Above and beyond performance of duty …
‘Symbolic victory’ as French court summons ex-Gitmo chief
A French court summoned a former Guantanamo Bay prison chief over allegations of torture, a move one former detainee says is a symbolic victory even if it remains highly unlikely the accused will ever stand trial.
Nizar Sassi and Mourad Benchellali, both French citizens, were detainees at the notorious US prison from 2001 until 2004 and 2005, respectively. For years, they have been asking the French courts to launch legal proceedings against Geoffrey Miller, a now retired army general who was commander of Guantanamo Bay from 2002 to 2004.
On Thursday, the Paris Court of Appeal finally approved their request and demanded Miller appear in court for questioning.
The New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) had submitted an expert report (pdf) in the proceedings in February 2014 that detailed the commander’s alleged individual criminal responsibility for detainee abuse in Guantánamo amounting to torture under international law. The parties requested that Miller be heard as a suspect in the investigation proceedings. The judges based their refusal to subpoena Miller on their belief that the United States would not cooperate in making him available.
…
“That the United States is wholly unwilling to investigate and prosecute the very serious claims of torture involving high-level U.S. officials is the very reason for France to thoroughly investigate this case– not shelve it, thereby extending impunity across borders, said Center for Constitutional Rights Senior Staff Attorney Katherine Gallagher, who is also Vice President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). “Geoffrey Miller should be summoned and questioned about his role in the U.S. torture program at Guantánamo.”CCR and ECCHR supported the appeals hearing with the submission of new documents (pdf) explaining Geoffrey Miller’s place in the overall command structure within the United States government while he was commander of Guantánamo. The organizations also submitted background information on the torture program and the implementation of interrogation techniques violating international law at Guantánamo, based on the findings of the 2008 Senate Armed Services Committee report on detainee abuse.
