“Borrowed servants”? Private military companies and sadism in Abu Ghraib
In Season 2, Episode 5 of the Guns for Hire podcast, host Alia Brahimi is joined by international lawyer Katherine Gallagher to discuss her litigation efforts against a prominent private military company (PMC) for war crimes in Abu Ghraib.
Katherine talks us through the sixteen-year legal fight on behalf of former Iraqi detainees, the various defences invoked by CACI Premier Technology Inc., and the decision-making around whether to prosecute corporations or individual contractors. She also reflects on the weight of the burden borne by torture survivors through having to fight these cases themselves.
In addition, Katherine discusses her role in the case brought against Caterpillar Inc. for the death of Rachel Corrie, and how private corporations involved in warfare are on notice now much more so than twenty years ago. Katherine also relates her disquiet at the ever-expanding PMC industry, and the proliferation of contractors into core governmental functions.
“CACI has largely been saying since the time the first cases were filed: Anything that we were doing, we were doing in service of the United States and therefore we can’t be held liable.”
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About the podcast
Guns for Hire podcast is a production of the Atlantic Council’s North Africa Initiative. Taking Libya as its starting point, it explores the causes and implications of the growing use of mercenaries in armed conflict.
The podcast features guests from many walks of life, from ethicists and historians to former mercenary fighters. It seeks to understand what the normalization of contract warfare tells us about the world we currently live in, the future of the international system, and what war could look like in the coming decades.
Further reading
Through our Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative, the Atlantic Council works with allies and partners in Europe and the wider Middle East to protect US interests, build peace and security, and unlock the human potential of the region.
Image: A U.S soldier stands guard as Iraqi detainees stand wait to be processed for release from Abu Ghraib prison in the town of Abu Ghraib, 33 km (21 miles) west of Baghdad September 26, 2005. The U.S military released about 500 Iraqi detainees from Abu Ghraib prison on Monday at the request of the Iraqi government prior to the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan. REUTERS/Wathiq Khuzaie/Pool