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| Inmates sue to force training for Iraq interrogators |
| By Reuters |
| Published: 09/20/2004 |
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Lawyers representing nine former Iraqi prisoners last Tuesday asked a federal judge in San Diego to ensure that U.S. defense contractor CACI International trains the interrogators it sends to Iraq in international laws against torture. The request for a preliminary injunction is the latest salvo in a class action lawsuit filed in June by the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York and two law firms on behalf of the former inmates at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad who said they were tortured by American military personnel and private contractors. Titan Corp. of San Diego and CACI are accused of conspiring with U.S. officials to humiliate, torture and abuse detainees. The companies are accused of violating U.S. racketeering laws by maintaining a conspiracy about the abuse. John O'Connor of law firm Steptoe & Johnson, which represents CACI, predicted the judge would throw out the injunction request as an attempt to illegally interfere in the contract between CACI and the U.S. government. "The interrogators provided by CACI without exception satisfied all of the qualifications set forth in the (contract) issued to CACI by the United States government," O'Connor said in a statement. Titan spokesman Wil Williams said the company, which was not named in the preliminary injunction, trains the linguists it sends to Iraq in human rights protocols and the provisions of the Geneva Conventions. The U.S. military launched several investigations into the abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners after graphic images surfaced in the media showing naked prisoners simulating sex acts and being attacked by dogs. Seven U.S. military police soldiers and an intelligence specialist have been charged in the scandal. Employees from both Titan and CACI were named in a report on the abuses by U.S. Army investigator Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba. The former inmates' lawyers said they were prompted to seek the injunction by subsequent military reports that prisoner abuse had occurred as recently as July, and that the government had renewed CACI's contract without ensuring its interrogators are properly trained, said Jennie Green, a lawyer for the constitutional rights center. |
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