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 Abu Ghraib cell block in 2005 | |
 Interactive map of Abu Ghraib prison | |
| Location | Abu Ghraib,Iraq |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 33°17′33″N44°03′54″E / 33.2925°N 44.0650°E /33.2925; 44.0650 |
| Status | Closed |
| Security class | Maximum-security prison |
| Opened | 1960s |
| Closed | 2014 |
| Former name | Baghdad Central Prison (after 2006) |
| Managed by | Iraqi government (post-2006) |
| City | Abu Ghraib |
| Country | Iraq |
Abu Ghraib prison (Arabic:سجن أبو غريب,romanized: Sijn Abū Ghurayb) was aprison complex inAbu Ghraib,Iraq, located 32 kilometers (20 mi) west ofBaghdad. It became internationally known as a place whereSaddam Hussein's government tortured and executed dissidents, and later as the site of theAbu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal where theUnited States military's torture of Iraqi detainees was revealed in a series of photographs published in worldwide news media.
Abu Ghraib gained international attention in 2003 following theU.S. invasion of Iraq, when thetorture and abuse of detainees committed by guards in part of the complex operated by Coalition forces was exposed.[1][2]
Under Saddam'sBa'ath government, it was known as Abu Ghraib Prison and had a reputation as a place oftorture and some of the worst cases of torture in the modern world. It was sometimes referred to in the Western media as "Saddam's Torture Central".[3] The prison was renamed after United States forces expelled the former Iraqi government, which had called it theBaghdad Central Confinement Facility (BCCF) or Baghdad Central Correctional Facility. In May of 2004, Camp Avalanche, a tent camp on the grounds of Abu Ghraib for security detainees, changed its name to Camp Redemption at the request of a governing council member.[4][5]
In 2006, the United States transferred complete control of Abu Ghraib to thefederal government of Iraq, and was reopened in 2009 asBaghdad Central Prison (Arabic: سجن بغداد المركزيSijn Baġdād al-Markizī). However, due to security concerns during theWar in Iraq, it closed in 2014. Since all of the 2,400 inmates were transferred to other high-security prisons, the prison complex is currently vacant, and Saddam-eramass graves have been uncovered at the site.
The prison was built byWestern contractors in the 1960s. The size of a small town, the prison was divided into five different compounds.[6] Under thegovernment of Saddam Hussein the facility was under the control of theDirectorate of General Security (Al-Amn al-Amm) and was the site of the torture and execution of thousands of political prisoners—up to 4,000 prisoners are thought to have been executed there in 1984 alone.[4] During the 1990s human rights organizationAmnesty International documented repeated events where as many as several hundred inmates were executed in a single episode. These included hundreds executed in November 1996, and several hundred members of theShi'a denomination killed in 1998 and 2001. Amnesty reported that it could not produce a complete picture of events at the prison due to government secrecy.[7] It was also the reputed location ofSaddam Hussein's alleged shredder.[8]
The section for political inmates of Abu Ghraib was divided into "open" and "closed" wings. The closed wing housed onlyShi'ites. They were not allowed visitors or any outside contact.
Coalition prisoners were held and tortured in Abu Ghraib during theGulf War, including theBritishSpecial Air Service patrolBravo Two Zero."
The prison held as many as 15,000 inmates in 2001.[6] In 2002,Saddam Hussein's government began an expansion project to add six new cellblocks to the prison.[9][better source needed] In October 2002, he gave amnesty to most prisoners in Iraq.[10] After the prisoners were released and the prison was left empty, it was vandalized and looted.[citation needed] Almost all of the documents relating to prisoners were piled and burnt inside of prison offices and cells, leading to extensive structural damage.
Known mass-graves related to Abu Ghraib include:
From 2003 until August 2006, Abu Ghraib prison was used for detention purposes by both theU.S.-led coalition forces and the Iraqi government. The Iraqi government has controlled the area of the facility known as "The Hard Site". The prison was used to house only convicted criminals. Suspected criminals, insurgents or those arrested and awaiting trial were held at other facilities, commonly known as "camps" in U.S. military parlance. The U.S. housed all its detainees at "Camp Redemption", which is divided into five security levels. This camp built in the summer of 2004 replaced the three-level setup of Camp Ganci, Camp Vigilant and Abu Ghraib's Tier 1. The remainder of the facility was occupied by the U.S. military.[citation needed]
Abu Ghraib served as both a FOB (Forward Operating Base) and a detention facility. When the U.S. military was using the Abu Ghraib prison as a detention facility, it housed approximately 7,490 prisoners there in March 2004.[12] Later population of detainees was much smaller, because Camp Redemption had a much smaller capacity than Camp Ganci had, and many detainees have been sent from Abu Ghraib toCamp Bucca for this reason. The U.S. military initially held all "persons of interest" in Camp Redemption. Some were suspected rebels, and some suspected criminals. Those convicted by trial in Iraqi court are transferred to the Iraqi-run Hard Site.[citation needed]
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In theAbu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal, reserve soldiers from the372nd Military Police Company were charged under theUniform Code of Military Justice with prisoner abuse, beginning with an Army Criminal Investigation Division investigation on January 14, 2004. In April 2004, U.S. television news-magazine60 Minutes reported on a story from the magazineThe New Yorker, which recounted torture and humiliation of Iraqi detainees by U.S. soldiers and contracted civilians. The story included photographs depicting the abuse of prisoners. The events created a substantial political scandal within the U.S. and other coalition countries.
