The Latest: US court heard appeal in Abu Ghraib torture suit

RICHMOND, Va. – The Latest on a federal appeals court hearing in an Abu Ghraib prison torture case (all times local):

10:45 a.m.

A lawyer for four former Iraqi detainees who say they were tortured at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison urged a federal appeals court to reinstate their lawsuit against a military contractor.

At a hearing Thursday, the attorney told a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that his clients aren’t questioning military judgment but are trying to hold civilian interrogators accountable. The court usually takes several weeks to issue a decision.

The former detainees sued Arlington, Virginia-based CACI Premier Technology Inc. in 2008. The contractor was hired to conduct interrogations at the U.S.-run prison in Iraq. The former detainees claim the company’s employees conspired to have soldiers shock, beat and sexually assault them to soften them up for questioning.

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5:25 a.m.

Four former Iraqi detainees who say they were tortured at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison are asking a federal appeals court to revive their lawsuit.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments in the case Thursday in Richmond, Virginia.

The former detainees sued CACI Premier Technology Inc., an Arlington-based military contractor hired to conduct interrogations at the prison in Iraq. They claim the company’s employees conspired to have soldiers torture them to soften them up for questioning. The plaintiffs say they were subjected to electrical shocks, sexual violence and forced nudity.

A judge dismissed the lawsuit last June, ruling that the military controlled the contractor’s actions and he lacked authority to review the military’s judgment.