Two decades after the shocking release of photos depicting abuse by U.S. soldiers at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, three survivors are set to have their day in a U.S. court against the military contractor they hold responsible for their mistreatment.
Scheduled to commence on Monday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, this trial marks the first opportunity for Abu Ghraib survivors to present their torture claims to a U.S. jury, as stated by Baher Azmy, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs from the Center for Constitutional Rights.
The defendant in this civil suit, CACI, provided interrogators to the prison. Despite 16 years of litigation, the Virginia-based contractor denies any wrongdoing, emphasizing that its employees were not implicated in the abuse inflicted upon the plaintiffs.
However, the plaintiffs aim to hold CACI accountable for creating the conditions that led to their torture, referencing government investigations indicating that CACI contractors directed military police to "soften up" detainees for interrogations.
Retired Army Gen. Antonio Taguba, who investigated the Abu Ghraib scandal, is expected to testify. His inquiry concluded that at least one CACI interrogator should be held responsible for setting abusive conditions.
The photos from 2004 revealed horrifying abuse, with naked prisoners in pyramids, soldiers posing with corpses, and detainees threatened with dogs or attached to electrical wires. While the plaintiffs cannot be identified in these images, their accounts of mistreatment are deeply disturbing.
Suhail Al Shimari described sexual assaults, beatings, electric shocks, and being dragged by a rope around his neck during his two-month detention. Former Al-Jazeera reporter Salah Al-Ejaili recounted stress positions, forced vomiting, sleep deprivation, and threats with dogs.
CACI contends that the U.S. military bears responsibility for Abu Ghraib's conditions and asserts that its employees did not command soldiers. They argue that the case seeks to unfairly associate CACI with the prison's activities.
