This afternooon, former Abu Ghraib detainees sued US contractors in U.S. District Court in four states alleging torture. Here is the AP news story:

(HAGERSTOWN, Md.) Former detainees of the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq are suing U.S. contractors in four states for alleged torture.

The first complaint was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Seattle. Others are being filed in Detroit; Columbus, Ohio; and Greenbelt, Maryland.

The complaints allege that innocent people who were arrested and taken to the prison were subjected to forced nudity, electrical shocks, mock executions and other inhumane treatment by employees of defense contractors CACI (KAK-ee) International and L-3 Communications, formerly Titan Corporation.

The plaintiffs are represented by law firms in Philadelphia and Detroit and by the Center for Constitutional Rights.