FRANCE IN VIOLATION OF LAW GRANTS DONALD RUMSFELD IMMUNITY, DISMISSES TORTURE COMPLAINT

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Human Rights Groups Denounce Political Motivation

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) and the French League for Human Rights (LDH) were informed last week that the complaint filed on October, 25, 2007 against Donald Rumsfeld for acts of torture has been dismissed.

This decision did not question the torture allegations documented in the complaint, but was based on the grounds of alleged immunity despite many past and current cases that contradict those claims.

The organizations that filed the complaint were stunned by the prosecutor’s arguments and believe they will not stand up to appeal.

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Following years of negotiations, the General Assembly convened a conference in Rome, Italy, in June 1998, with the aim of finalising a treaty. On July 17, 1998, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court was adopted by a vote of 120 to 7, with 21 countries abstaining. The seven countries that voted against the treaty were Iraq, Israel, Libya, the People's Republic of China, Qatar, the United States, and Yemen.[20]