Two American contractors blew the whistle on the U.S government in 2006, and were tortured by the American military while under their supervision in a military prison in Iraq. Donald Rumsfeld is being held personally responsible. A three judge panel of the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago has upheld a lower court’s ruling. He now may appeal to the US Supreme Court.
It seems that Rumsfeld didn’t take kindly to the two contractors blowing the whistle on suspected payoffs to Iraqi officials to guarantee government contracts. They were caught complaining about it, and got thrown in isolation and were apparently tortured by not being allowed to sleep, amongst other things.
“Vance and Ertel claim in their 2006 lawsuit that they were detained as security internees by US military personnel in Iraq when they were using the Internet and cell phones to provide information to US authorities about suspected pay-off made to Iraqi officials by their security firm for securing government contracts.”
It is of no surprise that the government would try and bribe their way into contracts. From The Trenches World Report has reported on this nightmare for many months, as our highest leaders have been complicit. Dick Cheney was one of the masters of this, while making himself huge amounts of money, guaranteeing government contacts. He is lucky he is not behind bars.
Full article below:
“(RTTNews) – A US appeals court on Monday allowed two former US security contractors to pursue their lawsuit accusing former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of being personally responsible for their alleged torture by American military personnel while under detention at a US military prison in Iraq in 2006.
In its ruling made Monday, the three-judge panel of the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago upheld an earlier ruling by US District Judge Wayne Andersen that Donald Rumsfeld had no immunity in the case.
The appeals court ruled that the former Pentagon chief can be held liable for the torture suffered by the two plaintiffs, namely Donald Vance and Nathan Ertel, at the hands of US troops in Iraq as Rumsfeld had “personally established the relevant policies that caused the alleged violations of their constitutional rights during detention.”
Earlier, Rumsfeld as well as the previous and present US administrations had argued that the former Defense Secretary had immunity in the case as the alleged incidents occurred when he was in office and that American citizens cannot sue for rights violations occurring in war zones.
But the appeals court said in its ruling that “Secretary Rumsfeld is not entitled to qualified immunity on the pleadings” as Vance and Ertel have “alleged in sufficient detail facts supporting Secretary Rumsfeld’s personal responsibility for the alleged torture.”
Regarding the rights violations of US citizens in war zones, the court noted that “a Bivens remedy is available for the alleged torture of civilian US citizens by US military personnel in a war zone.” The court was apparently referring to the Bivens remedies which allow US citizens to sue for damages over constitutional violations committed by federal agents.
Vance and Ertel claim in their 2006 lawsuit that they were detained as security internees by US military personnel in Iraq when they were using the Internet and cell phones to provide information to US authorities about suspected pay-off made to Iraqi officials by their security firm for securing government contracts.
According to court documents, the pair were then held under detention without charges at the Camp Cropper near Baghdad International Airport, where they “experienced a nightmarish scene in which they were detained incommunicado, in solitary confinement, and subjected to physical and psychological torture for the duration of their imprisonment.”
They were ultimately released after the Detainee Status Board reviewed the detention decisions of US officials. While Ertel was released about one month after he appeared before the Board, Vance was freed after two months.”
Henry,
I gave you the wrong paragraph. Please replace 2nd down with below. Sorry about that.
It seems that Rumsfeld didn’t take kindly to the two contractors blowing the whistle on suspected payoffs to Iraqi officials to guarantee government contracts. They were caught complaining about it, and got thrown in isolation and were apparently tortured by not being allowed to sleep, amongst other things.