A US jury has awarded $42m (£33m) to three former detainees of Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison, holding a Virginia-based defence contractor responsible for contributing to their abuse two decades ago.

The verdict against CACI Premier Technology comes from the second trial of this case. The first ended in a mistrial in spring after a jury was unable to reach a decision.

The court heard directly from plaintiffs Suhail Al Shimari, Salah Al-Ejaili and Asa’ad Al-Zubae, who first filed the case in 2008.

They described beatings, sexual abuse, forced nudity and other cruel treatment at the hands of their jailers.

CACI supplied interrogators to the US Army at the prison west of Baghdad. In court, lawyers for the contractor argued that its employees were not directly involved in the abuse, which was carried out by military police.

But the jury sided with the plaintiffs and their claims that CACI was still liable, because the interrogators they supplied had instructed the military police to “soften up” the detainees.

CACI said in a statement that it had been made a scapegoat.

“To be clear: no CACI employee has ever been charged – criminally, civilly, or administratively – in this matter,” the company said.

The landmark verdict reportedly marks the first time a civilian contractor has been held legally responsible for the degrading treatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib.

The jury awarded plaintiffs Mr al-Shimari, a middle school headmaster, Mr al-Ejaili, a journalist, and Mr al-Zubae, a fruit vendor, $3m each in compensatory damages and $11m each in punitive damages.

“I’ve waited a long time for this day,” Mr al-Ejaili said in a statement after the verdict. “This victory is a shining light for everyone who has been oppressed and a strong warning to any company or contractor practising different forms of torture and abuse.”

Hundreds of men were arrested and held at Abu Ghraib by US forces after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

In 2004, disturbing images from the prison were leaked, including one showing a soldier pulling a naked inmate on a dog leash. The photographs incited widespread condemnation.

Eleven US soldiers were convicted of breaking military laws, but many received sentences of a just a few years. The last remaining soldier in prison convicted in the case was released in August 2011.