RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court has rejected a contractor’s request to dismiss a lawsuit accusing it of contributing to the torture of prisoners at Iraq’s infamous Abu Ghraib prison.
Friday’s unanimous ruling from the appeals court in Richmond could clear the path for the lawsuit against Arlington, Virginia-based CACI Premier Technology to move forward after 11 years of delay.
The lawsuit accuses CACI’s civilian interrogators of conspiring with military police to torture prisoners. Photographs of abused prisoners that became public in 2004 caused an international scandal.
CACI denies wrongdoing and argued it should be immune from the suit because it was doing the government’s bidding.
The three-judge panel said it’s too early to determine whether any immunity would apply. One judge, though, warned in a concurring opinion that CACI’s concerns are legitimate.