A US 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 two decades ago. 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 three testified that they were subjected to beatings, sexual abuse, forced nudity, and other cruel treatment at the prison.
The decision from the eight-person jury came after a different jury earlier this year on whether CACI should be held liable for the work of its civilian interrogators who worked alongside the US Army at Abu Ghraib in 2003 and 2004. The plaintiffs 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 "soften up" detainees for questioning with harsh treatment. Baher Azmy, a lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights, which filed the lawsuit on the plaintiffs' behalf, called the verdict "an important measure of Justice and accountability" and praised the three plaintiffs for their resilience, "especially in the face of all the obstacles CACI threw their way.
" The $42 million fully matches the amount sought by the plaintiffs, Azmy said. "Today is a big day for me and for justice," Al-Ejaili, a journalist, said in a statement. "I've waited a lo.