A federal jury in Virginia has found the U.S. military contractor CACI Premier Technology liable for the torture of three prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison during the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq in the early 2000s. The landmark verdict came after 16 years of litigation. It’s the first time a civilian contractor has been found legally responsible for the gruesome abuses at Abu Ghraib, which included murder, sexual assault and rape, the use of attack dogs, sleep deprivation, prolonged isolation, dietary manipulation, induced hypothermia, mock executions and the humiliation of prisoners. On Tuesday, the plaintiffs’ lawyer, Baher Azmy of the Center for Constitutional Rights, said the jury had rendered an important verdict. 

Baher Azmy: “They granted each plaintiff $3 million in compensatory damages and $11 million each in punitive damages, sending a strong message that this kind of corporate malfeasance and neglect and recklessness and deflection is outrageous and deserves to be punished.”