Donald Rumsfeld should be more careful about where he travels.
In Paris last week, Rumsfeld left a prestigious speaking event in haste, slipping out a side door to avoid the human rights lawyers and journalists waiting to confront him with criminal charges of torture. He reportedly avoided the confrontation by sneaking out a door that attached the conference venue to, of all places, the United States Embassy.
The charges have been filed in a French court by international human rights organizations. The claim is that France is under a legal obligation to investigate and prosecute Rumsfeld's accountability for alleged crimes.
The legal pursuits against Rumsfeld are the latest in a trend toward invoking universal jurisdiction.
The essence of the principle is that some crimes are so serious as to be of "international concern.” Hence torture in Guantanamo and Iraq is the business all of humanity, existing everywhere, and should be heard in the French courts. Indeed, any court in the world could host such a trial.
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