We know the Scottish census is being carried out by CACI (UK) Ltd, which is a subsidiary of CACI International Inc. an American corporation with extensive links with the American Government, and the shadowy world of intelligence gathering of the CIA and NSA.

CACI obtain a large amount of work from defence contracts for the US military, and one of these contracts was to provide interrogators at Abu Ghraib in 2003-4, during which time images appeared around the world depicting acts of torture at Abu Ghraib.

Why the Scottish Government has allowed this corporation to undertake the data collection of the census is beyond understanding, especially when there is a EU Procurement rule set out in Directive 2004/18/EC give contacting authorities discretion to exclude a contractor that “has been guilty of grave professional misconduct proven by any means which the contracting authorities can demonstrate.”

One of the cases against CACI is Al Shimari v. CACI, which has been filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virigiania in September 2008. The lawsuit has been brought by four Iraqis that claim they were torture victims at the hands of CACI International Inc and CACI Premier Technology Inc.

CACI is arguing for the case to be dismissed because the company was working for the US Government, no decision has been reached to dismiss the case as yet, so this is still ongoing and current.

Below you can read excerpts of the complaint, we have also provided a link at the end of the article for the full document. If you are easily upset at descriptions of torture, please do not read any further.

THE TORTURE OF SUHAIL NAJIM ABDULLAH AL SHIMARl
  • Mr. Al Shimari was imprisoned at the Abu Ghraib hard site for approximately two months after being arrested on or about November 7, 2003.
  • Mr. Al Shimari was subjected to electric shocks.
  • Mr. Al Shimari was struck with a baton-like instrument.
  • Mr. Al Shimari was beaten.
  • Mr. Al Shimari was deprived of food.
  • Mr. Al Shimari was deprived of sleep for extended periods of time.
  • Mr. Al Shimari was threatened with dogs.
  • Mr. Al Shimari was subjected to sensory deprivation and to extreme temperatures.
  • Mr. Al Shimari was stripped naked and kept naked in his cell.
  • Mr. Al Shimari was threatened with death.
  • Mr. Al Shimari was kept naked and forced to engage in physical activities to the point of exhaustion.
  • Mr. Al Shimari was forcibly shaved.
  • Mr. Al Shimari was kept in a cage.
  • Mr. Al Shimari was forced to watch as CACI and its co-conspirators choked another prisoner.
  • Mr. Al Shimari was released on or about March 27, 2008, without ever being charged with any crime.
THE TORTURE OF TAHA YASEEN ARRAQ RASHID
  • Mr. Rashid was imprisoned at the Abu Ghraib hard site for approximately three months after being arrested on or about September 22, 2003.
  • Mr. Rashid was stripped and kept naked.
  • Mr. Rashid was deprived of oxygen.
  • Mr. Rashid was subjected to sensory deprivation.
  • Mr. Rashid was placed in stress positions for extended periods of time.
  • Mr. Rashid was deprived of food and water.
  • Mr. Rashid was forcibly subjected to sexual acts by a female as he was cuffed and shackled to cell bars.
  • Mr. Rashid was beaten with wooden sticks.
  • Mr. Rashid was repeatedly shot in the head with a taser gun.
  • Mr. Rashid was subjected to electric shocks.
  • Mr. Rashid suffered from a broken arm, broken leg, inability to walk and loss of vision as a result of the beatings.
  • Mr. Rashid was dragged by a rope where part of it was tied tightly to his penis.
  • Mr. Rashid was hung from the ceiling by a rope tied around his chest.
  • Mr. Rashid was subjected to mock execution.
  • Mr. Rashid was subjected to having woman’s underwear placed over his head while handcuffed.
  • Mr. Rashid was subjected to being detained naked in the same cell as a female detainee.
  • Mr. Rashid was forced to watch as the conspirators raped a female prisoner.
  • Mr. Rashid was removed from his cell by stretcher and hidden from the International Committee of the Red Cross (“ICRC”), who visited Abu Ghraib shortly after Mr. Rashid had been brutally and repeatedly beaten.
  • Mr. Rashid was released on or about May 6, 2005 without ever being charged with any crime.
THE TORTURE OF SA’AD HAMZA HANTOOSH AL ZUBA’E
  • Mr. Al-Zuba’e was imprisoned at the Abu Ghraib hard site for approximately one year after being arrested on or about November 1, 2003.
  • Mr. Al-Zuba’e was repeatedly beaten.
  • Mr. Al-Zuba’e was stripped and kept naked.
  • Mr Al-Zuba’e was subjected to extremes of temperature and to having cold water poured over his naked body.
