A US judge expressed doubt on Friday that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld could be held personally liable for the abuse of Iraqi and Afghan prisoners, including at Abu Ghraib.
US District Chief Judge Thomas Hogan said that while torture is unacceptable, he was not sure whether the nine Iraqi and Afghan residents had a right to sue Mr Rumsfeld in US courts.
"What you're asking for has never been decided by a court before," Judge Hogan said at a hearing in the high-profile case.
"How do you [limit] this right...so you don't have a bin Laden or somebody bringing lawsuits here? How do you control that, and where does it stop, I guess is my problem," he added.
The Iraqi and Afghan citizens, with help from US civil-liberties lawyers, have sued outgoing defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and several other senior military officials on the grounds they authorized abuse of detainees and didn't take steps to stop it, violating the US constitution, international treaties and US military rules.
The plaintiffs, ranging in age from 20 to 61, say they were stabbed, sexually abused, dunked in freezing water, and beaten while being hung upside down from the ceiling in Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison and other US-run facilities.
None of the detainees have been charged with a crime. They are seeking monetary damages and a statement by the court that the action of Rumsfeld and other military officials was wrong. of the United States, they said.