Friday, October 12, 2007
U.S. pledges to release 50 detainees a day
Security
(AP) -- Sixty prisoners, 10 of them youths, raised their hands Wednesday and swore to live a peaceful life. In return, U.S. authorities set them free. As a gesture of good will, the U.S. military has pledged to release more than 50 detainees a day - about 10 more than average - during Ramadan, which ends this week. It is traditional in Muslim countries to pardon some prisoners or shorten their terms during the holy month.
More than 25,000 Iraqis still in American custody haven't been so lucky. The security crackdown in Baghdad has raised the rolls in U.S.-run detention centers to 10,000 more detainees compared to this time last year, worsening already serious backlogs in the court system. Several men being released Wednesday interrupted the judge's speech to complain that they had been held for months, even years, without cause.
According to U.S. military figures, the average age of inmates is 35 to 37 for adults and 15 to 17 for youths. About 85 percent are Sunni, 14 percent are Shiite and 1 percent are neither. Most remain in custody for about a year.
Maj. Gen. Douglas M. Stone, deputy commander of detainee operations, said prisoners in U.S. custody include some 860 youths, meaning they are under 17 years old, and 280 foreigners, including Egyptians, Syrians, Iranians and Saudi Arabians. "Ultimately, we want all detainees who are no longer a peril to Iraqi and coalition forces to be released," Stone said, adding that about 60 people are detained each day across Iraq.
Most detainees are held in limbo where few are ever charged with a specific crime or given a chance before any court or tribunal to argue for their freedom. Of those who receive a proper trial, about 50 percent will be acquitted, the military says.
All prisoners get their cases evaluated within the first three months they are in custody. Then, each case is reviewed every six months. At those proceedings, the review board can release someone for hardship reasons, at the request of the Iraqi or U.S. government or when it determines the detainee is no longer a security threat, Bill said.
The so-called pledge program, which began in July, requires the detainees to take an oath to renounce violence, then they are fingerprinted and they face a fine if they are against accused of wrongdoing, Bill said. About 1,500 detainees have been released under the program. The judge told the new program is a test "we don't want to fail. This is going to prove you were not criminals, not terrorists."
More than 25,000 Iraqis still in American custody haven't been so lucky. The security crackdown in Baghdad has raised the rolls in U.S.-run detention centers to 10,000 more detainees compared to this time last year, worsening already serious backlogs in the court system. Several men being released Wednesday interrupted the judge's speech to complain that they had been held for months, even years, without cause.
According to U.S. military figures, the average age of inmates is 35 to 37 for adults and 15 to 17 for youths. About 85 percent are Sunni, 14 percent are Shiite and 1 percent are neither. Most remain in custody for about a year.
Maj. Gen. Douglas M. Stone, deputy commander of detainee operations, said prisoners in U.S. custody include some 860 youths, meaning they are under 17 years old, and 280 foreigners, including Egyptians, Syrians, Iranians and Saudi Arabians. "Ultimately, we want all detainees who are no longer a peril to Iraqi and coalition forces to be released," Stone said, adding that about 60 people are detained each day across Iraq.
Most detainees are held in limbo where few are ever charged with a specific crime or given a chance before any court or tribunal to argue for their freedom. Of those who receive a proper trial, about 50 percent will be acquitted, the military says.
All prisoners get their cases evaluated within the first three months they are in custody. Then, each case is reviewed every six months. At those proceedings, the review board can release someone for hardship reasons, at the request of the Iraqi or U.S. government or when it determines the detainee is no longer a security threat, Bill said.
The so-called pledge program, which began in July, requires the detainees to take an oath to renounce violence, then they are fingerprinted and they face a fine if they are against accused of wrongdoing, Bill said. About 1,500 detainees have been released under the program. The judge told the new program is a test "we don't want to fail. This is going to prove you were not criminals, not terrorists."
Labels: Maj. Gen. Douglas M. Stone, prisoners, Ramadan
Thursday, September 20, 2007
17 prominent Sadrists released from prison
Security, Politics
(Voices of Iraq) - Seventeen prominent members of al-Sadr movement, or those loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, will be released today from U.S. prisons in Iraq, Iraqi National Security Advisor Moqaffaw al-Rubaie said on Wednesday. "17 Sadrist detainees in coalition prisons will be set free in response togovernment efforts," al-Rubaie said during a news conference in the Iraqi capital Baghdad. Refusing to reveal the identity of the released prisoners, al-Rubaie said, "I would not describe them as leaders, but some of them are well-known in their regions…"
"This is the fourth batch of Sadrist detainees to be released from coalition forces' prisons," he explained. At the beginning of the conference, al-Rubaie announced an initiative by the Iraqi government that aims at enhancing the performance of security and legal institutions and release detainees from Iraqi prisons, and warned political factions against politicizing the move for "sectarian purposes."
Describing his government's initiative for "enforcing the rule of law" as an attempt "to do justice to the detainees in Iraqi prisons and address their issues in accordance with human rights principles," al-Rubaie said that the Iraqi government is determined to take all necessary measures to improve the performance of its security and legal apparatus.
Al-Rubaie read out the details of the initiative to reporters, which he said urges all concerned state-run institutions, including the ministries of defense, interior, justice, and labor, to provide accurate information about the number of Iraqi detainees and prisoners. The information will be submitted to the Supreme Legal Council, the leadership of the Public Prosecution, and the Ministry of Interior, al-Rubaie indicated.
