WASHINGTON, Nov 9: United States Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation on Wednesday leaves him vulnerable to legal action for his role in `authorising torture’ of `war on terror’ detainees, according to a lawyers' group representing Guantanamo prisoners.

“He was one of the architects of the American torture programme. That's something for which I'm really glad to see him go,” Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), told AFP.

“He's the one who authorised a whole series of torture techniques at Guantanamo, from use of dogs, to stripping, to sexual humiliation,” Mr Ratner said. “This guy is in up to his neck in terms of authorising torture,” he said.

Mr Rumsfeld's resignation deprives him of the possibility of invoking immunity and “opens him for prosecution and for lawsuits both in the US and abroad,” Mr Ratner said.

The CCR and several rights groups are about to file a torture complaint against Mr Rumsfeld and others in a German court.

A lawsuit has been filed against Mr Rumsfeld on behalf of ‘war on terror’ prisoners held at Guantanamo, but Mr Ratner said it had little chance of succeeding.—AFP