Paris ? American and European rights groups filed a legal complaint in France accusing former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of responsibility for torture in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay.

The complaint was filed with the Paris prosecutor’s office as Rumsfeld arrived in France for a visit, according to the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, the Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights and two Paris-based groups, the International Federation of Human Rights and the League of Human Rights.

Lawrence Di Rita, former Pentagon spokesman under Rumsfeld, said: “These assertions have no merit, and they have been completely dismissed when made in other jurisdictions.”

“Complaints such as this have zero foundation in the truth or the facts as presented in countless investigations,” he said.

The rights groups say their complaint could go forward because people suspected of torture can be prosecuted in France if they are on French soil.