Lawsuit Against Rumsfeld Threatens US-German Relations

[lost]

:mad:

Lawsuit Against Rumsfeld Threatens US-German Relations (http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1427743,00.html)The Pentagon made thinly veiled threats on Monday, suggesting US-German relations could be at risk if a criminal complaint filed in German courts over Abu Ghraib proceeds.

The Pentagon expressed concern Monday over a criminal complaint filed in Germany against US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other officials over the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, warning that "frivolous lawsuits" could affect the broader US-German relationship.

The complaint was filed in Berlin on Nov. 30 by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and Berlin's Republican Lawyers' Association on behalf of four Iraqis who were alleged to have been mistreated by US soldiers.

Besides Rumsfeld, former CIA director George Tenet, Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Steven Cambone, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, Brigadier General Janis Karpinski and five other military officers who served in Iraq were named in the complaint, which seeks an investigation into their role in the prisoner abuses at Abu Ghraib.
how is the abuse frivolous? or is it just because someone dares to take criticizing the current administration up a level? are rumsfeld & co above the law? just because it is german law, does that make it less important than us laws? and later on in the article, that thing about belgium....


i thought i was going to write a lot more about this, but i just totally forgot everything i was going to say... :dozey:

[wiggin]

The real frivolous part is that civil suits can be brought in national courts that are not involved in the situation against, essentially, an office of a foreign government. That's an infringement on sovereignty. This is the reason why the ill-considered "universal jurisdiction" of Belgian courts has since been rescinded.

Essentially, it is not unreasonable to be disturbed by what happened in Abu Ghraib. If these were criminal proceedings against Rumsfeld, there would be a real US-German crisis. As it is, this is just chaff, and stupid chaff at that. *shrugs*

Ender

[Anita Blake]

canada tried to lay similar charges against bush before his visit, which didn't go through for a variety of reasons, including the fact that he has diplomatic immunity, and probably because our courts are far too afraid to rock the boat and actually apply a recent war-crime law that would allow us to lay charges against someone from any nation for committing war crimes. the law is nice in theory, but you just know that it's one of those great things that will never be used in practice.

what is more important? stopping inhumane practices/genocide/torture, or so-called "sovereignty"? sovereignty might have meant something even 50 years ago, but in this day and age of global economies, where all nations are truly tied to eachother, this is becoming more and more of an antiquated ideal. A nation should certainly have soverignty over it's internal policies, but when it comes to international dealings, what the f*** is "sovereignty"? the right to go into another nation and do whatever the hell you please? there is good reason and cause for international law, and we must find an appropriate way for this day and age to practice and apply international laws.