Ex-Detainees Sue Companies for Their Role in Abuse Case

[Eye and Monkey]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/10/politics/10suit.html

WASHINGTON, June 9 - Lawyers representing former detainees who say they were sexually humiliated, beaten, and tortured at Abu Ghraib prison said Wednesday that they have sued two private companies that provided translators and interrogators at the prison.

The lawsuit, filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights and a Philadelphia law firm, accuses the Titan Corporation and CACI International Inc. of conspiring to abuse detainees in order to secure more contracts from the United States government.

It alleges that the two companies and three men who worked for them directed and participated in illegal conduct at the prison to squeeze information from detainees in an effort to prove that the companies should be awarded more contracts.

MORE -

[opihimoimoi]

1. Oh My, this should be very Interesting

:bounce:

[Roy]

2. Democracy in action????

n/t

[Snazzy]

3. Updated story: Human Rights Groups Sue Over Iraq Abuses

Human Rights Groups Sue Over Iraq Abuses

By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - An unusual racketeering lawsuit filed by human rights lawyers accuses U.S. civilian contractors at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq (news - web sites) of conspiring to execute, rape and torture prisoners to boost corporate profits from military payments.

Some of the new abuse allegations were among the cruelest described so far within the Iraqi prisons.

One person, identified in court documents only as a prisoner named Rasheed, told lawyers his tongue was shocked with electricity and his toenails pulled out. Another person, identified only as a prisoner named Ahmed, said he was forced to watch while his 63-year-old father, Ibrahiem, was tortured to death.

A plaintiff identified only as a prisoner named Neisef told lawyers he was raped by a female interrogator who left him naked on the floor, saying "It is our job to take your manhood away."

....

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=533&ncid=533&e=3&u=/ap/20040610/ap_on_re_us/prisoner_abuse_lawsuit

[Snazzy]

4. More details in LA Times version

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&e=4&u=/latimests/20040610/ts_latimes/exdetaineessue2uscontractors

"When war becomes a for-profit enterprise, horror, human suffering and degradation is the dividend," said Barbara Olshansky, deputy legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights.

...

One of the plaintiffs, whose name was given only as Ahmed, said unidentified workers at Abu Ghraib sprayed him and his father with cold water, kicked them with heavy military boots and stripped them naked. The interrogators tortured his father until he died, the lawsuit states.

A second plaintiff, identified only as Ismael, said that when he refused to answer questions, his interrogators showed him photographs that appeared to show U.S. soldiers sexually assaulting prisoners.

A third plaintiff, identified only as Neisef, said he was raped by a female worker at a prison at Camp Bucca in southern Iraq. He said interrogators attached wires to his genitals to give him electric shocks.

Two plaintiffs, identified as Sami Abbas al Rawi, 56, and his son, Mwafaq Sami Abbas al Rawi, 28, said they were kicked, beaten and forced to stand on one leg for hours.

>> more there...