JURIST - Paper Chase: German court affirms dismissal of war crimes complaint against Rumsfeld

[JURIST] A German state court in Stuttgart ruled Thursday that a federal prosecutor is not required to bring war crimes charges against US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in connection with abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison [JURIST news archive] in 2003 and 2004. Federal Prosecutor Kay Nehm [official profile in German] dismissed the complaint in February [JURIST report] on the grounds that law only allows such a prosecution if the US fails to act. Rumsfeld cancelled a planned trip to Germany [JURIST report] in January while the case was pending. The suit [PDF complaint] was originally brought by the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights [advocacy website] and four Iraqi citizens in November 2004 under the German court's doctrine of universal jurisdiction [JURIST report]. Deutsche Welle has more.

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