CACI says its investigation finds no wrongdoing

CACI International Inc. said today that the internal investigation of its interrogators in Iraq has not yet found any "credible or tangible" evidence to indicate they were involved in the abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison or elsewhere in the country.

The Arlington, Va., defense contractor has been conducting its own investigation since it was implicated in the Iraqi prisoner-abuse scandal by an Army report made public earlier this year.

Since the disclosure of that report, the Army and other federal agencies have conducted their own probes of the company's alleged involvement in the abuse as well as CACI's provision of interrogators in Iraq under an information technology contract.

Under the contract, issued by the Interior Department in August 2003, CACI has provided 36 interrogators for the U.S. military in Iraq with no more than 10 at Abu Ghraib at any one time, the company said.

An Army inspector general's report issued in July did not produce any conclusive evidence that CACI employees at Abu Ghraib mistreated prisoners, although it found 11 of the company's 31 interrogators there at the time of its investigation had not received formal training in military interrogation, but had similar training in previous occupations. The report also concluded that CACI met the Army's statement of work, which did not require military interrogation training as a job prerequisite.

"CACI has received, and continues to receive, good reports from its U.S. military customers in Iraq about its support services," said Jody Brown, the company's vice president of public relations, in a prepared statement.

CACI conducted its own investigation of the abuse allegations "despite the constraints of the ongoing conflict and the limitation of access to information and witnesses" under the Army and Defense Department, the company said. CACI is continuing its review and has formally requested that the U.S. Army provide any information it has about the misconduct of CACI personnel In Iraq, the company said.

CACI also said that Steven Stefanowicz, one of its former interrogators in Iraq who was implicated in the Army report made public earlier this year, remains employed by the company at a U.S. location.

Last week, the Army awarded CACI a $15.3 million contract extension for interrogation and professional support services to the U.S. Army in Iraq. The extension runs through Nov. 30.