US contractor ordered to pay $42m to Iraqis tortured at Abu Ghraib

By AFP
November 13, 2024
Activists taking part in a demonstration opposing human rights violations at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq by US military personnel, in front of US Supreme Court, on 9 February 2005 in Washington, DC. — Reuters
Activists taking part in a demonstration opposing human rights violations at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq by US military personnel, in front of US Supreme Court, on 9 February 2005 in Washington, DC. — Reuters

WASHINGTON: A federal jury on Tuesday ordered a US defence contractor to pay $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 $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.