  • Mr. Al-Zuba’e was hooded and chained to the bars of his cell.
  • Mr. Al-Zuba’e was threatened with unleashed dogs.
  • Mr. Al-Zuba’e was beaten on his genitals with a stick.
  • Mr. Al-Zuba’e was imprisoned in a solitary cell in conditions of sensory deprivation for almost a full year.
  • Mr. Al-Zuba’e was released from Abu Ghraib on or about October 24, 2004, without ever being charged with a crime.
THE TORTURE OF SALAH HASAN NUSAIF JASIM AL-EJAILI
  • Mr. Al-Ejaili was imprisoned in the Abu Ghraib hard site after being arrested on or about November 3, 2003.
  • Mr. Al-Ejaili was subjected to repeated beatings.
  • Mr. Al-Ejaili was stripped and kept naked.
  • Mr. Al-Ejaili was imprisoned in a solitary cell in conditions of sensory deprivation.
  • Mr. Al-Ejaili was subjected to extremes of temperature, with both hot and cold water thrown on his naked body.
  • Mr. Al-Ejaili was placed in stress positions for extended periods of time.
  • Mr. Al-Ejaili was threatened with unleashed dogs.
  • Mr. Al-Ejaili was deprived of food.
  • Mr. Al-Ejaili was deprived of sleep.
  • Mr. Al-Ejaili was released from Abu Ghraib on or about February 1, 2004, without ever being charged with a crime.
THE TORTURE CONSPIRACY
  • All of these harms were inflicted on Plaintiffs by groups of persons conspiring together to torture detainees kept at the Abu Ghraib hard site.
  • Among the conspirators were CACI employees Big Steve, DJ, Timothy Dugan. Reasonable discovery likely will establish that other CACI employees also participated in the ongoing conspiracy to torture Plaintiffs and other prisoners.
  • Sworn and unsworn testimony from military co-conspirators describe CACI employees Steven Stefanowicz and Daniel Johnson as among those interrogators who most frequently directed that detainees be tortured.
  • Big Steve, DJ and other corporate employees instigated, directed, participated in, aided and abetted conduct towards detainees that clearly violated the Geneva Conventions, the Army Field Manual, and the laws of the United States.
  • Reasonable discovery will establish that Big Steve, DJ, and other CACI employees and their co-conspirators attempted to avoid detection by treating certain detainees as “ghost detainees.” That term was the conspiracy’s code word for those prisoners who were never recorded as having been detained.
  • The conspiracy intentionally failed to record persons as detained at Abu Ghraib in order to try to prevent the Red Cross from visiting with them and learning of the torture.
  • Reasonable discovery will establish that CACI employees repeatedly conspired with military personnel to give Plaintiffs the “special treatment,” which was code for torture of the type endured by Plaintiffs in the hard site.
  • CACI employees repeatedly conspired with military personnel to harm Plaintiffs in the various manners and methods referred to above.
  • The acts of CACI employees constitute acts of CACI. CACI conveyed its intent to join the conspiracy, and ratified its employees’ participation in the conspiracy, by making a series of verbal statements and by engaging in a series of criminal acts of torture alongside and in conjunction with several co-conspirators.
  • CACI’s motivation was wholly financial — it made millions of dollars as a result of keeping quiet about and participating in the conspiracy to torture and mistreat plaintiffs.

These are quite serious allegations against CACI, and anyone who has read this far, should take the time to read the full complaint against CACI at the bottom of this article.

Should the Scottish Government be engaging with this company to collect our personal and sensitive data? There is more and more demand for the Scottish Government to delay the census until 2012, so a new contract can be awarded, while this would cost the tax payer money, isn’t it better to have an ethical census conducted by a Scottish company?

Will you be completing the Scottish Census?

  • No (40%, 32 Votes)
  • Yes (35%, 28 Votes)
  • Unsure (26%, 21 Votes)

Total Voters: 81

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3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. Dr Alistair Duff

    March 26, 2011 at 10:03 am

    – your wonderful web-site came up when I googled ‘census protest Scotland CACI’. Please publish this plea, which I tried to get published this Sunday in the Herald, Mail, Scotland on Sunday, and Post. None could fit it in. Please keep up the good work.

    WHY I AM REFUSING TO FILL IN THE CENSUS

    March 27 is Census Day, but I and others (e.g. Scotland Against Criminalising Communities, Count Me Out) are refusing to fill in the form—on conscientious grounds.

