The ACLU and Human Rights First announce that they’ve brought a civil lawsuit against Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in northern Illinois federal court for the torture and abuse of eight men who were incarcerated in Iraq and Afghanistan. The groups are joined as co-counsel by Rear Admiral John D. Hutson, former Judge Advocate General of the Navy; Brigadier General James Cullen, former Chief Judge (IMA) of the U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals; and Bill Lann Lee, Chair of the Human Rights Practice Group at Lieff, Cabraser, Heimann & Bernstein, LLP and former Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice. They are seeking compensatory damages for the eight men and a court order declaring that Rumsfeld’s actions violated the U.S. Constitution, federal statutes and international law.