Judge rejects military contractor’s effort to toss out Abu Ghraib torture lawsuit

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — A federal judge has again rejected a military contractor’s effort to toss out a lawsuit filed against it by former inmates of Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison. The plaintiffs allege that Virginia-based CACI, which supplied interrogators at the prison, was complicit in torture they suffered. The mistreatment of prisoners there two decades ago prompted international outrage when photos became public of smiling soldiers posing in front of abused prisoners. CACI has long denied it engaged in torture, and has tried more than a dozen times to have the lawsuit dismissed. The case was originally filed in 2008. Monday’s ruling from a judge in Alexandria, Virginia, allows the case to go forward.