US court to hear appeal in Abu Ghraib case

RICHMOND / AFP

Four former Iraqi detainees who say they were tortured at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison are asking a federal appeals court to revive their
lawsuit.
A three-judge panel of the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in the case on Thursday in Richmond, Virginia. The former detainees sued CACI Premier Technology Inc., an Arlington-based military contractor hired to conduct interrogations at the prison in Iraq. They claim the company’s employees conspired to have soldiers torture them to soften them up for questioning. The plaintiffs say they were subjected to electrical shocks, sexual violence and forced nudity.
A judge dismissed the lawsuit last June, ruling that the military controlled the contractor’s actions and he lacked authority to review the military’s
judgment.