POWs v. Iraq

Numerous media outlets continue to provide updated coverage on the lawsuit filed by the team led by Steve Fennell on behalf of 17 American Gulf War soldiers tortured while held as prisoners of war in Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War, and 37 of their close family members.  The most recent news reports focus on a bill introduced on May 22 by Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, with Rep. Virgil Goode, Jr. and Rep. Dave Camp, that furthers the goals of deterring the torture of American POWs and holding perpetrators accountable by announcing the intention of United States to vigorously seek out and bring to trial war criminals, in particular those from Gulf War I and II. Further, and in light of the President's Order seizing all Iraqi frozen funds, the Act secures compensation from Iraqi assets for satisfaction of any judgment the Gulf War I POWs are granted in their case against Iraq for the torture they endured, so that Saddam Hussein and the Republic of Iraq are held responsible for their heinous acts.  Moreover, the Act states that it will be United States policy to support the claims of the American Gulf War II POWs and provide for access to Iraqi assets should it be shown that they too were tortured.

Congresswoman Capito, who represents the West Virginia district that is home to American POW Jessica Lynch, said the POW Protection Act of 2003 will allow former prisoners to seek restitution from their captors, as well as serve as a deterrent against torture of captured soldiers.

For more information on the case, please see the summary below:

Summary of the Case
In Acree v. Republic of Iraq, Steve Fennell, Molly Poag, David Smyth, Tony Onorato, and Allison Ward, along with co-counsel John Norton Moore, represent seventeen American POWs who were tortured, beaten, and starved while held captive in Iraq during the Persian Gulf War in 1991.  Also included as plaintiffs are thirty-seven close family members of the POWs, who have suffered significant psychological trauma as a result of the torture inflicted upon their loved ones.  The suit, filed in federal district court for the District of Columbia, names Saddam Hussein, the Republic of Iraq, and the Iraqi Intelligence Service as defendants.  The statute under which this action was filed, 28 U.S.C. § 1605(a)(7), strips immunity from a foreign state for any case in which money damages are sought for personal injury caused by an act of torture or the provision of material support or resources for such torture.  This statute is narrowly drawn to allow damage awards only against countries on the State Department's list of terrorist nations.  Iraq was designated as a state sponsor of terrorism on September 13, 1990.

The defendants in this action are responsible for committing violent and inhuman acts, including both physical and psychological torture, against the Allied POWs held in Iraq between January 1991 and March 1991.  The types of torture used included severe beatings (with objects ranging from axe handles and rifle butts to whips and clubs), systemic starvation, systematic exposure to freezing cold and vile confines, deprivation of medical care, electric shock, being burned with cigarettes, mock executions, videotaping for propaganda purposes, threatened castration, threatened amputation and dismemberment, continual death threats, and withholding contact by the Red Cross to confirm that the POWs were alive.

The plaintiffs have filed this suit as a means of deterring the torture of future POWs by sending an unequivocal message that Iraq (a Geneva Conventions signatory) and other terrorist nations will be held accountable for engaging in or sponsoring torture.  The plaintiffs in this action intend to assign a substantial portion of any punitive damage award to a Foundation that will provide assistance to POW/MIAs of the United States, its allies, and their families in dealing with the ongoing physical, psychological and other adverse effects arising from their experiences.