Re: Iraq POW Torture Award Overturned

Date: June 05, 2004

More bad news...

"Award to POWs overturned
Suit for '91 torture is ruled improper

By Hope Yen Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- An appeals court panel threw out a $959 million judgment Friday for U.S. prisoners of war who say they were tortured by the Iraqi military during the 1991 Persian Gulf war, ruling that Congress never authorized such lawsuits against foreign governments.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit overturned a lower court ruling saying 17 ex-POWs and 37 family members were entitled to the damages under a federal statute allowing suits involving countries that financed or aided terrorists.

The three-judge panel said the statute only allows lawsuits for pain and suffering if they are filed against agents and officers of those foreign states responsible for the torture who are not acting on behalf of their government.

So even though the lawsuit also names Saddam Hussein, he is immune because the POWs sued him for his alleged activities as Iraq's president, the panel said.

"We are mindful of the gravity of [the POWs'] allegations in this case. That appellees endured this suffering while acting in service to their country is all the more sobering," Judge Harry Edwards wrote in the opinion.

"Nevertheless, we cannot ignore ... its impact on the United States conduct of foreign policy where the law is indisputably clear that appellees were not legally entitled."

Judge John Roberts filed a separate concurring opinion.

The POWs in the suit, which also named the Iraqi Intelligence Service, say they endured severe beatings, starvation, electric shock, threats of amputation and dismemberment and continual death threats.

Nearly 125 pages of the complaint detail the servicemen's stories, including those of Marine Maj. Michael Craig Berryman, who said his legs were beaten with a metal pipe and a wooden ax handle, and Marine Col. Clifford Acree, who said he was so near starvation he could "feel his body consuming itself."

The Iraqi government never appeared in U.S. court to argue its case, leading to the default judgment last July. But the Justice Department intervened after the POWs sought to be paid from frozen Iraqi assets in the United States, saying the money was needed to rebuild Iraq.

Government lawyers had argued that huge legal judgments against foreign governments would hamper diplomatic efforts as the United States wages its war on terrorism.

They also argued that the POWs were not entitled to the money because President Bush made an official determination in May 2003 that a statute allowing payment from frozen assets was not applicable to Iraq because it no longer supported terrorism after Hussein was overthrown.

An attorney representing the plaintiffs, Tony Onorato, noted that 13 of the 17 POWs in the case were held in 1991 at the Abu Ghraib prison, the site of alleged abuse of Iraqi prisoners by their U.S. military guards.

"Our very guys who were tortured in that very prison are being told to get out of the way," Onorato said.

Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune "

From the official website: http://www.stoppowtorture.org/

"Latest News

June 4, 2004 - Today the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the judgment held by American POWs tortured by Iraqis during the 1991 Gulf War should be erased at the urging of the Bush Administration.

The POWs held a press teleconference shortly afterwards at which Colonel David Eberly and Steptoe & Johnson attorneys Tony Onorato and Molly Poag were available for questions.

For an audio replay of the call, please visit this web site.

* * *

For Immediate Release

Date: Friday, June 4, 2004

United States Government Succeeds in Taking POWs’ Judgment and Blocking Justice

Sad Day for AmericaWashington, D.C. – In a sad day for justice in the United States and for the military family in particular, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled today that the judgment held by American POWs tortured by Iraqis during the 1991 Gulf War should be erased at the urging of the Bush Administration.

In finalizing this injustice, Attorney General Ashcroft and President Bush have succeeded in making certain that abused Iraqis are better treated than tortured Americans. The results-driven ruling means that the POWs, who followed every rule laid out by Congress in an effort to prevent the torture of American POWs, have been denied even the simple justice American courts are supposed to provide. Indeed, today’s action has the effect of shredding the public record of abuse that these brave Americans endured and undermining the effort to prevent the torture of POWs in the future.

“This is difficult to take. We served without question and withstood the worst the Iraqi torturers handed out. On behalf of all those who have suffered, I am disappointed in the legal system of this country. I am also concerned for those who serve our country in the future, as future torturers may now believe that the United States will not stand behind its servicemen and women. The President should seriously consider the impact of these developments. They could have supported us, but instead they chose to support the Iraqis,” said Col. (Ret.) David Eberly. Further, he stated, “I simply can’t believe what we are talking about -- providing compensation from our tax dollars to Iraqis, while the Justice Department uses tax dollars to fight us in court, to prevent us from accessing Iraqi assets, as compensation for being tortured by Iraqis.”

As part of the effort to hold Iraq accountable, the Gulf War POWs established the American POW/MIA Foundation in March 2003 to provide assistance to POWs, MIAs and their families, and to stand against the torture of American POWs. Eberly stated that it is still his hope that the Foundation can make a difference and that “we will just have to see what happens -- it is up to Congress to fix this now.”"