A federal jury on Tuesday awarded a total of $42 million to three Iraqi men who endured continuous torture at Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison two decades ago –– holding a US government contractor accountable for engaging in and directing contributing to the abuse.

In a landmark verdict cheered by human rights defenders around the world, a federal jury in Virginia found a U.S. military contractor liable for the torture of three prisoners at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison during the invasion and occupation of Iraq in the early 2000s.