In November 2004, ECCHR General Secretary Wolfgang Kaleck filed a criminal complaint in Germany on behalf of four Iraqi survivors and the Center for Constitutional Rights based in New York. The complaint was directed against, among others, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, former CIA Director George Tenet and a number of high ranking military personnel in relation to breaches of the UN Convention against Torture and the German Code of Crimes against International Law.
The Rumsfeld torture cases
USA – Torture – Rumsfeld
Case
The criminal complaints focused on the impunity of leading representatives of the government, the armed forces and the intelligence services. The complaints were based on the principle of universal jurisdiction which has been laid down in the German and French legal systems. Under this principle it is possible to pursue legal action in national courts in cases of so called “core crimes,” such as war crimes or crimes against humanity, even if the relevant criminal acts took place on foreign soil.
Since in the cases at hand no prosecutions were pursued in the home states of the perpetrators or the victims, nor by any international courts, it was possible to initiate investigations in Germany and France.
Context
Between 2004 and 2007, three complaints were filed in Germany and in France against members of the US government, including former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and members of the military forces in connection with war crimes, torture and other criminal acts which took place in the military prisons of Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib. In all three cases, however, the court authorities in Karlsruhe and Paris, where the cases were filed, refused to initiate investigations and rejected appeals against these decisions.
The public was shocked when news broke of the torture and inhuman treatment in the US operated Iraqi prison, Abu Ghraib, and in the military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Despite the outrage surrounding these incidents, those responsible for overseeing these crimes have to this day not been held accountable. While some lower ranking military personnel have been convicted in military courts for torture committed at Abu Ghraib, their senior officers, the military and political leadership, remain unprosecuted. This is despite the fact that these individuals directly or indirectly ordered and – in the case of top government lawyers – attempted to legitimize these crimes.
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Quotes
Documents (30)
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Dossier: The US torture program – Approved at the hightest levels
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Case report: The Rumsfeld torture cases
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Rumsfeld: CCR letter to German Federal Prosecutor
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Affidavit of Jules Lobel on Direct and Indirect Command Responsibility for War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity under International Law
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Klageerzwingungsverfahren Rumsfeld
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Expert Report of Scott Horton in Rumsfeld Case
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Criminal Complaint Rumsfeld 2004 Part 1
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Criminal Complaint Rumsfeld 2004 Part 2
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Entscheidung des OLG Stuttgart im Klageerzwingungsverfahren
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UN Special Rapporteur report in Rumsfeld case
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Expert Opinion Professor Bill Bowring in Rumsfeld case
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Affidavit Richard Falk on Universal Jurisdiction
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Sachverständigengutachten von Prof. Benjamin G. Davis
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Kurzgutachten: Die Bedeutung völkerrechtlicher Bestrafungspflichten und der völkergewohnheitsrechtlichen Jurisdiktions- und Immunitätsregeln für Verfahren nach dem Völkerstrafgesetzbuch
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Gutachterliche Stellungnahme von Jordan J. Paust
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Klageerzwingungsverfahren Rumsfeld Teil 1
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Klageerzwingungsverfahren Rumsfeld Teil 2
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Klageerzwingungsverfahren Rumsfeld Teil 3
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Klageerzwingungsverfahren Rumsfeld Teil 4
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Criminal Complaint Rumsfeld 2006 Part 1
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Criminal Complaint Rumsfeld 2006 Part 2
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Zeugenaussage von Gitanjali S. Gutierrez
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Zeugenaussage der ehemaligen Brigadegeneralin Janis Karpinski
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Ablehungsentscheidung Generalbundesanwalt im Fall Rumsfeld
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Beschluss des OLG Stuttgart im Klageerzwingungsverfahren
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Pressemitteilung: Donald Rumsfeld – Während eines Aufenthalts in Frankreich wegen Folter angeklagt (28. Oktober 2007)
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Open Letter to Kouchner and Dati
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Plainte contre Rumsfeld en France
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Réponse Procureur Novembre 2007
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Rumsfeld Case France: Prosecutor's Decision
Partners
Glossary (8)
Topics (5)
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Double standards
Decision makers in Western democracies often apply double standards when it comes to human rights. While the Global North will condemn and in some cases prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Global South, there is little appetite to examine the role played by Western politicians, military leaders and corporations in crimes against international law.
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Torture
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US torture
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France
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USA
Mass surveillance of their own citizens, drone strikes that kill civilians, the torture of detainees – these are just some of the crimes that for example the United States has overseen in recent years. For more than ten years, ECCHR has been taking legal action against systematic US torture and unlawful drone strikes committed by the US.
Insight
Double standards
Decision makers in Western democracies often apply double standards when it comes to human rights. While the Global North will condemn and in some cases prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Global South, there is little appetite to examine the role played by Western politicians, military leaders and corporations in crimes against international law.