A French court summoned former Guantanamo prison chief Geoffrey Miller to answer allegations of torture leveled by two ex-detainees – a move that could open other civilian and military officials to prosecution.
Nizar Sassi and Mourad Benchellali, both French citizens, were arrested by United States forces in Afghanistan before being transferred to the notorious prison camp, where they were held from 2001 until 2004 and 2005, respectively, Sputnik reported.
After being sent home, they filed a complaint in a French court, which launched an investigation.
“The door has opened for civilian and military officials to be prosecuted over international crimes committed in Guantanamo,” their lawyer William Bourdon said. “This decision can only… lead to other leaders being summoned.”
In court documents obtained by Agence France-Presse, lawyers for Sassi and Benchellali accused Miller of “an authorized and systematic plan of torture and ill-treatment on persons deprived of their freedom without any charge and without the basic rights of any detainee.”
Miller, who was commander of the prison from 2002 to 2004 and is now retired, “bears individual criminal responsibility for the war crimes and acts of torture inflicted on detainees in US custody at Guantanamo,” the documents state.
Miller implemented torture tactics approved by President George W. Bush’s administration as “enhanced interrogation techniques.”
