CACI seeks dismissal after Virginia jury held it liable for torture and awarded $42 million in damages 

September 9, 2025, Richmond, VA – Three Iraqi men sought today to preserve a historic verdict against a Virginia-based corporation found liable last year for its role in their torture at Abu Ghraib prison in 2003-2004. In an oral argument before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, lawyers for CACI Premier Tech., Inc. sought dismissal of the case or, failing that, a new trial, while the plaintiffs’ lawyers explained that the jury had followed both the law and the evidence when it ordered the company to pay $42 million in damages. 

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 (one 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 – endured the sort of horrific torture and abuse made infamous by the leaked images that sparked worldwide outrage in 2004. Along with hundreds of other Iraqis tortured at Abu Ghraib, they have suffered long-standing physical and emotional effects. 

“I feel that this journey has taken far, far too long — 17 years have passed since we started the case. Now we find ourselves at the final stage, and I can only hope it will not stretch on any further,” said Salah Al-Ejaili, one of the plaintiffs in the case. “Deep inside, we hold firm faith that the Court of Appeals will recognize our right, just as the jurors at the trial did. We stand at the doorstep of a long-awaited triumph for justice.”

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 found CACI liable for conspiring to torture and ordered it to pay each plaintiff $3 million in compensatory damages and $11 million in punitive damages.

The verdict delivered a rare measure of justice to torture survivors and also brings a new degree of accountability to the shadowy realm of security contractors at a time when they are deployed in conflict zones around the world, including in Gaza, and many stand credibly accused of human rights abuses. 

After the district judge denied CACI’s motion for a new trial, the corporation appealed that decision to the Fourth Circuit. In today’s argument, CACI’s lawyers reargued numerous legal issues already decided against them over the long course of litigation, including that the case lacks sufficient connection to the United States, that it should be dismissed under the political question doctrine, that the company should enjoy derivative sovereign immunity, and that CACI was denied a fair trial. Through extensive briefing and at argument, plaintiffs’ counsel argued why each of those arguments lack merit.

Baher Azmy, Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, who argued the case for the plaintiffs, said, “This case is a credit both to the courage and steadfastness of our remarkable clients, and to the proper functioning of our judicial system – even though it moved slowly, the case shows that courts can adjudicate basic human rights principles despite overwrought claims of ‘national security’ and deliver some measure of justice.” 

After the Bush administration invaded Iraq in 2003, it hired CACI to provide interrogation services at Abu Ghraib. In April 2004, the truth about the serious mistreatment of Iraqi detainees became known  as 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.

A recording of the arguments will be posted on the court’s website, usually by the following day.

For more information, see the case page.