From Center for Constitutional Rights | Original Article
Virginia jury last year held CACI liable for torture and awarded damages to Iraqi plaintiffs
March 12, 2026, Richmond, VA – The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld a historic verdict against a Virginia-based corporation found liable for its role in torture at Abu Ghraib prison in 2003-2004. Last year, a jury ordered CACI Premier Technology, Inc. to pay $42 million in damages to three Iraqi men who endured the sort of horrific torture and abuse made infamous by the leaked images that sparked worldwide outrage in 2004. This was the fifth time the Fourth Circuit issued a ruling in favor of plaintiffs and recognizing that the courts are competent to decide such claims, even if they arose in a wartime context.
Filed in 2008, Al Shimari v. CACI is the only lawsuit brought by Abu Ghraib torture victims to make it to trial, having overcome more than twenty CACI motions to dismiss. (An earlier case was settled in 2012, and another dismissed in 2009.) The plaintiffs – Suhail Al Shimari, a middle school principal, Asa’ad Zuba’e, a fruit vendor, and Salah Al-Ejaili, a journalist – were all held in the “hard site” in Abu Ghraib, where the worst abuses occurred. Along with hundreds of other Iraqis tortured in the prison, they have suffered long-term physical and psychological effects.
“This is a huge moment, a win that builds a foundation for a new precedent in the U.S. This will cause a positive difference in the future. Those who believe they are above the law will now think twice before violating human rights,” said plaintiff Salah Al-Ejaili. “Thank you to the U.S. legal system and thank you to everyone who had anything to do with this win.”
A first trial, in April 2024, coincided with the 20th anniversary of the Abu Ghraib scandal and marked the first time that survivors of U.S. post-9/11 torture had testified in a U.S. courtroom. The jury was unable to reach a verdict, but in a new trial, in October 2024, the jury ordered CACI to pay each of the three plaintiffs $3 million in compensatory damages plus $11 million in punitive damages.
The verdict delivered a measure of justice to torture survivors and also brings a new degree of accountability to the shadowy realm of private security contractors at a time when they are deployed in conflict zones around the world, including in the Middle East, and their conduct has raised serious and credible concerns of involvement in human rights abuses.
After the district judge denied CACI’s motion for a new trial, CACI appealed the decision to the Fourth Circuit, and its lawyers re-argued numerous legal issues already decided against them over the long course of litigation. CACI’s claims again focused on the purported incapacity of courts to try a conspiracy case raising questions of torture in the context of armed conflict, all rejected by the court today: that the company should enjoy derivative sovereign immunity, that it was denied a fair trial, that the case lacks sufficient connection to the United States, and that it should be dismissed under the political question doctrine.
Baher Azmy, legal director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, who argued the appeal in September said, “We are gratified yet again that the Fourth Circuit rejected CACI’s cynical arguments for impunity for its responsibility for the torture of our clients, which the jury confirmed in a historic judgment last year. Our courageous clients have waited so long for recognition and justice, and we are happy for them that this judgment affirmed their entitlement to it.”
After the Bush administration invaded Iraq in 2003, it hired CACI to provide interrogation services at Abu Ghraib. In April 2004, news outlets released photographs and video showing naked, hooded people posed in human pyramids, on leashes, and being sexually assaulted. U.S. military investigators concluded that CACI employees had conspired with U.S. soldiers to “soften up” imprisoned Iraqis, and military personnel who worked under CACI employees were court-martialed for their role in the torture. The jury’s verdict reflected those same findings of CACI’s participation in a conspiracy to torture.
The plaintiffs brought their case under the Alien Tort Statute, a 1789 federal law that allows foreign nationals to seek redress in U.S. courts for certain violations of international law. They are represented by the Center for Constitutional Rights and the law firms of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, and Akeel & Valentine, PLC.
For more information, see the case page.