A United States defense contractor must pay $42 million to three Iraqi men who were tortured at Abu Ghraib prison, a US federal jury has ruled.
The ruling on Tuesday ends a 15-year legal battle over the role of Virginia-based contractor CACI, whose civilian employees worked at the facility, in acts of torture that took place there.
In holding the firm liable, the jury awarded plaintiffs Suhail Al Shimari, Salah Al-Ejaili and Asa’ad Al-Zubae $3 million each in compensatory damages and $11 million each in punitive damages.
The trial and subsequent retrial were the first time a US jury heard claims brought by Abu Ghraib survivors in the 20 years since photos of detainee mistreatment — accompanied by smiling US soldiers inflicting the abuse — shocked the world during the US occupation of Iraq.
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.
To date, the US government has not compensated any victims of torture and abuse from Abu Ghraib, according to Human Rights Watch.
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