"Abu Ghraib prisoners deserve, finally, their day in court", 11 May 2015

Twelve years ago American citizens and the rest of the world were rocked by the graphic photographs of the sexual and physical torture at Abu Ghraib. Once seen, the images are impossible to forget…And, in almost every picture, the guards, looking on with a smirk. As general counsel to the navy at that time, and an opponent of the Bush administration’s use and rationalization of torture and inhumane treatment against detainees, I watched Dick Cheney, George Tenet and others look on the laws that make torture unlawful with that same smirk…Do we want our American courts to uphold this lawlessness?...On 12 May, the fourth circuit court of appeals…will hear oral argument in Al Shimari v CACI, an appeal froma civil case brought by the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of Abu Ghraib victims against a US-based government contractor. The outcome of the appeal will determine whether the case will be heard or dismissed without trial. And a trial would decide whether the victims obtain compensation for their injuries and, no less important, a measure of respect from the hands of American justice.