The American jury has decided. US Army subcontractor CACI is found liable for the role it played in the “ acts of torture or inhuman and cruel treatment » inflicted on thousands of Iraqis in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. He will have to pay 42 million dollars to the three Iraqi victims, civil parties in this trial. A historic decision for Iraq.
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“ We have won a big victory! Particularly because this victory comes after 16 years of waiting. » At a press conference, Salah al-Ejaili, one of the Iraqi plaintiffs in the case of the American army subcontractor CACI, searches for words. “ Finally, we see justice for some victims of Abu Ghraib “, he blurted out, relieved.
This is a first. Since September 11, 2001, no legal proceedings against an American military subcontractor have resulted in a conviction, reports our correspondent in Baghdad, Marie-Charlotte Roupie. This time, the administrative court of Virginia recognized the responsibility of the private company CACI Internation, to which the army had delegated the interrogations of the detainees, in “ acts of torture or inhuman and cruel treatment » inflicted on the prisoners of Abu Ghraib in Iraq. The three Iraqi civil parties must each receive more than 10 million dollars.
Also readClosure of Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq
A precedent for future complaints?
Catherine Gallagher, lawyer for the American Center for Constitutional Rights, who brought the case, recalls a historic day: “ I believe this filing sends a clear message to businesses and government contractors in particular that they can and will be held accountable for any violations of the law. »
A conviction which therefore creates a precedent.
“ Most people didn’t believe it, no one thought this case would win, or even that it would go anywhere, slips Shaker Houran, chief of the tribe of one of the plaintiffs, stunned. Of course, many people will try to take legal action. »
The convicted military contractor can still appeal. But twenty-one years after the shocking revelations of the torture inflicted on Iraqi prisoners, the court decision is already seen as an immense victory.
In 2014, after years of proceedings and the court-martial sentencing of eleven soldiers to prison terms from 2004 to 2006, a federal appeals court authorized legal proceedings against CACI International. The plaintiffs invoked the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), a 1789 federal law that allows aliens who are victims of violations of international law to be heard in U.S. courts. They claimed that, in their cases, the soldiers were de facto under the orders of the private interrogators. Civilian CACI employees were accused of encouraging the military to mistreat prisoners to prepare them for interrogations.
Also read (archive)Abu Ghraib: a former detainee tells