CCR Annual Report 2005 - Center for Constitutional Rights

ABUSE:INTERNATIONALLAW
12
CCR v War Crimes
Despite overwhelming evidence that the use of torture in U.S. detention facilities was
“almost routine,” the Pentagon and the Bush Administration continue to maintain that
illegal acts were limited to a few rogue soldiers. In response to the U.S. government’s
refusal to allow a proper independent investigation to go forward, CCR has crossed the
nation’s borders in pursuit of accountability for the policies and command failures that
led to U.S. human rights violations.
Upon CCR’s request, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights previously
issued Precautionary Measures requesting the U.S. Government to have the legal status
of the Guantánamo detainees determined by a competent tribunal, to provide information
concerning the location and treatment of all post-9/11 detainees held by the U.S.
around the world, and to investigate and prosecute all torture allegations. At a 2005
hearing before the Commission, CCR requested that these measures be extended to
prevent the use of evidence obtained through torture in any proceedings.
The impossibility of an independent and far-reaching domestic investigation of highranking
U.S. officials compelled CCR to make an even more daring bid for U.S.
accountability. On November 30, 2004, CCR filed a criminal complaint with the German
Federal Prosecutor’s Office. The complaint was filed under the doctrine of universal
jurisdiction, which allows for the prosecution of suspected war criminals irrespective of
where they are located or where the violations took place, and requested a comprehensive
investigation into the role played by Rumsfeld, Gonzales and nine other
high-ranking U.S. officials in the torture and abuse of Iraqi detainees.
In February, the Pentagon announced that Secretary Rumsfeld would not attend a
conference in Munich as long as CCR’s lawsuit was pending in Germany. One day before
Rumsfeld was scheduled to attend the conference, the German prosecutor’s office
announced it would not open an investigation. CCR has appealed the decision and will
file new evidence as it becomes available through FOIA requests and other sources.
CCR is confident that evidence will become public supporting our fundamental
contention: high-ranking U.S. officials, both military and civilian, are responsible for war
crimes. We will continue to work to ensure that those responsible will be brought to
justice.