A court says two Americans who worked for an Iraqi contracting firm can move forward with a lawsuit accusing former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of being responsible for U.S. forces allegedly torturing them. The ruling Monday from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago a rejects arguments that Rumsfeld should be immune from such lawsuits for work performed as a Cabinet secretary.

Donald Vance and Nathan Ertel claim they were tortured in 2006 after blowing the whistle on alleged illegal activities by a contracting company. They say they were subjected to sleep deprivation, blasting music, hunger and various threats.

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