Dramatic surge in U.S.-held prisoners in Iraq

 

Azzaman, June 27, 2005

 

There has been a dramatic hike in the number of Iraqi prisoners held by U.S. authorities in the country as the U.S. and Iraqi troops press ahead with operations against insurgents.

 

U.S. troops control the now infamous Abu Ghraib prison where most of the detainees are held and have once again postponed handing the facility over to Iraqi authorities.

 

Abu Ghraib is the jail where U.S. guards committed horrific abuses against Iraqi inmates and the violations have raised concern and indignation across the world.

 

Currently there are 10,783 prisoners in U.S. custody, up from 5,400 a few months ago.

 

The figure does not cover thousands more held by Iraqi authorities on suspicion of links to insurgent groups.

 

Most of those in Iraqi or U.S. custody still await a fair trial.

 

Both U.S. and Iraqi authorities are busy building new jail facilities to accommodate the surge in number of inmates to alleviated conditions at current overcrowded prisons.

 

The U.S. alone would like to increase capacity of prisons under its jurisdiction to 16,000.

 

Insurgent groups are also said to have their own detention centers where they keep the people they kidnap and those they hold for collaborating with U.S. and Iraqi authorities.

 

Some of these are either killed or released mostly after paying hefty ransom.

 

“We are between the hammer and the anvil, locked between the occupation and fundamentalists,” said Sheikh Hazem al-Araji, a high-ranking Shiite clergy.

 

If you are not caught by the Americans, there is the possibility of you becoming the next victim of insurgents, he said.

 

Araji himself spent nine months in a U.S.-held prison.

 

“We are in a vicious circle and the only exit is by scheduling a withdrawal for the foreign troops,” he added.