ALEXANDRIA, Virginia: A judge has dealt a severe blow to a torture lawsuit filed against military contractor CACI by four Iraqis who say they suffered abuse at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.
At a hearing Friday in federal court in Alexandria, Judge Gerald Bruce Lee tossed out claims that CACI conspired to torture the four men who filed the lawsuit. Some other claims can still go forward but will be difficult to prove.
Lee also dismissed parent company CACI International Inc. from the suit. That leaves only a subsidiary, CACI Premier Technology, as a defendant.
In the lawsuit, the former prisoners claimed CACI conspired in a pattern of abuse, including mock executions, beatings, and other humiliating treatment.
Arlington-based CACI says its employees never even came in contact with the plaintiffs.
Judge tosses much of torture suit from Abu Ghraib
Judge tosses much of torture suit from Abu Ghraib
The art of war: fears for masterpieces on loan to Louvre Abu Dhabi
- UAE paid more than €1 billion to borrow priceless works, but experts in France want them back
PARIS: The Middle East war has raised fears for the safety of priceless masterpieces on loan from France to the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the museum’s only foreign branch.
The Abu Dhabi museum, which opened in 2017, has so far escaped damage from nearly 1,800 Iranian drone and missile strikes launched since the conflict erupted on Feb. 28.
However, concerns are mounting in France. “The works must be removed,” said Didier Selles, who helped broker the original agreement between France and the UAE.
French journal La Tribune de l’Art echoed that alarm. “The Louvre’s works in Abu Dhabi must be secured!” it said.
France’s culture ministry said French authorities were “in close and regular contact with the authorities of the UAE to ensure the protection of the works loaned by France.”
Under the agreement with the UAE, France agreed to provide expertise, lend works of art and organize exhibitions, in return for €1 billion, including €400 million for licensing the use of the Louvre name. The deal was extended in 2021 to 2047 for an additional €165 million.
Works on loan include paintings by Rembrandt and Chardin, Classical statues of Isis, Roman sarcophagi and Islamic masterpieces: such as the Pyxis of Al-Mughira.
A Louvre Abu Dhabi source said the museum was designed to protect collections from both security threats and natural disasters.
