Human rights groups, including the French-based International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) and the U.S. Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), have filed a lawsuit against Donald Rumsfeld for authorizing interrogation techniques that led to rights abuses at detention centers in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay when he was defense secretary of the United States.

The Bush administration has been consistent in its claims that it does not torture, claims which have been debunked as complete bullshit. Exposure to extreme temperatures and waterboarding are methods the administration admits to employing under the guise that they are not torture (as well as the “I’m not touching you” technique demonstrated by Rummy in the accompanying picture).

The Abu Ghraib jail in Iraq hit the headlines in April 2004 when details of the physical abuse and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers were made public, badly damaging the reputation of the U.S. military.

Former prisoners at Guantanamo Bay are suing Rumsfeld and 10 military commanders for alleged torture and violations of their religious rights during their detention there.

The CCR and FIDH have already filed suits in Germany in 2004 and 2006 in a bid to have Rumsfeld tried for rights abuses.

Both were rejected by the courts, though an appeal is due to be heard in the second case next week, the groups said.

The plaintiffs argue that French courts have universal jurisdiction, under the 1984 Convention Against Torture, which allows them to try foreigners in cases which occurred abroad. In a statement posted on the FIDH website, Michael Ratner said, “We will only stop once the American authorities involved in the torture program are brought to justice. Donald Rumsfeld must understand that he has nowhere to hide. A torturer is an enemy of humanity.” The statement went on to say that, “Rumsfeld’s presence on French territory gives the French courts the authority to try him, in that he ordered and authorized torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment on detainees at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and elsewhere.”

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