Iraqi ex-Abu Ghraib detainees awarded $42 million, U.S. army contractor complicit : NPR

This courtroom sketch depicts a former detainee at Abu Ghraib jail, Salah Al-Ejaili (foreground with glasses), on the trial of CACI, a Virginia-based army contractor who’s accused of contributing to the abuse and torture of detainees at Abu Ghraib, in U.S. District Court docket in Alexandria, Va., on April 16.

Dana Verkouteren/AP

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Dana Verkouteren/AP

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A U.S. jury on Tuesday awarded $42 million to a few former detainees of Iraq’s infamous Abu Ghraib jail, holding a Virginia-based army contractor chargeable for contributing to their torture and mistreatment 20 years in the past.

The choice from the eight-person jury got here after a unique jury earlier this yr could not agree on whether or not Reston, Virginia-based CACI must be held answerable for the work of its civilian interrogators who labored alongside the U.S. Military at Abu Ghraib in 2003 and 2004.

The jury awarded plaintiffs Suhail Al Shimari, Salah Al-Ejaili and Asa’advert Al-Zubae $3 million every in compensatory damages and $11 million every in punitive damages.

The three testified that they have been subjected to beatings, sexual abuse, compelled nudity and different merciless therapy on the jail.

They didn’t allege that CACI’s interrogators explicitly inflicted the abuse themselves, however argued CACI was complicit as a result of its interrogators conspired with army police to “soften up” detainees for questioning with harsh therapy.

CACI issued a press release expressing its disappointment within the verdict and its intention to attraction.

“For almost 20 years, CACI has been wrongly subjected to long-term, damaging affiliation with the unlucky and reckless actions of a gaggle of army police at Abu Ghraib jail from 2003 via 2004,” the corporate stated. “To be clear: no CACI worker has ever been charged — criminally, civilly, or administratively — on this matter. CACI workers didn’t participate in nor have been any of our workers chargeable for these disturbing occasions.”

Baher Azmy, a lawyer for the Middle for Constitutional Rights, which filed the lawsuit on the plaintiffs’ behalf, referred to as the decision “an essential measure of Justice and accountability” and praised the three plaintiffs for his or her resilience.

The $42 million totally matches the quantity sought by the plaintiffs, Azmy stated. It is also greater than the $31 million that the plaintiffs stated CACI was paid to produce interrogators to Abu Ghraib.

“At present is an enormous day for me and for justice,” stated Al-Ejaili, a journalist, in a written assertion. “I’ve waited a very long time for today. This victory is not just for the three plaintiffs on this case in opposition to a company. This victory is a shining mild for everybody who has been oppressed and a powerful warning to any firm or contractor working towards completely different types of torture and abuse.”

Al-Ejaili traveled to the U.S. for each trials to testify in individual. The opposite two plaintiffs testified by video from Iraq.

The trial and subsequent retrial have been the primary time a U.S. jury heard claims introduced by Abu Ghraib survivors within the 20 years since images of detainee mistreatment — accompanied by smiling U.S. troopers inflicting the abuse — shocked the world throughout the U.S. occupation of Iraq.

Not one of the three plaintiffs have been in any of the infamous images proven in information studies all over the world, however they described therapy similar to what was depicted.

Al Shimari described sexual assaults and beatings throughout his two months on the jail. He additionally stated he was electrically shocked and dragged across the jail by a rope tied round his neck. Al-Ejaili stated he was subjected to emphasize positions that brought on him to vomit black liquid. He was additionally disadvantaged of sleep, compelled to put on girls’s underwear and threatened with canine.

CACI had argued it wasn’t complicit within the detainees’ abuse. It stated its workers had minimal interplay with the three plaintiffs within the case, and CACI questioned components of the plaintiffs’ tales, saying that army information contradict a few of their claims and suggesting they shaded their tales to assist a case in opposition to the contractor. Basically, although, CACI argued that any legal responsibility for his or her mistreatment belonged to the federal government.

As within the first trial, the jury struggled to resolve whether or not CACI or the Military must be held chargeable for any misconduct by CACI interrogators. The jury requested questions in its deliberations in each circumstances about whether or not the contractor or the Military bore legal responsibility.

Within the first trial, which ended with a mistrial and hung jury, a number of jurors advised The Related Press {that a} majority needed to carry CACI liable.

CACI, as one among its defenses, argued it should not be answerable for any misdeeds by its workers in the event that they have been underneath the management and course of the Military. underneath a authorized precept generally known as the “borrowed servants” doctrine.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs argued that CACI was chargeable for its personal workers’ misdeeds. They stated provisions in CACI’s contract with the Military, in addition to the Military Subject Guide, clarify that CACI is chargeable for overseeing its personal employees.

The lawsuit was first filed in 2008 however was delayed by 15 years of authorized wrangling and a number of makes an attempt by CACI to have the case dismissed.

Attorneys for the three plaintiffs argued that CACI was liable for his or her mistreatment even when they could not show that CACI’s interrogators have been those who instantly inflicted the abuse.

Proof included studies from two retired Military generals, who documented the abuse and concluded that a number of CACI interrogators have been complicit within the abuse.

These studies concluded that one of many interrogators, Steven Stefanowicz, lied to investigators about his conduct and that he doubtless instructed troopers to mistreat detainees and used canine to intimidate detainees throughout interrogations.

Stefanowicz testified for CACI at trial via a recorded video deposition and denied mistreating detainees.

CACI launched a unique report that concluded contractors like CACI did a “passable” job of complying with army procedures.