ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the use of the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) to seek accountability for war crimes committed by US private military contractors during the Iraq war. The chapter begins with a discussion on CCR and its strategic litigation practice, including their representation of Guantánamo Bay detainees. The second section tracks the journey of ATS before various courts in the United States and its narrowing scope with each successive judgment. Section III discusses their ongoing case against CACI International Inc. and CACI Premier Technology. In this case, CCR is representing Iraqi nationals who were subjected to torture, cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment, and other war crimes while in detention in the Abu Ghraib detention facility during the Iraq war. This case, embedded in the broader anti-Iraq war movement, highlighted the costs of privatization of war and the resulting accountability gap. The final section discusses the obstacles in using a civil law framework against corporations for violations amounting to crimes under international law.
