Iraqis Civilians File Claim Against Private US Firms -- Claiming Murder, Torture and Abuse in Abu Prison (Press Conference Scheduled for Tuesday Morning in DC)

PRESS CONFERENCE on Tuesday, July 27, 2004; 9:30-9:45 AM EST at the UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (COURTHOUSE STEPS) 333 Constitution Avenue, NW; Washington, D.C. 20001 to announce a lawsuit filed in the Federal Court in Washington DC on behalf of five Iraqis who claimed they were subjected to acts of murder, torture and other abuses while they, or their family members, were held in the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq. A Consortium of Trial Lawyers Iraqi Torture Victim Group [ITVC include:Rod Edmond, Craig Jones, Hezekiah Sistrunk, Reginald Simmons Carl Grant and L. Palmer Foret Actual videotaped footage from the interviews in Iraq with the torture victims (where they describe their torture and abuse and identify individuals by name, who were party to the abuse) will be released at the press conference.

(PRWEB) July 28, 2004 -- PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
                         CONTACT:                                                                                 Bunnie Jackson-Ransom – PR @ 404-505-8188
(404-226-8000 -- cell)
Edmond Law Firm -- 404-525-1080

Iraqis Civilians File Claim Against Private U.S. Firms, Claiming Murder, Torture and Abuse in Abu Ghraib Prison

Washington D.C. (July 26, 2004).    On Tuesday, July 27, 2004 a consortium of trial lawyers from a number of states, collectively referred to as the Iraqi Torture Victim Group (ITVG),will file a lawsuit in federal court in Washington D.C. on behalf of five Iraqis who claimed they were subjected to acts of murder, torture and other abuses while they or their family members were held in the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The members of ITVG are lawyers Rod Edmond, M.D., J.D. and Craig T. Jones from Atlanta based firm Edmond & Jones, LLP.; Hezekiah Sistrunk managing partner of the Atlanta office of Cochran, Cherry, Givens, Smith and Sistrunk P.C.; South Carolina based partners of the firm Grant, Edmond & Simmons, Reginald D. Simmons and Carl. B Grant; and local attorney L. Palmer Foret, the immediate past president of the Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C.

Six weeks ago an Australian based attorney affiliated with the ITVG traveled through Jordan into Iraq and obtained actual videotaped interviews of the torture victims and there relatives. In these videotaped interviews the torture victims give graphic, sensational details of the horrors of rampant and numerous abuses and deaths in Abu Ghraib prison.

Rod Edmond, attorney for the Iraqi victims said, “None of the victims or families whom we represent are terrorists or combatants against U.S. or coalition military forces. They are just ordinary people – an Imam (Pastor or priest), a businessman, a taxi driver, a housewife and the like. All were ultimately released without charge. If you’re going to do business with the United States government at taxpayers’ expense, then you need to obey the same laws as everyone else.”

The lawsuit charges that two prominent U.S. companies, CACI International and the Titan Corporation, were contracted by the US government to provide interrogation services to Coalition forces in Iraq. The lawsuit alleges that their employees directed and participated in the abuse and torture of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison. These allegations are supported by the findings of Major General Antonio M. Taguba, Deputy Commanding General Support, as outlined in his investigation report into the 800th MP Brigade's detention and internment practices in Iraq as well as the videotaped interviews of the ITVG clients.

The legal action is brought under the Alien Tort Claims Act (A.T.C.A), and the 8th, 5th, and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution as well as other U.S. and international laws.
The Complaint alleges that the Defendants caused the Plaintiffs to endure a wide range of torture and physical abuse, including but not limited to the following:
§   Acts of murder
§   Violent physical assaults including being beaten while hung suspended off the ground by an arm or wrist
§   Being held naked and forced to endure cold and the elements
§   Being chained in a cramped position and forced to listen to loud music for sustained periods
§   Being denied food and water for sustained periods
§   Being urinated on
§   Being photographed while naked and other humiliating situations
§   Hearing and seeing other prisoners raped and sexually assaulted
§   Being restrained and then forced to witness family members being beaten.
The Complaint is available.

CONTACTS:

Grant, Edmond & Simmons, LLP, 127 Peachtree Street, Suite, Atlanta, GA 30303-
PHONE:404-525 1080/ FAX: 404-525-1073
E:mail: ITVG@edmondfirm.com

For media follow up, contact:
Bunnie Jackson-Ransom – 404-505-8188,
404-226-8000 (cell)