THE defence contractor which reached a settlement with alleged victims of torture in the notorious prison of Abu Ghraib is now again at the cutting edge of the ‘war on terror’ abuses, providing key components for weaponised drones, said legal charity Reprieve yesterday.
It has recently come to light that a settlement of around $5m was paid to 71 people held at Abu Ghraib and other US prisons by Engility Corporation on behalf of L-3 Services which, until last year, was a subsidiary of L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc.
L-3 Communications is one of the main subcontractors involved with production of the US’ lethal Predator drone.
Predators are used by the CIA in a secret bombing campaign which has killed hundreds of civilians, and terrorises entire populations in Pakistan and Yemen.
Drone strikes have escalated under the Obama administration and 2013 has already seen six strikes in the two countries.
In September, Reprieve’s Director Clive Stafford Smith wrote to L-3, highlighting the illegality of the US’s use of weaponised drones in non-war zones, L-3’s complicity in this programme and its possible liability for the deaths and trauma caused.
L-3 is headquartered in New York and has four associated UK divisions, including a London operations centre.
Catherine Gilfedder, Reprieve’s CSR Advocate, said: ‘Far from being disgraced by allegations of horrific torture and abuse, L-3 continues to provide support to the drone programme, which terrorises hundreds of thousands of civilians around the world.