13.12.2006 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Conflicting opinions exist within the government on how female prisoners are treated; according to the Minister of Women's Affairs and local NGOs, female prisoners are held in appalling conditions, often without charge, and are sometimes raped and tortured ("Appalling conditions of women prisoners disputed") [ID 18196]

Document(s): Open document

25.01.2005 - Source: Human Rights Watch

Report focused on torture and ill treatment of members of political and armed groups; arbitrary arrests and torture of criminal suspects and torture of children held in adult facilities ("The New Iraq? Torture and ill-treatment of detainees in Iraqi custody") [#28477],  [ID 10151]

Document(s): Open document

07.12.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Sulaymaniyah: Newspapers in Kurdish-prison ("original document") [ID 10152]

Prisoners at Ma'asker Salam, the largest jail in the northern Iraqi governorate of Sulaymaniyah, are allowed to publish their own newspaper. Men were jailed for theft, smuggling and spying for the Baathists.

Document(s): original document

15.11.2004 - Source: BBC News

Fallujah: at least 1,052 insurgents were taken prisoner during the US-led offensive; Buhriz: Iraqi policeman killed by insurgents as they took control of a police station ("US moves to corner Falluja rebels") [#26990],  [ID 10153]

Document(s): Open document

04.10.2004 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Baghdad: Secret Jail housed in ministry of interior ("original document") [ID 10154]

"(Al-Bayyna) - Al-Bayyna has received top confidential information from a high ranking security source, on condition of anonymity, about two floors of the ministry of interior being used as a jail to detain innocent people illegally arrested by the police. The ministry, in an attempt to keep the issue secret, has refused entry of general inspectors into the building for an inspection of that alleged jail.
(Al-Bayyna is a weekly paper issued by the Hezbollah movement in Iraq.)"

Document(s): original document

28.09.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

UN Human Rights office: assessment of prisoners' rights ("original document") [ID 10156]

"Q: What is your assessment of prisoners' rights?

A: The Ministry of Human Rights is consistently dedicating attention to the plight of prisoners. So has the Ministry of Justice. They have told us to prioritise the training of prison staff. The problem is that the prison system, as is the case in most countries, is the most difficult to train, because it has been neglected, or because prisoners do not have votes in
many counties and so politicians do not give them the priority they need. The result is that these prisons turn out more criminals than they take in.

With Iraq, the plight of the prisoner during the regime of Saddam Hussein, especially those who belonged to groups that the regime did not sympathise with, had their right to freedom constantly jeopardised. There was a lot of arbitrary detention. Conditions of detentions were extremely serious and have been reflected in reports by the UN Special Rapporteur on the
Commission of Human Rights since the early 1990s. There are several layers that need to be addressed. First of all, that these people do not continue to be in that same situation and there is some degree of security for them. Secondly, to reverse the culture which had developed, according to which the right of the individual is not applied.

The current situation does not reveal a marked improvement from that which prevailed in the past. But changing a culture is a huge and very difficult task, which you cannot do unless you create conditions for Iraqis to do this themselves."

Document(s): original document

19.07.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Baghdad: Prison tour highlights some positive changes ("original document") [ID 10157]

"Iraqi guards are in charge of common criminals and Coalition forces are guarding "security detainees" (those deemed to be a threat to Coalition forces)."

Document(s): original document

15.07.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Baghdad: Rights groups unable to visit child detainees ("original document") [ID 10158]

Document(s): original document

13.07.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Baghdad: Human rights officials visit security detainees in Abu Ghraib prison ("original document") [ID 10159]

Document(s): original document

06.07.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Basra: New prison in Basra eases overcrowding ("original document") [ID 10160]

"Although a new prison in the southern Iraqi city of Basra will mitigate overcrowding at the nearby al-Ma'aqal jail, much more penal capacity is needed as security incidents increase, according to local officials.

More than 400 male prisoners have been transferred the new to al-Mina prison, which has running water, electrical and sewage facilities with a total capacity for 600 inmates, Fahmy Jabbar, director of al-Ma'aqal jail, told IRIN.

Although he welcomed the opening of the new prison, he said there was still a need for more space with growing insecurity.

"This prison is small and cannot handle all those arrested, especially since the number of serious crimes such as murder, theft, kidnapping and drug smuggling has risen," Jabbar said.

Al-Ma'qal prison can hold 420 prisoners. "Al-Ma'aqal prison became overcrowded when Basra's central prison was destroyed and ransacked after the recent war," Jabbar said.

Al-Mina prison was built four months ago by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), now disbanding following the handover of sovereignty on 28 June.

A spokesperson for the CPA's southern law and order team said that after the decision was taken to build the temporary prison to manage the increase, it soon became apparent that there was a need for it to stay open longer than originally planned.

