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Prisoner Abuse Continues in Iraqi Jail

By possum

For the first time since the American invasion of Iraq, foreign journalists were given access to an Iraqi prison.  Two BBC News reports (here and here) tell the tale of their reporter's findings in Rusafa Prison, Baghdad, Iraq.

Inside a small dimly lit room, the first sight was the iron-framed double bunks, packed together and hung with plastic bags, clothes and towels.

Then, staring back at us from the bunks, faces and faces, bearded, unshaven, balding, greying.

And then into a larger room and in almost every conceivable space there was a human being.

Some prisoners said they had been beaten and abused, although most at the time of arrest. What stood out, and what concerned them most was the conditions in which they are now being kept.

With thousands arrested in security operations over the past few years, the system has become progressively more overloaded.

There are people sleeping next to the toilets. Some stand so that others can sleep.

Rusafa Prison was established within the Rule of Law Zone (the Green Zone),

a heavily fortified compound to shelter judges and their families and secure the trials of some of the most dangerous suspects.

The capacity of the prison started at 2500, expanded by 5000 in 2007 and holds uncounted numbers today.  A private security company, EODT Technology Inc., based in Lenoir City, TN, supervises

patrols including former Ugandan Army guards and other security contractors from [the company].

Rusafa was a receiving point for prisoners from other facilities following reports of abuse including torture by Iraqi police and guards in secret facilities.

An Iraqi government search of a detention center in Baghdad operated by Interior Ministry special commandos found 13 prisoners who had suffered abuse serious enough to require medical treatment, U.S. and Iraqi officials said Sunday night.

In 2003 visits by Occupation Watch Center (OWC) found 13 women among the detainees at Rusafa.  The visitors found women of different ages confined.

OWC interviewed and documented a girl of 12 who was arrested with her two sisters (19, 21 ys) and her mother (over 50) in the airport prison in December.

Reasons for their detention varied.  The cited report from OWC includes interviews with a pair of women.  The stories are much like other detainee stories from different sources.  Restriction to conditions far less than humane along with mistreatment are common threads in the tales.

In 2007 video footage of Rusafa was released from the office of Sunni Arab Vice President Tareq Al-Hashemi.  At the time

The footage showed row upon row of outdoor tents made of wire mesh and covered with white plastic sheeting, each about the size of a basketball court and housing dozens of inmates.

The picture in recent days has not changed enough.

Because there is no proper exercise area, the inmates are rarely allowed out.

A few feet from one of the bunks, a fraying curtain covered the three toilets and one shower, which serve more than 100 people.

Most prisoners have neither faced a judge nor been charged at all.

But they often have to wait months just to be charged - let alone tried - because Iraq's creaking judicial system cannot cope with the caseload.

In this instance the wheels of justice not only grind exceeding slow, they seem not to be grinding at all.

The Bush administration continues to defend the invasion as the "right" action.  As late as yesterday, President Bush said in a speech to troops at Fort Campbell, KY,

the right decision then, and ... the right decision today

The same day two Americans died while on patrol.  The deaths bring the total of American lives lost to at least 4,206.  Optimism is difficult to find when the facts and the overall situation is examined.

American withdrawal is an ongoing issue for discussion in Iraq.  The Iraqi Parliament is scheduled to vote today

setting a Dec. 31, 2011, deadline for a full troop withdrawal

What may or may not happen after that time remains to be seen.  Will the Iraqis be able to manage the prisoners and their own security?  Will Americans remain in the country as a "security" force?  Many questions remain to be answered.

Peace.

Full post as published by Never In Our Names on November 26, 2008 (boomark / email).