A U.S. jury has awarded $42 million to three former detainees of Iraq’s infamous Abu Ghraib prison, finding a Virginia-based military contractor, CACI, partially responsible for their torture and mistreatment nearly two decades ago.
The decision, reached by an eight-member jury, follows a previous jury’s inability earlier this year to reach a verdict on CACI’s liability. The contractor’s civilian interrogators had worked alongside the U.S. Army at Abu Ghraib in 2003 and 2004.
The plaintiffs, Suhail Al Shimari, Salah Al-Ejaili, and Asa’ad Al-Zubae, were each granted $3 million in compensatory damages and $11 million in punitive damages. They testified about enduring severe abuse at the prison, including beatings, sexual assault, and forced nudity.
Although they did not claim that CACI interrogators directly inflicted these acts, they argued that the contractor was complicit, as its staff collaborated with military police to use harsh methods to “soften up” detainees for interrogation.
CACI expressed disappointment in the verdict and announced plans to appeal. In a statement, the company maintained that it had been unfairly associated with the misconduct of military police at Abu Ghraib, stating, “No CACI employee has ever been charged criminally, civilly, or administratively in this matter. Our employees were not involved in nor responsible for these disturbing incidents.”
Baher Azmy, a lawyer from the Center for Constitutional Rights, which represented the plaintiffs, hailed the verdict as a significant step towards justice and accountability.
He praised the plaintiffs for their courage, noting that the $42 million awarded matched the full amount sought by them and exceeded the $31 million CACI reportedly received for providing interrogators at Abu Ghraib.
“This is a monumental day for justice,” said Salah Al-Ejaili, a journalist and one of the plaintiffs, in a statement. “I have waited a long time for this. This victory extends beyond us—it is a beacon of hope for all victims of oppression and a stern warning to any company or contractor involved in torture and abuse.”
Al-Ejaili traveled to the U.S. to testify in both trials, while the other two plaintiffs gave their testimony via video from Iraq.
This trial, followed by a retrial, marked the first time a U.S. jury heard claims from Abu Ghraib survivors, two decades after shocking photos of detainee abuse by U.S. soldiers were revealed during the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
