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US transfers control of Camp Taji prison to Iraq authorities

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] The US military on Monday transferred Camp Taji, one of the two remaining detention facilities under US control, to Iraqi authorities. Located approximately 25 kilometers north of Baghdad, Taji currently houses about 2,900 detainees held on arrest warrants, detention orders, or as convicted prisoners. About 100 detainees will remain in US custody. During the ceremony transferring Camp Taji, Brigadier General David Quantock, United States Forces-Iraq deputy commanding general for detainee operations, praised the Iraqi staff currently running the facility. Quantock added that Camp Cropper, the only remaining US-run detention facility, would be transferred to Iraqi control on July 15. The US began to scale back its Iraq detention facilities in September when Camp Bucca in Southern Iraq was closed pursuant to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). According to the agreement, all US troops must be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2011, and the US must release all prisoners or transfer them to the control of Iraqi authorities. The Iraqi government must have arrest warrants or detention orders to accept transferred prisoners into Iraqi facilities, otherwise risking release. In anticipation of prisoner releases and transfers, the US opened a new facility in February to train Iraqi corrections officers. A fourth US-run prison, Abu Ghraib, was transferred back to Iraqi control in 2006 following the release of photographs depicting prisoner abuse by US military personnel.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on March 15, 2010 (boomark / email).