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17 May 2004
BERLIN – Iraqis tortured while in US captivity in Iraq plan to file a class-action suit in US courts seeking compensation from private military contractors providing security services, a German lawyer said in Berlin.
Michael Witti said there several victims or their relatives had inquired about suing.
Witti said there was reason to expect that American courts would accept jurisdiction of such a case, but he said there was controversy over whether non-Americans had access to the remedy of damages.
If claims were to be made against the US government, it would be best to press initially for an international compensation fund, he said.
Witti was one of more than 50 mostly American lawyers who used a US class-action lawsuit against German companies to negotiate a huge compensation package three years ago from Germany on behalf of Nazi-era slave and forced labourers.
DPA
Subject: German news