Two American men can go ahead with a civil lawsuit against former
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, an appeals court said Monday, over
allegations they were tortured in Iraq at the hands of the U.S.
military.
Donald Vance and Nathan Ertel sued in federal court seeking damages
from Rumsfeld and unnamed others over their roles in developing, authorizing and
using harsh interrogation techniques in Iraq against them, thus violating their
rights.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, based in Chicago,
upheld a decision by a federal judge in Illinois to allow the lawsuit to proceed
despite efforts by the former Bush and current Obama administration to get the
case dismissed. Infowars.com
Earlier, Rumsfeld as well as the previous and present U.S.
administrations had argued that the former Defense Secretary had immunity in the
case as the alleged incidents occurred when he was in office and that American
citizens cannot sue for rights violations occurring in war zones.
rttnews.com Donald Vance and Nathan Ertel, who worked for a private security firm
in the Middle East country, were allegedly beaten and punished for months in
1996 at Camp Cropper near Baghdad before being dumped at the airport without
charge. Dailymail.co.uk Among the methods of torture used against them during several weeks
in military camps was sleep deprivation and a practice known as 'walling', in
which subjects are blindfolded and walked into walls. Dailymail.co.uk The lawsuit alleges Mr Rumsfeld personally participated in approving
the methods for use by the U.S. military in Iraq, making him responsible, for
what happened to Mr Vance and Mr Ertel. Dailymail.co.uk
The decision is the second this month in which U.S. judges have ruled
Mr Rumsfeld may be sued by U.S. citizens who alleged torture in Iraq at the
hands of U.S. troops. BBC.com Last week, a U.S. district judge in Washington ruled separately that
a former American military contractor who also claims he was tortured in Iraq
could sue Mr Rumsfeld. BBC.com
The Obama administration has been fighting hard to keep such lawsuits
from moving forward, making multiple arguments claiming that courts lack
jurisdiction to rule on torture of Americans by the U.S. military and warning
that the lawsuits were dangerous because they might affect the decisions of
future U.S. officials who have to decide whether or not to order American
citizens tortured for no reason. Antiwar.com The court's finding is consistent with other cases, where serious
crimes have been alleged and government officials were found to have been
involved in ordering, overseeing or condoning the unlawful activity.
Casavaria.com In Rumsfeld's case, it is public knowledge that he helped former
Pres. George W. Bush institute a program of "harsh interrogation" techniques and
military detention without charge. Casavaria.com In July, HRW published a detailed report on the mistreatment of
detainees under the administration of former President George W. Bush, which the
group said presented more than sufficient evidence to warrant criminal
investigations into the possible complicity of top U.S. officials like Rumsfeld,
former Vice President Dick Cheney and George Tenet, then-director of the CIA.
ipsnews.net The Interrogation and detention regime implemented by the U.S. has
resulted in the deaths of over 100 detainees in U.S. custody. Salon.com
SB/SM/DB
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