A federal judge has made a ruling that paves the way for former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to be sued personally for damages by a former US military contractor who says he was tortured during a nine-month imprisonment in Iraq.
Former US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Photo: REUTERS
7:00AM BST 04 Aug 2011
5 Comments Lawyers for the man, who worked as a translator for Marines collecting intelligence in Iraq, claim he was preparing to come home to the United States on annual leave when he was abducted by the US military and held without justification while his family knew nothing about his whereabouts or even whether he was still alive.
The government says he was suspected of helping pass classified information to the enemy and helping anti-coalition forces get into Iraq. But he was never charged with a crime, and he says he never broke the law and was risking his life to help his country.
Court papers filed on his behalf say he was repeatedly abused while being held at Camp Cropper, a US military facility near the Baghdad airport dedicated to holding "high-value" detainees, then suddenly released without explanation in August 2006.
Two years later, he filed suit in US District Court in Washington arguing that Mr Rumsfeld personally approved torturous interrogation techniques on a case-by-case basis and controlled his detention without access to courts in violation of his constitutional rights.
Chicago attorney Mike Kanovitz, who is representing the plaintiff, says it appears the military wanted to keep his client behind bars so he couldn't tell anyone about an important contact he made with a leading sheik while helping collect intelligence in Iraq.
"The US government wasn't ready for the rest of the world to know about it, so they basically put him on ice," Mr Kanovitz said in a telephone interview. "If you've got unchecked power over the citizens, why not use it?"The Obama administration has represented Mr Rumsfeld through the Justice Department and argued that the former defence secretary cannot be sued personally for official conduct. The Justice Department also argued that a judge cannot review wartime decisions that are the constitutional responsibility of Congress and the president. And the department said the case could disclose sensitive information and distract from the war effort and that the threat of liability would impede future military decisions.
But US District Judge James Gwin rejected those arguments and said US citizens are protected by the Constitution at home or abroad during wartime.
In many other cases brought by foreign detainees, judges have dismissed torture claims made against US officials for their personal involvement in decisions over prisoner treatment. But this is the second time a federal judge has allowed US citizens to sue Mr Rumsfeld personally.