Very little money has been budgeted for prison buildings over the last 30 years in Iraq, according to the CPA. Conditions for prisoners and staff in the main jails had fallen below the standards that are now considered acceptable.

Ra'd Khalaf Faris, head of the new al-Mina prison, said unemployment was adding to increased crime. "There's a lot of crime, especially with greater unemployment. Most of the criminals here are former prisoners from before the war who were set free when Saddam emptied the prisons throughout the country," he told IRIN.

"Before, the crimes were more political for going against Saddam's government," Faris pointed out. "But now there is also organised crime, with organised gangs," he said, adding: "At our peak, we had 409 convicted men, 17 juveniles and four women with sentences ranging from between three and five years, to one of life imprisonment."

Faris believed prison conditions were much better now. "During Saddam's regime, there were many beatings and torture. There was also bribery and administrative corruption. In many cases, people who could pay the high fines would go free without a conviction," he said.

But now, he said, there was more control: "Now, a social worker has to visit the prison every day and ask the prisoners about their problems. The prison director also has to come daily and check to see if there are any complications caused by court delays."

The head of the new prison proudly added that in the new jail there were air conditioners and space for physical exercise. Inmates are given three meals a day, whereas before money allocated for prison food was stolen, according to Faris. "Now the prisoners eat meat every day at dinner and have milk and fruit which were not provided before," he said.

Prisoners are also allowed to have visitors on Tuesdays (for men) and Wednesdays (for women). The new prison is temporary, Faris noted, until a bigger facility is built in several years' time.

There are two others prisons near Basra, both built by the CPA next to the two military bases at Umm Qasr and al-Shayba. They contain "security detainees" arrested by the Coalition forces and still remain under their control.

According to the CPA spokesperson, al-Mina prison was only one of a number of projects undertaken to improve conditions for prisoners. "We are also planning to open a new facility in al-Amara and to build a major detention centre in Nasiriyah [both in southern Iraq]," he said.

"These facilities will provide humane conditions and will also provide jobs for several hundred people as prison officers and support staff," he added.

The US military was condemned recently for treatment of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, where human rights groups say many were treated inhumanely and not in accordance with the Geneva Conventions."

Document(s): original document

15.06.2004 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Focus on future of detainees from Abu Ghraib prison ("original document") [ID 10161]

Document(s): original document

09.06.2004 - Source: UN Human Rights Council (formerly UN Commission on Human Rights)

Report focused on political, military, security and human rights situation ( treatment during arrest, detention) and the situation of children and women ("Report of the High comissioner for human rights and fallow-up to the world conference on human rights E/CN.4/2005/ 4") [#25826],  [ID 10162]

Document(s): Open document

19.05.2004 - Source: BBC News

Red Cross still concerned about treatment of detainees at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib jail and asks for further changes to be made ("ICRC still concerned on Iraq jail") [#22399],  [ID 10163]

Document(s): Open document

01.04.2004 - Source: UK Home Office

Prisons and prison conditions ("original document") [ID 10164]

Document(s): original document

23.07.2003 - Source: Amnesty International

Report highlighting continuing concerns in Baghdad (applicable international law, domestic law, use of force, arrest and detention, access to judges and lawyers) ("Memorandum on concerns relating to law and order") [#14588],  [ID 10165]

"Similar conditions were witnessed at the Division Core Collection Centre in Mosul, which an Amnesty International delegate was able to visit on 2 July. In meetings with senior US military personnel, Amnesty International had been told that the detention facility usually only held two or three people. However, on the date of the visit, there were 27 detainees. The detainees were held in the open air, in two separate areas enclosed by barbed wire. Each area contained a small roof
(approximately 2m by 4m) which provided some shelter from the sun. The detainees had not been able to wash or change their clothes since their detention. They had each been provided with one blanket. They slept on the ground, which was of fine dust and stones. When Amnesty International asked military personnel if they were able to wash, the delegate was told that they could wash using the water provided. However, the detainees said that the water provided was only sufficient for drinking. There was one toilet facility inside each enclosure which appeared to be a form of plastic tank open to view. The detainees had not been allowed any family visits, although the ICRC had been able to visit the facility recently.

A former detainee interviewed by Amnesty International described conditions in tents pitched in Abu Ghraib Prison. Detainees were not given blankets to lie on, water was limited and the toilet was an open trench in full view of all. During the whole of his detention he was unable to change his clothes, shave or cut his hair. He was apparently arrested after slapping his son and a nephew to stop them fighting. He was released by order of an examining magistrate on 30 June after 44 days without access to judicial review or to his family or lawyer. An Amnesty International delegate saw him, unkempt and with his hands and feet in cuffs, at al-Bayaa’ Court in Baghdad on 28 June."

Document(s): Open document

23.04.2003 - Source: BBC News

Report on the situation in Abu Ghreib prison ("Jail gives up gruesome secrets") [#12195],  [ID 10169]

Document(s): Open document