U.S. court dismisses Iraqi contractor torture case

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http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSN11453108

Fri Sep 11, 2009 1:11pm EDT

By James Vicini

WASHINGTON, Sept 11 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit against two U.S. defense contractors by Iraqi torture victims, saying the companies had immunity as government contractors.

The lawsuit was filed in 2004 on behalf of Iraqi nationals who say they or their relatives had been tortured or mistreated while detained by the U.S. military at the Abu Ghraib prison.

The plaintiffs sued CACI International Inc (CACI.N), which provided interrogators at Abu Ghraib, and L-3 Communications Holdings Inc's (LLL.N) Titan unit, which provided interpreters to the U.S. military.

By a 2-1 vote, the appellate panel found the two companies had government contractor immunity and the claims were preempted, based on a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling and other precedents in the national security and foreign policy areas.

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1. pathetic

that's all I have to say.