Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation on November 8th represents a first step toward accountability for the Bush Administration’s widespread practices of torture and unlawful detention, said attorneys at the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR).

Under Donald Rumsfeld’s direction–often under his direct orders–the Department of Defense adopted the practices of torture and indefinite detention that CCR is currently challenging in many court cases.

The Center will be filing a new case charging him with war crimes under Germany’s universal jurisdiction law together with the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), the Republican Attorneys Association (RAV) and others next week. CCR attorneys called on his successor to close Guantnamo and put an end to the unlawful torture and detention of thousands in the so-called war on terror.

The Center for Constitutional Rights represents hundreds of men detained at Guantnamo Bay, Cuba.

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