A federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., is set to hear arguments regarding an appeal from a U.S. military contractor who was ordered to pay $42 million for its involvement in the torture and ill-treatment of three former detainees at Iraq’s infamous Abu Ghraib prison approximately 20 years ago.
Reston, Virginia-based CACI appealed last year’s civil lawsuit verdict to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Last year’s trial saw Suhail Al Shimari, Salah Al-Ejaili, and Asa’ad Al-Zubae testify about their experiences of beatings, sexual abuse, enforced nudity, and other forms of cruel treatment at the facility during the U.S. occupation of Iraq. A jury granted each of them $3 million in compensatory damages and $11 million in punitive damages.
The trio did not claim that CACI’s interrogators directly inflicted the abuse but contended that CACI was complicit due to its interrogators conspiring with military police to “soften up” detainees for interrogation through harsh measures.
CACI provided the interrogators who operated at the prison. The company has consistently denied any wrongdoing, emphasizing throughout the 17-year-long litigation that its staff was not accused of directly abusing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
The release of abuse photographs in 2004 depicted naked prisoners arranged in pyramids, dragged by leashes, soldiers posing with thumbs up next to a corpse, detainees being threatened with dogs, and a prisoner with a hood, hooked to electrical wires.
Military personnel seen in these images smiling and appearing to enjoy the abuse were prosecuted in military courts-martial. Yet, none of the CACI civilian interrogators faced criminal charges, even as military investigations concluded that some CACI interrogators had engaged in misconduct.
Last year’s civil trial and subsequent retrial were the first time a U.S. jury heard claims brought by Abu Ghraib detainees in the 20 years since the photos shocked the world.
None of the three plaintiffs were in any of photos but they described treatment very similar to what was depicted.
The $42 million they were awarded fully matches the amount sought by the plaintiffs. It’s also more than the $31 million that the plaintiffs said CACI was paid to supply interrogators to Abu Ghraib.
