Two leading US human rights groups sued Secretary of Defense and three senior military officials, holding them directly responsible for the spread of torture in US detention facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan, Khaled Dawoud reports from Washington As reports on horrific incidents of torture and abuse of detainees held in US military custody in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo and several other secret locations worldwide became a nearly daily occurrence, two leading US human rights groups announced last week they were filing federal lawsuits against US Secretary of Defense and three senior military officials, holding them "directly responsible" for the spread of the illegal practices. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Human Rights First said, in the first federal court lawsuits to name top US officials in the ongoing torture scandal in Iraq and Afghanistan, that such practices "have tarnished America's reputation". The lawsuit against Rumsfeld was filed in federal court in Illinois on behalf of eight men -- four Iraqis and four Afghanis -- who were subject to torture and abuse at the hands of US forces under Secretary Rumsfeld's command, said a statement released by ACLU. The parties are seeking a court order declaring that Secretary Rumsfeld's actions violated the US Constitution, federal statutes and international law. "Secretary Rumsfeld bears direct and ultimate responsibility for this descent into horror by personally authorising unlawful interrogation techniques and by abdicating his legal duty to stop torture," said Lucas Guttentag of the ACLU, lead counsel in the lawsuit. "He gives lip service to being responsible but has not been held accountable for his actions. This lawsuit puts the blame where it belongs, on the secretary of defense." The groups are joined as co-counsel in the lawsuit by a number of senior retired military officers and judges, and a former Department of Justice official. The lawsuit also seeks compensatory damages for the harms suffered as a result of torture and other abuses. "Since Abu Ghraib, we have vigorously campaigned for an independent commission to investigate US policies that have led to torture and cruel treatment of detainees. These calls have gone unanswered by the administration and Congress, and today many of the illegal polices remain in place," said Michael Posner, executive director of Human Rights First. "We believed the United States could correct its policy without resort to the courts. In bringing this action today, we reluctantly conclude that we were wrong." The eight men represented in the lawsuit were incarcerated in US detention facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan, where they were subjected to torture and other cruel and degrading treatment, including severe and repeated beatings, cutting with knives, sexual humiliation and assault, mock executions, death threats, and restraint in contorted and excruciating positions. The eight men, aged between 17 and 48 and who were all released without ever being charged, were detained for periods ranging between four weeks and one year. "One of the greatest strengths of the US military throughout our history has been strong civilian leadership at the top of the chain of command," said Retired Admiral John Hutson who served as the Navy's Judge Advocate General from 1997 to 2000. "Unfortunately, Secretary Rumsfeld has failed to live up to that tradition. In the end, that imperils our troops and undermines the war effort. It is critical that we return to another military tradition: accountability." Hutson charged in a news conference held by the two human rights groups to announce their lawsuit that Rumsfeld has "permitted, and indeed encouraged, military personnel to fall far short of the aspirational standards that Americans deserve and expect in our armed forces. His leadership has been found wanting in the most fundamental and important ways." He pointed out, "in dealing with detainees, the attitude at the top was that they are all just terrorists, beneath contempt and outside the law so they could be treated inhumanely. Our effort to gain information vitiated 200 years of history. International obligations didn't matter, nor did morality or humanity. It was okay to lose our soul as long as we got information, no matter how unreliable." He added, "that attitude dropped like a rock down the chain of command, and we had Abu Ghraib and its progeny. The self-respect of the military and the country was diminished. Our international reputation will be tarnished for generations. In the end, Secretary Rumsfeld's nonfeasance and malfeasance has imperiled the war effort and endangered troops." He also stressed, "the military becomes chaotic without accountability. Only by enforcing the concept of accountability can we begin healing, redeeming our respect, and repairing our international reputation. I believe the buck stops at the desk of the secretary of defense." According to the complaint presented to court, Secretary Rumsfeld "authorised an abandonment of our nation's inviolable and deep-rooted prohibition against torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of detainees in US military custody." The complaint further charges that Secretary Rumsfeld personally approved brutal and illegal interrogation techniques in December 2002. Those techniques included the use of "stress positions", 20-hour interrogations, the removal of clothing, the use of dogs, isolation and sensory deprivation. Although some of these techniques were later rescinded, Rumsfeld personally approved a new list in April 2003, which included dietary manipulation, sensory deprivation and "false flag" (leading detainees to believe that they have been transferred to a country that permits torture). He also made clear that harsher techniques could be used with his personal authorisation. "Human rights law and military rules prohibit torture at all times and in every circumstance, a principle that applies to the highest commander as well as the lowest subordinate," said co-counsel in the lawsuit, Bill Lann Lee, a former assistant attorney-general for civil rights at the Department of Justice. Official government reports have documented many horrific abuses inflicted on detainees in US custody. They have shown that the abuse was ongoing and was not limited to the notorious Abu Ghraib prison. The ACLU and other advocacy groups have obtained over 23,000 pages of documents concerning abuses through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. As these documents indicate, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began to complain about the interrogation techniques used by the military on detainees in Guantanamo, Cuba as early as 2002; techniques that spread to Afghanistan and Iraq. Media reports have also brought many disturbing incidents to light, including the deaths of detainees in custody and the handover of suspected terrorists by US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) agents to other countries where torture is a common practice in violation of US laws. In the latest reports, detainees at Guantanamo were reportedly subjected to sexual humiliation and taunting by female interrogators. On 6 March, The Miami Herald Tribune reported that detainees at the notorious prison facility complained to their lawyers that, "guards kicked and stomped on Qurans and cursed Allah." They also alleged that guards "punished them by taking away their pants, knowing that would prevent them from praying" according to their Islamic beliefs. The paper added that in one incident "a prison barber cut a cross-shaped patch of hair on an inmate's head," and that guards "also mocked captives at prayer and censored Islamic books". The three other senior military officials sued by the ACLU on behalf of the victims for reported abuses in Iraq were Colonel Thomas Pappas, Brigadier General Janis Karpinski and Lt General Ricardo Sanchez.
