Iraqis tortured at Abu Ghraib awarded US$42 million from US defence contractor
Civilian employees from CACI were accused of encouraging US soldiers to abuse detainees at the notorious prison
A federal jury on Tuesday ordered a US defence contractor to pay US$42 million in damages to three Iraqi men who were tortured at Abu Ghraib prison, their lawyers said.
CACI Premier Technology Inc was found liable at the conclusion of a long-running trial for its role in the torture of the three men at the notorious prison in 2003 and 2004, the Centre for Constitutional Rights said.
Suhail Al Shimari, a middle school principal, Asa’ad Zuba’e, a fruit vendor, and Salah Al-Ejaili, a journalist, were each awarded US$14 million in damages, the centre said in a statement.
The three men filed suit against CACI, a private company based in Arlington, Virginia, in 2008.
Abu Ghraib prison, west of Baghdad, became a potent negative symbol of the US occupation of Iraq after evidence emerged of detainee abuse by American soldiers at the facility.
Most of the abuse took place at the end of 2003, when CACI employees were working in the prison, according to the suit. The company’s civilian employees were accused of having encouraged US soldiers to abuse the prisoners to prepare them for interrogation.
