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Center For Constitutional Rights Seeks Criminal Investigation in Germany
into Culpability of U.S. Officials in Abu Ghraib Torture <br>
German Prosecutor Asked to Meet Obligations under Law Requiring
Investigation into Torture and War Crimes. Doctrine of Universal
Jurisdiction Permits Prosecution of Suspected War Criminals Wherever They
May Be Found<br>
<a href="http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=TCRlT9TuSb&Content=471" eudora="autourl">http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=TCRlT9TuSb&Content=471<br><br>
</a>Synopsis <br><br>
In a historic effort to hold high-ranking U.S. officials accountable for
brutal acts of torture including the widely publicized abuses carried out
at Abu Ghraib, on Tuesday November 30, 2004, the Center for
Constitutional Rights (CCR) and four Iraqi citizens filed a criminal
complaint with the German Federal Prosecutor’s Office at the Karlsruhe
Court, Karlsruhe, Germany. Under the doctrine of universal
jurisdiction, suspected war criminals may be prosecuted irrespective of
where they are located. <br><br>
<br>
The four Iraqis were victims of gruesome crimes including severe
beatings, sleep and food deprivation, hooding and sexual abuse.
(Further details of the treatment of the complainants are
attached.)<br><br>
CCR President Michael Ratner, who traveled to Berlin to file the
complaint, said “From Donald Rumsfeld on down, the political and military
leaders in charge of Iraq policy must be investigated and held
accountable. It is shameful that the United States of America, a nation
that purports to set moral and legal standards for world, refuses
to seriously investigate the role of those at the top of the chain of
command in these horrible crimes.” “Indeed,” Ratner added “the
existence of ‘torture memos’ drafted by administration officials and the
authorization of techniques that violated humanitarian law by Secretary
Rumsfeld, Lt. General Sanchez and others make clear that
responsibility for Abu Ghraib and other violations of law reaches all the
way to the top.”<br><br>
The U.S. officials charged include Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld,
Former CIA Director George Tenet, Undersecretary of Defense for
Intelligence Dr. Stephen Cambone, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez,
Major General Walter Wojdakowski, Major General Geoffrey Miller,
Brigadier General Janis L. Karpinski, Lieutenant Colonel Jerry L.
Phillabaum, Colonel Thomas Pappas, and Lieutenant Colonel Stephen L.
Jordan. <br><br>
The criminal complaint was brought under the German Code of Crimes
against International Law (CCIL) and seeks an investigation into war
crimes allegedly carried out by high ranking United States civilian and
military officials, including the incidents which occurred in Iraq.
<br><br>
<b>[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
<a href="http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/whatsnew/action/actionAlert2.asp">here</a>]<br><br>
</b>CCR is represented in Germany by Wolfgang Kaleck, a Berlin-based
lawyer who has been involved in similar efforts on behalf of victims of
the Argentine “dirty war.”<br><br>
The charges include violations of the German Code, “War Crimes against
Persons,” which outlaws killing, torture, cruel and inhumane treatment,
sexual coercion and forcible transfers. The Code makes criminally
responsible those who carry out the above acts as well as those who
induce, condone or order the acts. It also makes commanders liable,
whether civilian or military, who fail to prevent their subordinates from
committing such acts.<br><br>
The German Code of Crimes against International Law grants German Courts
what is called Universal Jurisdiction for the above-described crimes.
Article 1, Part 1, Section 1 states: "This Act shall apply to all
criminal offenses against international law designated under this Act, to
serious criminal offences designated therein even when the offence was
committed abroad and bears no relation to Germany.” This means that those
who commit such crimes can be prosecuted wherever found: they, like
pirates of old, are considered enemies of all humankind. <br><br>
The German CCIL places a prosecuting duty on the German prosecutor for
all crimes that constitute violations of the CCIL, irrespective of the
location of the person, the crime, or the nationality of the persons
involved. Complaints can be filed with the German prosecutor to seek an
investigation of specific crimes, as was done here. While outside
parties can bring complaints to the attention of a prosecutor in the
U.S., there is no duty to prosecute such complaints and they do not
become part of an official court procedure. In Germany, the prosecutor is
under a duty to determine if an investigation and indictments are
warranted; if he fails to do so, the complainants can appeal to the
court. <br><br>
According to CCR lawyers, in this case there are particularly compelling
reasons the prosecutor should exercise his duty. Three of the defendants
are present in Germany: Lt. General Sanchez and Major General Wodjakoski
are stationed in Heidelberg, and Colonel Pappas is in Wiesbaden. Others,
such as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, often travel to Germany. In
addition, the military units that engaged in the illegal conduct are
stationed in Germany. Although such links to Germany are
unnecessary for the prosecutor to fulfill his duty, when the alleged
perpetrators are actually on German soil the duty to investigate is even
stronger. Their presence in Germany gives the prosecutor an important
avenue to investigate these cases. Last, since the complainants are also
victims, this places an additional duty on the prosecutor to investigate.
<br><br>
“We view Germany as a court of last resort,” said CCR Vice
President Peter Weiss, “We file these cases here because there is simply
no other place to go. It is clear that the U.S. government is not
willing to open an investigation into these allegations against these
officials.” Weiss also pointed out that Congress has failed to
seriously investigate the abuses and none of the various commissions
appointed by the military and the Bush administration has been willing to
look unflinchingly up the chain of command to consider what criminal
responsibility lies with the military and political leadership. Instead,
they asserted that the abuses and torture were the exclusive
responsibility of rogue lower-level military personnel. <br><br>
There are no international courts or courts in Iraq that can carry out
investigations and prosecutions of the U.S. role, either: the United
States has refused to join the International Criminal Court, thereby
foreclosing the option of pursuing a prosecution in international courts;
Iraq has no authority to prosecute; and the U.S. gave immunity to all its
personnel in Iraq from Iraqi prosecution. Says Weiss, “We are doing what
is necessary and expected when other systems of justice have failed: we
are asking the German prosecutors, who have available one of the most
advanced universal jurisdiction laws in the world, to begin an
investigation that is required under its law.”<br><br>
<br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3 color="#006699"><b>Call on
the German Federal Prosecutor to Investigate Rumsfeld and Other U.S.
Officials for War Crimes at Abu Ghraib<br><br>
</b></font><font size=3>The Center for Constitutional Rights 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. <br><br>
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.<br><br>
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. <br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.
<br><br>
Sample letter:<br>
<a href="http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/whatsnew/action/actionAlert2.asp" eudora="autourl">http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/whatsnew/action/actionAlert2.asp<br><br>
<br>
</a>I am writing to express my support for the criminal complaint filed
against U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, et al., by the Center
for Constitutional Rights, represented by Wolfgang Kaleck of Berlin, on
November 30, 2004. I kindly request that you begin the investigations
regarding the incidents at Abu Ghraib and others, unless the United
States itself begins an independent investigation of the high-ranking
officials and members of the military responsible for these war crimes.
Because the U.S. is failing to fully investigate, and because the U.S. is
not a member of the International Criminal Court, there is no other forum
to turn to in seeking justice and accountability.<br><br>
<br>
Sincerely yours,<br><br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
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