Prosecute Rumsfeld? Not Ridiculous

Prosecute Rumsfeld? Not Ridiculous
Jeremy Brecher & Brendan Smith

Those seeking to bring war crimes charges against Donald Rumsfeld and other top US officials in a German court can no longer be ignored--indeed, the legal action now unfolding in Germany has received extensive coverage not only in The Nation but also in mainstream media.

Rather than being a farfetched idea from the American left, the principle of universal jurisdiction under which Rumsfeld and his potential co-defendants would be charged is enshrined in Article 49 of the First Geneva Convention: "Each High Contracting Party shall be under the obligation to search for persons alleged to have committed, or to have ordered to be committed, such grave breaches [of the Geneva Convention,] and shall bring such persons, regardless of their nationality, before its own courts."

The statute that establishes the International Criminal Court, which has been ratified by 104 states and signed by thirty-five more--notes that every state has the duty to exercise its criminal jurisdiction over those responsible for international crimes.

The United Nations Convention Against Torture (as summarized by international law authority Peter Weiss) obliges every signatory of the convention to detain a suspected torturer; investigate the alleged torture, no matter where committed; notify other states having certain contact points with the suspect; and, depending on the results of the preliminary investigation, proceed to prosecute the suspect in its own courts if it decides against extradition. The United States is a party to the convention.

Toobin's CNN colloquy with John King focused on whether the case was "ridiculous," thereby eliminating the need even to ask whether or not Rumsfeld might be culpable. After the ridicule dissolves in the face of the serious questions raised by this case, don't be surprised to see massive resistance from the Bush Administration and its supporters to efforts to restore the rule of law. Meanwhile, Rumsfeld and his potential co-defendants might want to look for a defense attorney who doesn't consider their legal vulnerability such a laughing matter.

We sure will be keeping an eye on this! Let's see who has the last laugh...shall we?

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