A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld a jury verdict that awarded millions of dollars to three Iraqi men who testified that they were tortured by U.S. forces at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison more than 20 years ago.
The decision could mark the beginning of the end of one of the longest-running lawsuits on the federal docket, which has so far included two jury trials and six appeals. It is a landmark case that tests both the limits of immunity for military contractors, as well as the ability of foreign citizens to pursue accountability in American courts for offenses that happened thousands of miles away.
The case may also be the final milestone in the story of Abu Ghraib. In April 2004, the publication of graphic images depicting soldiers abusing detainees at the prison ignited a scandal, one that was eventually documented by reports from three Army generals, the C.I.A. inspector general and two Senate committees. It was an early indication that the military campaigns initiated by President George W. Bush after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, also included tactics that would draw sharp criticism, like abusive interrogations and mass surveillance.
The defendant in the case is CACI International, a Virginia-based defense contractor that supplied interrogators to the U.S. Army during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The company has not fully exhausted its appeals, but could ultimately be liable for $42 million in damages.
The first jury that heard the case in 2024, after more than a decade of litigation, was unable to reach a verdict, but a second jury later that year found that the company conspired with U.S. soldiers to “inflict torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment” on the three detainees.
The second jury’s finding was affirmed on Thursday by two of the three judges on a panel that reviewed it from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. In an 83-page ruling, the judges rejected CACI’s claims that the damages awarded by the jury — $3 million in compensation and another $11 million in punitive damages for each of the three men — were excessive and that the company was entitled to a new trial. In establishing their jurisdiction, the judges compared torturers to pirates, “the same small category of criminals representing enemies of all mankind” and “fair game wherever found, by any nation.”
The judges also ruled that CACI could not sue the federal government to cover the costs of the verdict. They found that the government was protected under the doctrine of sovereign immunity, which limits plaintiffs’ ability to sue governments for damages. The doctrine did not extend, they found, to the detainees’ ability to sue government contractors in this instance.
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A company spokesman did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ruling.
In courtroom testimony, the three men — Salah Hasan Al-Ejaili, Suhail Al Shimari and Asa’ad Al-Zuba’e — told the jury about their experiences after being arrested by U.S. forces and taken to the prison near Baghdad. Mr. Al Shimari, a middle-school principal, said he was told that he would be raped and that his family would be taken to the prison and raped, as well. Mr. Al-Ejaili, who was working as a cameraman for Al Jazeera, said he was left naked overnight in a cold prison cell with a bag over his head, chained by his wrists to a pipe.
At the time, Pentagon officials attributed the brutality at the prison to “just a handful” of soldiers, as one general put it. Fewer than a dozen enlisted soldiers were convicted in courts-martial and sentenced to military prison. No private contractors were charged, though another company settled a similar lawsuit in 2013.
In court, CACI denied that its employees committed or directed others to commit the abuses, and argued that even if its employees had been involved, the company could not be held liable. Some of its defenses persuaded Judge A. Marvin Quattlebaum Jr., the appellate judge who dissented on Thursday. “No matter how upset we might be with CACI for allowing this to happen, we lack the power to act,” he wrote, concluding that the federal courts lacked jurisdiction, because the abuse occurred in Iraq and because the courts owe Congress and the White House deference over the military and foreign affairs.
Judge Quattlebaum was appointed by President Trump. Judges Henry F. Floyd and Stephanie Thacker, who formed the majority, are both appointees of President Barack Obama.
The company could now ask the case to be reheard by a larger appeals panel, or file a new appeal with the Supreme Court.
Thursday’s ruling was hailed by Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, a nonprofit that represented the plaintiffs, along with the New York law firm Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler.
“We are gratified yet again that the Fourth Circuit rejected CACI’s cynical arguments for impunity,” he said. “The case also proves that the U.S. legal system can deliver justice without threatening national security.”
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