9 January 2013
Last updated at 00:38 GMT
The US handed over control of all of its detainment centres to Iraq in 2010
A
defence contractor whose subsidiary was accused of conspiring to torture
Abu Ghraib prisoners has settled with former inmates for $5m (£3m).
US firm Engility Holdings paid 71 people held at Abu Ghraib, Baghdad, and other US-run prisons, on behalf of L-3 Services,
according to a legal filing found by the Associated Press.
L-3 provided translators to the US military in post-war Iraq.
Images of abuse at Abu Ghraib in 2004 sparked international outage.
Another contractor which provided interrogators to the US military, CACI, is expected to go to trial over similar allegations.
The US government is immune from lawsuits stemming from
combat actions by the military in time of war, but courts are still
establishing whether independent firms operating in war zones should
have the same legal immunity.
The Engility settlement marks the first successful effort by
lawyers for former Iraqi prisoners against defence contractors in
lawsuits alleging torture.
A lawyer for the ex-detainees, Baher Azmy, told the
Associated Press that each of the 71 Iraqis received a portion of the
settlement.
He did not say how the money was distributed, and said there was an agreement to keep details of the settlement confidential.
"Private military contractors played a serious but often
under-reported role in the worst abuses at Abu Ghraib," said Mr Azmy,
legal director at the Center for Constitutional Rights.
"We are pleased that this settlement provides some
accountability for one of those contractors and offers some measure of
justice for the victims."
The firm said it did not comment on legal matters.
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