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US begins building Iraq correctional training center ahead of detainee transfer

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

[JURIST] The US-led Multi-National Force-Iraq (MNF) announced Monday that it had begun construction of a training facility for Iraqi corrections officers (ICO) in anticipation of transferring control of MNF detention facilities to Iraqi forces. Military police commander Lt. Col. Bradley Graul said that the creation of the Tactical Operations Center at Camp Cropper "will not only enhance the continued care and custody of detainees, but it will begin the transition of United States transfer to the while increasing their detention capabilities." More than 11,000 prisoners currently held in three MNF camps at Camp Taji, Camp Cropper, and Camp Bucca are scheduled to be transferred by August 2010 in accordance with the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). Central Baghdad Prison, formerly Abu Ghraib, was transferred back to Iraqi control in 2006 following the release of photographs depicting prisoner abuse by US military personnel. In November, Iraqi human rights activists said they were concerned about the treatment of detainees due to be transferred from US military custody to Iraqi authorities under the then-proposed SOFA. In August, the US military said that it has released more than 10,000 Iraqi detainees over the past year. In November 2007, US military forces in Iraq released 500 detainees at a joint ceremony with the Iraqi government at Camp Victory outside Baghdad.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on July 06, 2009 (boomark / email).