ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) 鈥� A U.S. jury on Tuesday awarded $42 million to three former detainees of Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison, holding a Virginia-based military contractor responsible for contributing to their torture and mistreatment .
The decision from the eight-person jury came after couldn't agree on whether Reston, Virginia-based CACI should be held liable for the work of its civilian interrogators who worked alongside the U.S. Army at Abu Ghraib in 2003 and 2004.
The jury awarded plaintiffs Suhail Al Shimari, Salah Al-Ejaili and Asa鈥檃d Al-Zubae $3 million each in compensatory damages and $11 million each in punitive damages.
The three testified that they were subjected to beatings, sexual abuse, forced nudity and other cruel treatment at the prison.
They did not allege that CACI's interrogators explicitly inflicted the abuse themselves, but argued CACI was complicit because its interrogators conspired with military police to 鈥渟often up鈥� detainees for questioning with harsh treatment.
CACI issued a statement expressing its disappointment in the verdict and its intention to appeal.
鈥淔or nearly two decades, CACI has been wrongly subjected to long-term, negative affiliation with the unfortunate and reckless actions of a group of military police at Abu Ghraib prison from 2003 through 2004,鈥� the company said. 鈥淭o be clear: no CACI employee has ever been charged 鈥� criminally, civilly, or administratively 鈥� in this matter. CACI employees did not take part in nor were any of our employees responsible for these disturbing events.鈥�
Baher Azmy, a lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights, which filed the lawsuit on the plaintiffs' behalf, called the verdict 鈥渁n important measure of Justice and accountability鈥� and praised the three plaintiffs for their resilience.
The $42 million fully matches the amount sought by the plaintiffs, Azmy said. It's also more than the $31 million that the plaintiffs said CACI was paid to supply interrogators to Abu Ghraib.
鈥淭oday is a big day for me and for justice,鈥� said Al-Ejaili, a journalist, in a written statement. 鈥淚鈥檝e waited a long time for this day. This victory isn鈥檛 only for the three plaintiffs in this case against a corporation. This victory is a shining light for everyone who has been oppressed and a strong warning to any company or contractor practicing different forms of torture and abuse.鈥�
Al-Ejaili traveled to the U.S. for both trials to testify in person. The other two plaintiffs testified by video from Iraq.
The and subsequent retrial were the first time a U.S. jury heard claims brought by Abu Ghraib survivors in the 20 years since photos of detainee mistreatment 鈥� accompanied by smiling U.S. soldiers inflicting the abuse 鈥� shocked the world during .
None of the three plaintiffs were in any of the notorious photos shown in news reports around the world, but they described treatment very similar to what was depicted.
Al Shimari described sexual assaults and beatings during his two months at the prison. He also said he was electrically shocked and dragged around the prison by a rope tied around his neck. Al-Ejaili said he was subjected to stress positions that caused him to vomit black liquid. He was also deprived of sleep, forced to wear women鈥檚 underwear and threatened with dogs.
CACI had argued it wasn鈥檛 complicit in the detainees鈥� abuse. It said its employees had minimal interaction with the three plaintiffs in the case, and CACI questioned parts of the plaintiffs' stories, saying that military records contradict some of their claims and suggesting they shaded their stories to support a case against the contractor. Fundamentally, though, CACI argued that any liability for their mistreatment belonged to the government.
As in the first trial, the jury struggled to decide whether CACI or the Army should be held responsible for any misconduct by CACI interrogators. The jury asked questions in its deliberations in both cases about whether the contractor or the Army bore liability.
In the first trial, which ended with a mistrial and hung jury, multiple jurors told The Associated Press that a majority wanted to hold CACI liable.
CACI, as one of its defenses, argued it shouldn鈥檛 be liable for any misdeeds by its employees if they were under the control and direction of the Army. under a legal principle known as the .
Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued that CACI was responsible for its own employees' misdeeds. They said provisions in CACI鈥檚 contract with the Army, as well as the Army Field Manual, make clear that CACI is responsible for overseeing its own workers.
The lawsuit was first filed in 2008 but was delayed by and multiple attempts by CACI to have the case dismissed.
Lawyers for the three plaintiffs argued that CACI was liable for their mistreatment even if they couldn鈥檛 prove that CACI鈥檚 interrogators were the ones who directly inflicted the abuse.
Evidence included reports from two retired Army generals, who documented the abuse and concluded that multiple CACI interrogators were complicit in the abuse.
Those reports concluded that one of the interrogators, Steven Stefanowicz, lied to investigators about his conduct and that he likely instructed soldiers to mistreat detainees and used dogs to intimidate detainees during interrogations.
Stefanowicz testified for CACI at trial through a recorded video deposition and denied mistreating detainees.
CACI introduced a different report that concluded contractors like CACI did a 鈥渟atisfactory鈥� job of complying with military procedures.
Matthew Barakat, The Associated Press
