A Virginia jury has ordered the U.S. company CACI International to pay $42 million to three former detainees at the Abu Ghraib detention facility. Abu Ghraib prison in Iraqvictims of torture and inhuman treatment. The company, a subcontractor of the US Army, was in charge of interrogations during the occupation of Iraq.Iraq after 2003.
Each complainant, including a school principal, a fruit merchant and journalist Salah al-Ejaili, now living in Swedenwill receive $14 million. “Today is a great day for me and for justice,” said Salah al-Ejaili in a statement issued by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which defended the three men.
Sixteen years of proceedings
The decision marks the culmination of a sixteen-year legal battle. “Our clients fought bravely… against all the obstacles this huge private army subcontractor put in their way,” said Baher Azmy, CCR’s legal director. The lawsuits against CACI had been authorized in 2014, under the Alien Tort Statute, a 1789 law allowing foreigners who are victims of violations of international law to bring claims to the United States.
The plaintiffs claimed that the American soldiers, convicted between 2004 and 2006, were following the instructions of the private interrogators. CACI, which denied any responsibility, claiming that the army controlled the interrogations, was found guilty of encouraging abusive practices. The case echoes the scandal of 2004, when photos of humiliated and tortured detainees at Abu Ghraib sparked worldwide outrage and weakened the administration of George W. Bush.