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Call on the German Federal Prosecutor to Investigate Rumsfeld and Other U.S.
Officials for War Crimes at Abu Ghraib
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and four Iraqis who were tortured
in U.S. custody have filed a complaint with the German Federal Prosecutor’s
Office against high ranking United States civilian and military commanders
over the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison and elsewhere in Iraq.
We are asking the German prosecutor to launch an investigation: since the
U.S. government is unwilling to open an independent investigation into the
responsibility of these officials for war crimes, and since the U.S. has
refused to join the International Criminal Court, CCR and the Iraqi victims
have brought this complaint in Germany as a court of last resort. Several
of the defendants are stationed in Germany.
Defendants include Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, former CIA
Director George Tenet, Lt. General Ricardo S. Sanchez, Major-General Walter
Wojdakowski, Brig.-General Janis Karpinski, Lt.-Colonel Jerry L. Phillabaum,
Colonel Thomas M. Pappas, Lt.-Colonel Stephen L. Jordan, Major-General
Geoffrey Miller, and Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Stephen
Cambone.
German law allows German courts to prosecute for killing, torture, cruel and
inhumane treatment, forcible transfers and sexual coercion such as occurred
at Abu Ghraib. The world has seen the photographs and read the leaked
“torture memos” – we are doing what is necessary when other systems of
justice have failed and seeking to hold officials up the chain of command
responsible for the shameful abuses that occurred.
Please join our effort! The German Prosecutor has discretion to decide
whether to initiate an investigation. It is critical that he hear from you
so he knows that people around the world support this effort.
Send a letter
here.
(If the above link doesn’t work, paste this address into your browser:
http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/whatsnew/action/actionAlert2.asp
For more
information on the suit, go to www.ccr-ny.org .)
And please forward this message widely!
Sincerely,
Michael Ratner
President
