, Vice President Dick
Cheney's chief of staff. Senior military officers named in the filing
are General Ricardo Sanchez, the former top Army official in Iraq; Gen.
Geoffrey Miller, the former commander of Guantanamo; senior Iraq
commander, Major General Walter Wojdakowski; and Col. Thomas Pappas, the
one-time head of military intelligence at Abu Ghraib.

Germany was chosen for the court filing because German law provides
"universal jurisdiction" allowing for the prosecution of war crimes and
related offenses that take place anywhere in the world. Indeed, a
similar, but narrower, legal action was brought in Germany in 2004,
which also sought the prosecution of Rumsfeld. The case provoked an
angry response from Pentagon, and Rumsfeld himself was reportedly upset.
Rumsfeld's spokesman at the time, Lawrence DiRita, called the case a "a
big, big problem." U.S. officials made clear the case could adversely
impact U.S.-Germany relations, and Rumsfeld indicated he would not
attend a major security conference in Munich, where he was scheduled to
be the keynote speaker, unless Germany disposed of the case. The day
before the conference, a German prosecutor announced he would not pursue
the matter, saying there was no indication that U.S. authorities and
courts would not deal with allegations in the complaint.

In bringing the new case, however, the plaintiffs argue that
circumstances have changed in two important ways. Rumsfeld's
resignation, they say, means that the former Defense Secretary will lose
the legal immunity usually accorded high government officials. Moreover,
the plaintiffs argue that the German prosecutor's reasoning for
rejecting the previous case — that U.S. authorities were dealing with
the issue — has been proven wrong.

"The utter and complete failure of U.S. authorities to take any action
to investigate high-level involvement in the torture program could not
be clearer," says Michael Ratner, president of the Center for
Constitutional Rights, a U.S.-based non-profit helping to bring the
legal action in Germany. He also notes that the Military Commissions
Act, a law passed by Congress earlier this year, effectively blocks
prosecution in the U.S. of those involved in detention and interrogation
abuses of foreigners held abroad in American custody going to back to
Sept. 11, 2001. As a result, Ratner contends, the legal arguments
underlying the German prosecutor's previous inaction no longer hold up.

Whatever the legal merits of the case, it is the latest example of
efforts in Western Europe by critics of U.S. tactics in the war on
terror to call those involved to account in court. In Germany,
investigations are underway in parliament concerning cooperation between
the CIA and German intelligence on rendition — the kidnapping of
suspected terrorists and their removal to third countries for
interrogation. Other legal inquiries involving rendition are underway in
both Italy and Spain.

U.S. officials have long feared that legal proceedings against "war
criminals" could be used to settle political scores. In 1998, for
example, former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet — whose military coup
was supported by the Nixon administration — was arrested in the U.K. and
held for 16 months in an extradition battle led by a Spanish magistrate
seeking to charge him with war crimes. He was ultimately released and
returned to Chile. More recently, a Belgian court tried to bring charges
against then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for alleged crimes
against Palestinians.

For its part, the Bush administration has rejected adherence to the
International Criminal Court (ICC) on grounds that it could be used to
unjustly prosecute U.S. officials. The ICC is the first permanent
tribunal established to prosecute war crimes, genocide and other crimes
against humanity.

my guess is the trial will be held with the "guilty" parties in
absentia...Just can't see the US extraditing them to Germany for trial.


"For its part, the Bush administration has rejected adherence to the
International Criminal Court (ICC) on grounds that it could be used to
unjustly prosecute U.S. officials. The ICC is the first permanent
tribunal established to prosecute war crimes, genocide and other crimes
against humanity"

That one statement alone speaks volumes about Bush...he was obvioulsy
worried ahead of time that what he was planning on doing in Iraq was
illegal. He has distorted and mutated what the US is SUPPOSED to stand
for. Besides, every one knows that torture is THE most unreliable way to
get information. The victim will eventually say what you wanna hear just
to be left the fuck alone.
People of the US, it up to YOU to safeguard your democracy. Don't rely
on some shmuck in the whitehouse to do it for ya. They gots their own
agenda and it DOESN'T include you.
Bush has made a mockery of what the US stands for..don't let him get
away with it.

Q-what kind of a government do we have here in the colonies?
A- CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC, NOT A DEMOCRACY. Democracy is a code word
for communism. look it up before you shoot this messanger. Guaranteed
golden info here.

Well the world wants to take down Rumfield. I can't blame them.

He underestimated the # of troops need to be deployed in Iraq and
arrogantly deined more troops even when military generals requested for
more. He hought every recommendation that his generals asked, lamblasted
any sign of discontent with the war strategy Rumfield laid out, poorly
equiped troops who they themselves on national TV ask Rumfield why they
did have body amour.
I can't the beleive Bush had to wait for the Democrats to win congress
first instead of when his generals resign in protest to Rumfield
tyrannical and nonsensical command.