    This is because the General Register Office for Scotland has used CACI (UK), part of American company CACI International, to produce the printed and online census forms.

    One hundred years ago, the Suffragettes refused to cooperate with the 1911 Census as part of their campaign for social justice. No Vote, No Count. They too were, if you like, ‘conscicensus’ objectors.

    CACI International was around during the sickening abuse, torture and assault of defenceless detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq in 2003-4. A Google Image search under ‘Abu Ghraib’ will show you in a few seconds the extent of the abuses, although the photographs are actually too harrowing to look at.

    Although CACI keeps denying any criminal involvement, it admits to having supplied half of the interrogators, and it worked and still works very closely with the US military and intelligence services. CACI is being sued by survivors from the prison but is claiming some kind of official immunity. The case is currently before the US Supreme Court.

    While population censuses are a very good thing, the Government has a duty to make sure the process is handled in a way that is acceptable to people. CACI in my view is anything but acceptable. This is why the Scottish Government was urged to totally cancel its contract with CACI and, if necessary, to postpone the census. It declined to do so.

    Scotland must pursue an ethical information policy.

    If you believe that your brothers, sons, fathers, deserve not to be treated as those photographs reveal, then neither do Iraqi brothers, sons, fathers. What happened at Abu Ghraib prison was an assault not just on Muslims, but on Christianity, on all religions, on human rights, on real soldiers and police officers, on common decency, and on the Enlightenment values that Scotland upholds. It was an attack on our common humanity and it cannot just be swept under the carpet.

    I feel so strongly about this issue that last Saturday lunchtime I went into Buchanan Street in Glasgow city centre with a stand. There was a fantastic, largely positive response, from all kinds of people, even a census worker! A bunch of youthful Celtic supporters stopped by and expressed support. One even said he’d pay £1 towards my fine. That really touched me. The only major dissenter was a former CACI employee, who begged to differ. No surprises there.

    I don’t expect you to get on a soap-box but I do urge you to write to your MSP to express your outrage that the census has been tainted in this revolting manner. Please note that if you too refuse to fill in the census, you may face a fine of £1000. But human dignity is priceless.

    (Dr) Alistair Duff
    University Lecturer and Writer on Information Policy
    07923 535395 infopolicydesk@aol.com

    Reply

    • Lochgelly

      March 26, 2011 at 11:06 am

      Thank you for your comment and I personally agree with your sentiments (but I cannot speak on behalf of our volunteers or users). Several of our volunteers have been contacting our MPs but sadly the response has been very little. One response received to surmise, was that the Census being handled by CACI was unfortunate, yet it is our duty to fill the census regardless. Another MP opted for the “pass the buck” strategy (your email has been forwarded to the relevant MP and they should contact you directly), and another reply stated “I’m informed that this is old news, just Google it…”

      I am surprised at the lack of responses from our elected representatives, and the dismissal of such a large issue of having a company connected to torture, process our personal data. Not only is there an ethical issue over this Census, but a data protection issue as well due to the US Patriot Act.

      I must make it clear that this website is not encouraging anyone to avoid filling the census, that is a personal decision that has to be made by the individual, we just feel that people should be made aware of the company that will be processing all the personal data, and all the ongoing allegations against them.

      We have published an earlier post, which gives a lot of links to further resources for anyone wishing to find out more about the issues surrounding the census, action groups, and information on what you can do – http://lochgelly.org.uk/?p=3731

      Reply

  2. Dr Alistair Duff

    March 26, 2011 at 3:25 pm

    Lochgelly Moderator:

    THANK YOU so much for putting my plea online. I am heartened that you personally agree with its sentiments, as do many others.

    (including my wife, Liz, who comes from just outside Balingeray [spelling probably all wrong], only a few miles, she tells me, from Lochgelly!)

    I did not get very far with my MSP either, but he did forward my concerns to Jim Mather, the government minister in charge, who sent back the evasive, misleading line about CACI International not having been convicted. That is hard to do when they have claimed immunity from prosecution!

    I wish quite simply to see CACI, as well as the former President and co., plus of course the US military leadership in Iraq at that time, face a Nuremberg-style Trial for the outrageous atrocity that was Abu Ghraib prison 2003-4. They are hoping that it will be forgotten, but this will never happen.

    Any web-posting is a little candle in the darkness.

    Thanks again, Alistair Duff

    Reply

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