The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, sitting en banc Nov. 7, ruled that two US citizens cannot sue former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld for alleged torture by US soldiers in Iraq. The plaintiffs, who worked for a private security firm in Iraq, were arrested in 2006 by military personnel after being suspected of dealing arms. The plaintiffs alleged they were subject to torture in military prison, including sleep deprivation, extreme temperatures, and denial of food and water. In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs argued that Rumsfeld authorized harsh interrogation methods in Iraq and that victims of torture should be able to establish a private right of action against government officials. The Seventh Circuit rejected this argument as unworkable and contrary to the government's national security interests:

Human rights groups are expressing fears that Iraq's government may be using state-sanctioned executions to eliminate opponents held in prison following spate of executions carried out last month. Three women were among 21 prisoners executed in a single day on Aug. 27. Two days later, five more detainees were put to death. The government provides few details about the identity of executed prisoners, or the charges against them. Former Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, now in exile in Turkey, last month sent a letter to President Jalal Talabani requesting his intervention "to stop the arbitrary and ever-increasing rate of executions in Iraq." Days after al-Hashemi sent the letter, the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki sentenced him to death in absentia for allegedly killing a security official and a lawyer. His son-in-law Ahmed Qahtan was likewise sentenced to death by hanging. 

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu on Sept. 1 called in an op-ed in The Observer for former US president George W. Bush and former UK prime minister Tony Blair to stand trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for their roles in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Tutu argues that:

The immorality of the United States and Great Britain's decision to invade Iraq in 2003, premised on the lie that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, has destabilised and polarised the world to a greater extent than any other conflict in history. Instead of recognising that the world we lived in, with increasingly sophisticated communications, transportations and weapons systems necessitated sophisticated leadership that would bring the global family together, the then-leaders of the US and UK fabricated the grounds to behave like playground bullies and drive us further apart.

An Iraqi court on Aug. 2 rejected a US extradition request for accused Hezbollah commander Ali Mussa Daqduq. The court also ruled that Daqduq should be released immediately from his house arrest. In May an Iraqi court had cleared  all charges against Daqduq. The court stated that Iraq could not extradite someone whose charges were dropped. He had been detained by the US for four years based on allegations that he was involved with Hezbollah and that he was responsible of planning a raid in 2007 which resulted in the deaths of five US soldiers. He had been transferred in December of last year when talks over which country should be responsible for trying him failed. US President Barack Obama considered trying Daqduq on US soil but was unable to reach an agreement with Iraqi authorities resulting in an extradition request pursuant to the 2008 Status of Forces Agreement between the US and Baghdad.

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, top leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq and its affiliated Islamic State of Iraq, announced in an audio message July 22 a new plan to free imprisoned militants, attack the Iraq's judiciary and retake lost territory. "We are setting off a new stage of our struggle, with the launch of a plan named 'Breaking the Walls,'" said the message, which urged the Sunni tribal leaders to send their men to join his movement. "On the occasion of the return of the Islamic State to the regions that we had evacuated from, I urge you to send your sons to join the mujahedeen to defend your religion and honor." He also threatened the US, saying "You will see them [al-Qaeda militants] at the heart of your country with God's willing, since our war against you has just started." (WSJ, RFE/RL, July 22)

Mass arrests and incommunicado detentions persist at Camp Honor, a prison in Iraq's capital Baghdad that the Iraqi government promised to close last year, Human Rights Watch reported May 15. According to HRW, the Iraqi government is holding hundreds of detainees incommunicado for months at a time at Camp Honor, as well as two unnamed facilities in the Green Zone. Those being held at these facilities were reportedly rounded up by security troops who encircled neighborhoods and went door-to-door with a list of names of people to detain.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled 12-2 May 11 that the earlier dismissal of lawsuits against two Abu Ghraib contractors on the grounds that they have immunity as government contractors was premature. The court sent the cases against CACI International Inc and L-3 Communications Holdings Inc back to the district court for fact-specific scrutiny to determine the validity of their immunity claims. According to the en banc decision of the appeals court, the case must be remanded because, "[t]he appellants are requesting immunity in a context that has been heretofore unexplored. These are not disputes in which facts that might be material to the ultimate issue have been conclusively identified." Prior to the decision of the appeals court, the US Department of Justice filled an amicus brief claiming that torture claims are not subject to immunity and that the case should be remanded to the district court.

Ali Mussa Daqduq, a former detainee of the US with ties to Hezbollah, was cleared of all charges in an Iraqi court, his lawyer said May 7. The US handed Daqduq over to Iraqi authorities in December as part of the "end of the Iraq War." US President Barack Obama considered trying Daqduq on US soil but was unable to come to an agreement with Iraqi officials. Since no decision could be reached, Duqdaq had to be transferred to Iraq officials pursuant to the 2008 Status of Forces Agreement between the US and Baghdad. Many politicians expressed concern at the time of his transfer that Iraqi courts would not be able to convict Duqdaq. The US government did not immediately respond the dismissal of charges.