WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- A lawsuit alleging that civilian American interrogators subjected Iraqis to torture and severe mistreatment at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad can move forward , a federal judge ruled Thursday . Detainees leave Baghdad Central Prison -- also known as Abu Ghraib -- in 2006 . U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Bruce Lee rejected claims by defense contractor CACI that the company was immune from accountability over claims of physical abuse , war crimes and civil conspiracy . Reports of torture and humiliation by soldiers and civilian contractors against Iraqi detainees created a political , diplomatic and public relations nightmare for the Bush administration in the months and years after the 2003 Iraq invasion . Four Iraqi detainees have sued in U.S. federal courts , alleging contract interrogators assigned to the Baghdad Central Prison -- known as Abu Ghraib -- subjected them to beatings and mental abuse , then destroyed documents and video evidence and later misled officials about what was happening inside the facility . Eleven U.S. soldiers who also worked at the prison were court-martialed under the Uniform Code of Military Justice for prisoner abuse , and several implicated company workers in similar crimes . No contractors have yet faced criminal charges in the wake of the scandal , however . Arlington , Virginia-based CACI said it was merely providing contracting services the government required , and that sensitive political and policy questions could not be brought up in any civilian trial . The judge disagreed . `` While it is true that the events at Abu Ghraib pose an embarrassment to this country , it is the misconduct alleged and not the litigation surrounding that misconduct that creates the embarrassment , '' Lee wrote . `` This court finds that the only potential for embarrassment would be if the court declined to hear these claims on political questions grounds . Consequently , the court holds that plaintiffs ' claims pose no political question and are therefore justiciable . '' The four Abu Ghraib detainees , led by Suhail Najim Abdullah Al Shimari , were released between 2004 and 2008 , and were never charged with a crime , said their attorneys . They were represented in their civil suit by the Center for Constitutional Rights and other individual lawyers . Other Iraqi civilian lawsuits are pending . `` Private military contractors like CACI can not act with impunity , '' said the center 's Katherine Gallagher . `` They must act within the bounds of law and must be held accountable for their participation in the atrocities at Abu Ghraib and the other facilities in Iraq . We believe their actions and the acts of torture of their employees clearly violated the Geneva Conventions , the Army Field Manual and the laws of the United States . '' The case is Al Shimari v. CACI Premier Technology Inc. , 1:08cv827 . There is no word on when the case might go to trial ; it could also be settled out of court .
Judge ##d immunity claims from defense contractor CACI . In lawsuit , former Iraqi detainees accuse defendants of physical , mental abuse . Interrogators also accused of destroying evidence , including officials . Contractors not pursuing criminal charges stemming from torture .