NU Online News Service, May 19, 12:08 p.m. EDT

A defense firm that lost a court bid to have St. Paul defend it against suits by former Iraqi prisoners alleging its employees tortured them would not comment yesterday on whether it would challenge that decision.

"We are still considering our legal options, therefore we don't have a comment at this point in time," said an e-mailed statement from CACI International spokesperson Jody Brown.

The ruling against the company came on a 2-1 decision by a three-judge panel.

CACI had sought coverage under a $2 million commercial general liability protection policy issued by St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company.

Last Thursday the U.S. 4^th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., found that the events in question at Abu Ghraib and other prisons in Iraq did not involve events that happened in the coverage territory.

A spokesperson for St. Paul would not comment on the case, maintaining the firm does not discuss policyholder information.

Two suits against Arlington, Va.-based CACI have been filed by Iraqi detainees and their survivors. The first suit accused CACI of involvement in a "torture conspiracy" to profit by extracting intelligence through torture including stripping them, threatening them with dogs, kicking them and forcing them to watch torture of family members.

The second suit made similar allegations, according to the decision.

Language in the St. Paul policy related to damages for covered personal injury limited the "coverage territory" to the United States, its territories and possessions, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Events in the rest of the world would be covered if they resulted from activities of a person whose home is in the coverage territory but who is away from there for a "short time" on company business.

CACI had argued the suits accused it of negligent hiring and supervision, which it said occurred in the United States, but the court found the suit "does not allege that the negligent supervision took place outside Iraq."

The court said for purposes of insurance it is where the injury occurs, not some "precipitating cause," that determines coverage.

It also rejected the CACI argument that the alleged prisoner mistreatment was performed by persons away for a "short time," finding that this "covers a brief, discrete event such as a several-day business trip abroad" and applies only to a single employee. The suit, it was noted, alleged a "long-term approach to interrogation."

The decision written by Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III drew a dissent from Judge Dennis W. Shedd, who found that an insurer has a duty to defend when there is "any possibility" a judgment will be covered under the policy.

He wrote that the allegations in the suits "do not foreclose the possibility that one or more CACI employees traveled to Iraq for a short time and caused covered injuries" and the short-time exception should apply.

Special Reports /

CACI Mulls Appeal For St. Paul Iraq Torture Case Coverage

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