Military to Expand Prisons Across Iraq
27 June 2005, Fran Griffiths, AP
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The U.S. military said Monday it plans to expand its prisons across Iraq to hold as many as 16,000 detainees, as the relentless insurgency shows no sign of letup one year after the transfer of sovereignty to Iraqi authorities.
The prison population at three military complexes throughout the country - Abu Ghraib, Camp Bucca and Camp Cropper - has nearly doubled from 5,435 in June 2004 to 10,002 now, said Lt. Col. Guy Rudisill, a spokesman for detainee operations in Iraq. Some 400 non-Iraqis are among the inmates, according to the military.
"We are past the normal capacity for both Abu Ghraib and Camp Bucca. We are at surge capacity," Rudisill said. "We are not at normal capacity for Camp Cropper."
The burgeoning prison population has forced the U.S. military to begin renovations on existing facilities, and work has also begun on restoring an old Iraqi military barracks near Sulaimaniyah, 160 miles northeast of Baghdad.
The facility, to be called Fort Suse, is expected to be completed by Sept. 30 and will have room for 2,000 new detainees, Rudisill said.
All renovations should be done by February and are expected to make room for 16,000 detainees in Iraq, he said.
Two weeks ago, the military completed a new 400-detainee compound at Abu Ghraib. A new compound of the same size should be finished by the end of July at Abu Ghraib, Rudisill said.
Unemployment remained high at 27-40 percent in May compared with 30-40 percent in June 2004. About $5 billion of U.S. money still remains from the $18.4 billion reconstruction package approved in 2003, according to the House Appropriations foreign operations subcommittee.
source:
TalkLeft
All Spin Zone
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