Legal Commentary

Thousands To Be Freed From Camp Bucca

By Jeralyn

Since the onset of the war in Iraq, the U.S. has detained over 100,000 people in Iraq. Very few have been charged with crimes.

Now, as the U.S. prepares to hand over the detention system to the Iraqis, thousands are expected to be freed this summer. Why?

[B]ecause there is little or no evidence against them.

[More...]

As part of an agreement between the two countries that took effect Jan. 1, Iraqi authorities have begun reviewing the cases of the detainees to decide whether to free them or press charges. About 13,300 remain behind barbed wire in U.S. custody in Iraq.

But Iraqi judges have issued detention orders to prosecute only 129 of the 2,120 cases they have finished reviewing so far this year — or about 6 percent, according to U.S. military data. As of Thursday, 1,991 detainees had been freed since Jan. 1.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on March 19, 2009 (boomark / email).