Two U.S. defense contractors were accused in a class-action suit on Wednesday of conspiring with U.S. officials to torture and abuse prisoners in Iraq. The suit, filed in San Diego, alleged San-Diego based Titan Corp. and CACI International of Arlington, Virginia, engaged in "heinous and illegal acts" to show they could get intelligence from detainees, and thereby obtain more government contracts. Employees from both firms, which provided interrogation and translation services in Iraq, were named in a report on Iraqi prison abuse by U.S. Army investigator Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba.
"We believe that CACI and Titan engaged in a conspiracy to torture and abuse detainees and did so to make more money," said Philadelphia-based lawyer Susan Burke who filed the suit along with New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights.
The two companies are accused of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, an anti-conspiracy law originally enacted to target organized crime.
Titan spokesman Wil Williams called the lawsuit "frivolous" and said the company would aggressively defend itself against the charges. He said the Titan employee named in the Taguba report, Adel Nahkla, had since left the company.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2004/06/09/lawsuit_filed_against_us_contractors_over_iraq_abuse/
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