Rights groups file French torture case vs Rumsfeld

http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Rights_groups_file_French_torture_case_vs_Rumsfeld.html?siteSect=143&sid=8356303&cKey=1193395100000&ty=ti

PARIS (Reuters) - Human rights groups have filed a lawsuit in France alleging that former U.S. defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld allowed torture at U.S.-run detention centres in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

The plaintiffs, which include the French-based International Federation of Human Rights Leagues (FIDH) and the U.S. Centre for Constitutional Rights (CCR), say Rumsfeld authorised interrogation techniques that led to rights abuses.

The United States says it does not torture, though it has authorised several methods widely condemned by rights groups such as exposure to extreme temperatures and 'waterboarding', or simulated drowning.

"We will only stop once the American authorities involved in the torture programme are brought to justice," CCR chief Michael Ratner said in a statement posted on the FIDH Web site.

"Donald Rumsfeld must understand that he has nowhere to hide. A torturer is an enemy of humanity," he added.