On April 20, 2004, insurgents fired 40 mortar rounds into the prison, killing 24 detainees and injuring 92. Commentators thought the attack was either an attempt to incite a riot or retribution for detainees' cooperating with the United States.[13] In May 2004, the U.S.-led coalition embarked on a prisoner-release policy to reduce numbers to fewer than 2,000.[citation needed] The U.S. military released nearly 1,000 detainees at the prison during the week ending August 27, 2005, at the request of the Iraqi government.[14] In a May 24, 2004 address at theU.S. Army War College, PresidentGeorge W. Bush announced that the prison would be demolished. On June 14 Iraqi interim PresidentGhazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer said he opposed this decision[citation needed]; on June 21 U.S. military judge Col. James Pohl ruled the prison was a crime scene and could not be demolished until investigations and trials were completed.[15] In July 2004 Brigadier GeneralJanis Karpinski reported that some of the interrogators who spokeArabic wereIsraeli. TheIsraeli Foreign Ministry in a statement denied the allegations.[1]
On April 2, 2005,[16] the prison was attacked by more than 60 insurgents in the engagement known as theBattle of Abu Ghraib. In the two hours before being forced to retreat, the attackers suffered at least 50 casualties according to the U.S. military. Thirty-six persons at or in the prison, including U.S. military personnel, civilians and detainees, were injured in the attack. The attackers used small arms, rockets, and RPGs as weapons, and threw grenades over the walls. A suicideVBIED detonated just outside the front wall afterMarines fired on it. Officials believe that the car bomb was intended to breach the prison wall, enabling an assault and/or mass escape for detainees. Insurgents also attacked military forces nearby on highways en route to the prison for reinforcement and used ambushes along the roads.Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility.[17]
In March 2006, the U.S. military decided to transfer the 4,500 inmates to other prisons and transfer control of the Abu Ghraib prison to Iraqi authorities.[18] The prison was reported emptied of prisoners in August 2006.[19] The formal transfer was made on September 2, 2006. The formal transfer was conducted between Major GeneralJack Gardner, Commander of Task Force 134, and representatives of theIraqi Ministry of Justice and theIraqi Army.[20]
In February 2009, Iraq reopened Abu Ghraib under the new name of Baghdad Central Prison. It was designed to house 3,500 inmates. The government said it planned to increase the number up to 15,000 prisoners by the end of the year.[21]
A major prison break occurred on July 21, 2013 when at least 500 prisoners escaped. A senior member of the security and defense committee in parliament described the prisoners as mostly those who were "convicted senior members of al-Qaeda and had received death sentences."[22][23] A simultaneous attack occurred at another prison, inTaji, around 12 miles north of Baghdad, where 16 members of the Iraqi security forces and six militants were killed.[23] TheIslamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) issued a statement on a jihadist forum claiming that they were responsible for organising and executing the prison break, which had taken months of preparation,[22] and claimed that the attacks involved 12 car bombs, suicide bombers and a barrage of mortars and rockets.[22] They also claimed that they killed more than 120 government troops, though the Iraqi authorities claimed that 25 members of the security forces were killed, along with 21 prisoners and at least 10 militants.[22]
On April 15, 2014, theIraqi Justice Ministry announced that it had closed the prison permanently amid fear that it could be taken over by ISIL, which controlled much of Anbar Province at the time. All 2,400 inmates were moved to other high-security facilities in the country.[24][25]
Abu Ghraib prison[...]'s 4,500 inmates will be transferred to a new facility at the nearby Baghdad airport military base and other camps. [...] Abu Ghraib, where US soldiers abused Iraqi detainees, will be handed over to Iraqi authorities once the prisoner transfer to Camp Cropper and other US military prisons in the country is finished.
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