US Contractors Sued Over Abu Ghraib Torture

www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-06 17:47:45

LOS ANGELES, May 5 (Xinhua) --

An Iraqi man who alleges he was tortured at the Abu Ghraib prison on Monday filed a lawsuit against U.S. military contractors involved in the case.

"We want the complete truth about Abu Ghraib to be told," said Emad Al-Janabi, who filed the lawsuit at a Los Angeles court against Steven Stefanowicz and three business entities: Arlington, Va.-based defense contractor CACI International Inc., its subsidiary, CACI Premier Technology Inc., and L-3 Communications Titan Corp. of San Diego.

"The world must know what happened," said Al-Janabi, a 43-year-old blacksmith.

Stefanowicz, a former CACI contractor known at Abu Ghraib as "Big Steve," was linked to abuses at the prison in military court-martial proceedings and was said to have directed low-level U.S. military personnel in prisoner interrogations, according to Philadelphia-based law firm Burke O'Neil who represents Al-Janabi in the case.

The law firm did not say who allegedly tortured Al-Janabi, nor did it provide details about Stefanowicz's alleged activities at the prison.

Representatives for CACI International and L-3 Communications Titan Corp. were not immediately available for comment.

Abu Ghraib hit headlines in 2004 when allegations surfaced of physical, sexual and psychological abuse committed by U.S. personnel.

Photographs of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib led to an international outcry and the convictions of several guards assigned to the prison, which is located about 20 miles (32 km) west of Baghdad.

In his lawsuit, Al-Janabi claims he was beaten and forced from his home in September 2003 by people dressed in U.S. military uniforms and civilian clothing, Burke O'Neil said, adding that he was released from Abu Ghraib without being charged in July 2004.

The lawsuit alleges violations of federal law, including torture, war crimes and civil conspiracy and it claims that CACI provided interrogators at the prison while L-3 employed all translators used there, said the law firm.

The lawsuit also claims Al-Janabi was physically and mentally tortured in sessions where the defendants acted as interrogators and translators, shown a mock execution of his brother and nephew, hung upside down with his feet chained to a bunk bed until he was unconscious, deprived of food and sleep and threatened with dogs, according to Burke O'Neil.

During a surprise inspection of the prison in October 2003, the International Red Cross found Al-Janabi in a cell, naked, chained and bruised, Burke O'Neil said. He was a "ghost detainee" who was hidden from the Red Cross on subsequent inspections and held without appearing on Abu Ghraib's prisoner lists, Burke O'Neil said.

Burke O'Neil also claims that a newly published book, "Our Good Name," by CACI Chairman J.P. London, reveals that the company's internal investigation failed to include any interviews of detainees or of a former employee whistleblower.

"Private military contractors can't act with impunity outside the law," said Katherine Gallagher, an attorney from the Center for Constitutional Rights who is also representing Al-Janabi.

"They have to be held accountable for their participation in the atrocities at Abu Ghraib and the other facilities. We believe what they and their employees did clearly violated the Geneva Conventions, the Army Field Manual and the laws of the United States."

Editor: Amber Yao

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