Orders for new civilian interrogators suspended

WASHINGTON -- Despite an internal Army report accusing civilian contractors of abusing prisoners in Iraq, the US Army indicated in writing last week that it is "satisfied with the services" of civilian interrogators from CACI International, the defense subcontractor that supplied dozens of interrogators to the Abu Ghraib prison, an Interior Department spokesman said.

But the department, which manages some interrogator contracts for the prison on behalf of the Army, has suspended new orders for civilian interrogators in Iraq supplied by CACI as its inspector general office determines whether the contract should have been issued in the first place, the spokesman, Frank Quimby, said.

The contract was issued under an umbrella contract to supply information technology, software, and personnel, not specifically interrogators.

"We've told the Army that we will continue to support them, but we will not use the existing Blanket Purchasing Agreement for any additional work," Quimby said, adding that the existing work will continue until the contract expires in August. A Blanket Purchasing Agreement is a long-standing arrangement between the government and a company to provide goods or services that meet federal standards and can be ordered as needed.

Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib were photographed being sexually humiliated and abused in a scandal that has shaken the military. Steven Stefanowicz, an interrogator employed by CACI, and John Israel, a linguist employed under a contract with Titan Corp., have been accused in a report written by Major General Antonio Taguba of direct involvement in the abuse.

The abuse scandal has prompted the Justice Department to launch an investigation into an unnamed civilian at Abu Ghraib.

But the Army, which is responsible for day-to-day monitoring of the civilian contractors at Abu Ghraib, has never reported a problem with the conduct of the contractors and has not asked for measures against CACI.

"The Department of the Interior received no indications, no reports from the contracting officers representative, no word by telephone call or e-mail or anything that anything was amiss," Quimby said.

In the summer of 2003, the Army requested interrogators from CACI International after realizing they were short-staffed in Iraq, Quimby said. An Interior Department contracting officer granted their request, ruling that it was permissible also to provide interrogators as support personnel familiar with the equipment.

The interrogators were employed by CACI to work at Abu Ghraib under two delivery orders issued late last summer. The first, issued for "interrogator support," had a ceiling of $19.9 million, of which $3.2 million has been paid. The second, for "human intelligence support," had a ceiling of $21.8 million, of which $153,000 has been paid.

The interrogators, many of them former US special forces or military, did their work at the prison under the supervision of the Army, and the Department of the Interior did only "the bookkeeping," Quimby said.

If they failed to do their jobs well under the terms of the contracts, an Army contact was supposed to report that to the Department of the Interior, who could then bring the concerns to CACI, withhold payments, or ask the company to rectify the situation.

But reports from Army officials about their performance were "sporadic and intermittent" because of the distance and poor communications, Quimby said.

The bureaucratic arrangement is now reviewed by the Department of the Interior's inspector general's office.

The arrangement also has legal consequences: the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, a law passed by Congress to allow the criminal prosecution of civilian contractors who commit crimes overseas, applies only to those who are employed under the Department of Defense. It is unclear whether the law would apply to CACI employees since the Department of the Interior administered the contract, Quimby said.

Farah Stockman can be reached at fstockman@globe.com.