WASHINGTON, March 28 (UPI) -- The American Civil Liberties Union expressed "disappointment" at the decision to dismiss a case filed against former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a case brought by nine Iraqi and Afghan former detainees against Rumsfeld for torture they suffered while in U.S. military custody. The ACLU and Human Rights First filed the case in March 2005 on behalf of the former detainees.
In his ruling, Chief Justice Thomas A. Hogan of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia said that the case was as "lamentable" and "appalling," but he found that U.S. constitutional protections did not apply to Iraqi and Afghan nationals in U.S. custody in those countries.
Hogan also concluded that U.S. officials were immune from lawsuits resulting from actions "within the scope of their official duties," according to a press release from the ACLU.
"We are deeply disappointed in today's decision," said ACLU attorney Lucas Guttentag, lead counsel on the case.
"Despite recognizing that torture is categorically prohibited and that the treatment of our plaintiffs 'constitutes an indictment of the humanity with which the United States treats its detainees,' the court ruled that innocent civilians tortured by the United States cannot seek recourse in the federal courts to hold responsible officials legally liable. We believe that the law and Constitution require more, and that the former Secretary of Defense must be held accountable for his policies that led to this abuse," Guttentag said in the ACLU statement.
The plaintiffs described the abuse suffered in U.S. custody, which included severe and repeated beatings, cutting with knives, sexual humiliation and assault, mock executions, death threats, and restraint in contorted and excruciating positions. All nine former detainees were released from U.S. custody without being charged
The ACLU and Human Rights First also argued that Secretary Rumsfeld personally approved brutal and illegal interrogation techniques in December 2002. Those techniques included the use of "stress positions," the removal of clothing, the use of dogs, and isolation and sensory deprivation.
