{"id":33093,"date":"2024-04-21T13:04:14","date_gmt":"2024-04-21T20:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=33093"},"modified":"2024-04-21T13:04:15","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T20:04:15","slug":"20-years-later-abu-ghraib-torture-victims-get-their-day-in-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/04\/21\/20-years-later-abu-ghraib-torture-victims-get-their-day-in-court\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Years Later, Abu Ghraib Torture Victims Get Their Day in Court"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Sgt.<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Army Sgt. Michael Smith uses a dog to torture a terrified Iraqi detainee at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo: U.S. Army)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Meanwhile, the U.S. government STILL hasn’t provided compensation or other redress to people tortured by U.S. troops in Iraq,” said one observer. “These three men are the lucky few.”<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

BRETT WILKINS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apr 15, 2024 (CommonDreams.org)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two decades after they were tortured by U.S. military contractors at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, three Iraqi victims are finally getting their day in court Monday as a federal court in Virginia takes up a case they brought during the George W. Bush administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case being heard in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Al Shimari v. CACI<\/a><\/em>, was first filed in 2008 under the Alien Tort Statute\u2014which allows non-U.S. citizens to sue for human rights abuses committed abroad\u2014by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) on behalf of three Iraqis. The men suffered torture directed and perpetrated by employees of CACI, a Virginia-based professional services and information technology firm hired in 2003 by the Bush administration as translators and interrogators in Iraq during the illegal U.S.-led invasion and occupation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This lawsuit is a critical step towards justice for these three men who will finally have their day in court.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plaintiffs Suhail Al Shimari, Asa’ad Zuba’e, and Salah Al-Ejaili accuse CACI of conspiring to commit war crimes including torture at Abu Ghraib, where the men suffered broken bones, electric shocks, sexual abuse, extreme temperatures, and death threats at the hands of their U.S. interrogators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This lawsuit is a critical step towards justice for these three men who will finally have their day in court. But they are the lucky few,” Sarah Sanbar, an Iraq researcher at Human Rights Watch, wrote<\/a> on Monday. “For the hundreds of other survivors still suffering from past abuses, their chances of justice remain slim.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The U.S. government should do the right thing: Take responsibility for their abuses, offer an apology, and open an avenue to redress that has been denied them for too many years,” Sanbar added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the US government STILL hasn't provided compensation or other redress to people tortured by US troops in Iraq. These three men are the lucky few. Hundreds of others are still in need of justice.https:\/\/t.co\/qYNRwUnfMq<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/ontCGXm5BS<\/a><\/p>— Sarah Sanbar (@SarahSanbar) April 15, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>