Turkey/US/Iraq

Iraq prisoners sue US firms in torture claim

Article published on the 2008-07-01 Latest update 2008-07-02 09:12 TU

One of the scenes from Abu Ghraib which caused an international outcry
Photo: AFP

Four former Iraqi prisoners on Monday launched a lawsuit against the private security contractors in charge of running Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib jail. The plaintiffs, speaking from Istanbul, claimed that they were victims of torture at the prison five years ago.

The lawyer for the ex-prisoners says that the court cases would show that the accused were in Abu Ghraib and were victims of a conspiracy which included the torture of plaintiffs. 

The lawsuit is against private security firm CACI International and two of its interrogators, Daniel Johnson and Tim Dugan, and the translation agency L-3 and its interpreter, Abel Nakhla.

A complaint was to be lodged on Monday at courts in Maryland, Ohio and Washington, the US states where the alleged torturers live, as well as in Michigan, where L-3  recruited most of its interpreters.

One of the plaintiffs, Sa'adon Ali Hameed Al-Ogaidi, says he was repeatedly beaten at the prison and tied to door handles.

"At times, it seemed they were torturing people to have fun," he said, also claiming that he had seen guards sodomising prisoners.

Suhail Najim Abdullah Al-Shimari, another former prisoner involved in the case, was arrested at his Baghdad home in November 2003 and spent more than a year at the Abu Ghraib penal complex west of Baghdad, which had already become infamous for torture and execution of prisoners under Saddam Hussein. 

Al-Shimari claims that US civilian contractors subjected him to electroshock treatment, and night-long cold showers in winter.

"We think there will be people there in the United States who will want to give us back our dignity...by bringing these people to justice," he told reporters.

Taxi driver Mahammed Abdwihed Towfek Al-Taee was also taken to the jail in 2003. He claims that scars on his legs and head came from beatings with an iron rod administered during his imprisonment. He also says he was forced to drink litres of water while his penis was tied to prevent him from urinating.

Abu Ghraib became known throughout the world when photographs of prisoner abuse at the hands of US soldiers came to international attention in 2004.

Tens of thousands of US civilians were also employed in security roles during the conflict.

The prison closed in 2006.