NEW YORK - September 21 - The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) today welcomed the decision by CACI International, Inc., to withdraw its staff from Iraq at the end of September, when their contract with the U.S. Department of Defense expires. Despite the move, CCR vowed that they will continue, with a team of lawyers around the country, to pursue their lawsuit against CACI and Titan (Saleh v. Titan) for their role in numerous human rights abuses at Abu Ghraib and other detention facilities in Iraq. Lawyers in the case believe that the new information in the amended complaint and the criminal investigation of CACI employees implicated in the torture of Iraqis contributed to the company’s decision to pull out of the region.
The suit, which was originally filed in June 2004, charged CACI and Titan with conspiring to humiliate, torture, and otherwise mistreat persons detained by U.S. authorities in Iraq.
After an extensive investigation into the role the companies played in the torture and other crimes against humanity in the Iraqi prisons, survivors of the abuse filed a Third Amended Complaint against CACI and other defendants last week. That complaint charges that CACI’s misconduct not only violated United States and international law, but also endangered the lives of American soldiers. The acts of torture and other mistreatment undertaken by the defendants in the case were not pursuant to any lawful orders or contracts issued by the United States military. The complaint also detailed specific allegations of
CACI involvement in abuses, including allegations that CACI employees Timothy Dugan, who issued death threats to people unwilling to participate in the conspiracy to torture detainees, and Daniel E. Johnson, who participated in the torture and directed others to do the same, conspired with U.S. soldiers, including the notorious Cpl. Charles Graner, to conduct acts of torture.
“We hope that the increased information provided in the amended complaint about CACI’s illegal actions, contributed to their withdrawal,” said Jennie Green, CCR senior attorney and co-counsel for plaintiffs. “In the past, U.S. courts have held that human rights victims can bring claims against companies violating international law. The U.S. courts must now also hold this company accountable for its policy of torture.”
Lawyers on the case include Susan Burke and Jonathan Pyle of Burke Pyle LLC in Philadelphia, Judith Brown Chomsky and Jennifer Green of the Center for Constitutional Rights, Shereef Hadi Akeel of Birmingham, Michigan, and Joseph Margulies of the Macarthur Justice Center at the University of Chicago Law School.
Printer Friendly Version
E-Mail This Article