Acknowledging serious problems in Iraqi prisons and detention centers, the security advisor warned political factions of politicizing the government's initiative. "The government asserts that it is not a political issue. We should put political divisions and factional and sectarian allegations aside and undermine endeavors to make use of the initiative for political or partisan purposes," al-Rubaie noted.
"This is the fourth batch of Sadrist detainees to be released from coalition forces' prisons," he explained. At the beginning of the conference, al-Rubaie announced an initiative by the Iraqi government that aims at enhancing the performance of security and legal institutions and release detainees from Iraqi prisons, and warned political factions against politicizing the move for "sectarian purposes."
Describing his government's initiative for "enforcing the rule of law" as an attempt "to do justice to the detainees in Iraqi prisons and address their issues in accordance with human rights principles," al-Rubaie said that the Iraqi government is determined to take all necessary measures to improve the performance of its security and legal apparatus.
Al-Rubaie read out the details of the initiative to reporters, which he said urges all concerned state-run institutions, including the ministries of defense, interior, justice, and labor, to provide accurate information about the number of Iraqi detainees and prisoners. The information will be submitted to the Supreme Legal Council, the leadership of the Public Prosecution, and the Ministry of Interior, al-Rubaie indicated.
Acknowledging serious problems in Iraqi prisons and detention centers, the security advisor warned political factions of politicizing the government's initiative. "The government asserts that it is not a political issue. We should put political divisions and factional and sectarian allegations aside and undermine endeavors to make use of the initiative for political or partisan purposes," al-Rubaie noted.
COMMENT: It would appear that deals have been cut in the wings. One of al-Sadr's conditions for not turning on the government and to consider rejoining it were that imprisoned Sadrists be released. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Moqaffaw al-Rubaie, prisoners, Sadrists
Thursday, May 31, 2007
British prisoners in Iraq could be used as bargaining tools
Security
(The Telegraph) - The five Britons captured in Iraq could be used as bargaining tools to secure the release of hundreds of Shia prisoners of war being held in Basra, it was disclosed last night. A senior official in the Mahdi army militia told The Daily Telegraph that the captives - four security guards and a computer expert - had been taken to put pressure on Tony Blair and George Bush.
"We are holding the British until they release our brothers from Camp Bucca in Basra," the cell commander said. "There are hundreds there under British security, some of them for years. When they are released the British will be allowed to go."Hundreds of US and Iraqi troops carried out raids yesterday in Sadr City - the Baghdad Shia suburb which is a Mahdi army stronghold - as more information about the kidnap became clear.
Immediately after the Britons were snatched from a finance ministry building in Baghdad on Tuesday, they were driven to a "hostage holding" centre near Sadr City's Mudafra Square, from where they were expected to be moved frequently to avoid detection.
Whitehall's emergency response unit, Cobra, met again yesterday and Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, said officials were working closely with the Iraqi authorities and doing everything they could to secure the captives' "swift and safe release". Mr Blair, on a visit to Sierra Leone, said: "We know the dangers and challenges there but we shouldn't let those that are prepared to use kidnapping and terror succeed."
The Foreign Office said there was "no firm indication yet" as to who was behind the abductions. The Mahdi army official said the order to seize the hostages was handed down by Hassan Salim, the militia's leading figure. He said the group was seeking to emulate what it saw as the successful outcome of the recent seizure of the 15 British sailors by its allies in the Iranian government. He added that the militia's demands had already been passed to Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al Maliki, a Shia Muslim close to the Mahdi army's political wing.
There has been no official confirmation of any demands being made. The official was directly contradicted by Sheikh Abdel al-Sattar al-Bahad, a senior aide to radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, to whom the Mahdi army is intensely loyal. He denied any involvement by the Mahdi army.
GardaWorld, the Canadian security contractor which employs the security guards, and BearingPoint, a US management consultancy which employs the computer expert, said they were continuing to hope for the men's safe release. Their identities have not yet been released.
The men were snatched by up to 40 men, some in police uniforms. Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq's foreign minister, said it had been known "for some time" that insurgents had infiltrated the police and security services. For the kidnappers to act with such confidence they "must have some connection", he added.
Whitehall's emergency response unit, Cobra, met again yesterday and Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, said officials were working closely with the Iraqi authorities and doing everything they could to secure the captives' "swift and safe release". Mr Blair, on a visit to Sierra Leone, said: "We know the dangers and challenges there but we shouldn't let those that are prepared to use kidnapping and terror succeed."
The Foreign Office said there was "no firm indication yet" as to who was behind the abductions. The Mahdi army official said the order to seize the hostages was handed down by Hassan Salim, the militia's leading figure. He said the group was seeking to emulate what it saw as the successful outcome of the recent seizure of the 15 British sailors by its allies in the Iranian government. He added that the militia's demands had already been passed to Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al Maliki, a Shia Muslim close to the Mahdi army's political wing.
There has been no official confirmation of any demands being made. The official was directly contradicted by Sheikh Abdel al-Sattar al-Bahad, a senior aide to radical Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, to whom the Mahdi army is intensely loyal. He denied any involvement by the Mahdi army.
GardaWorld, the Canadian security contractor which employs the security guards, and BearingPoint, a US management consultancy which employs the computer expert, said they were continuing to hope for the men's safe release. Their identities have not yet been released.
The men were snatched by up to 40 men, some in police uniforms. Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq's foreign minister, said it had been known "for some time" that insurgents had infiltrated the police and security services. For the kidnappers to act with such confidence they "must have some connection", he added.
Labels: Basra, Bearingpoint, Britons, Camp Bucca, Cobra, GardaWorld, Hassan Salim, Mahdi Army, prisoners, Sheikh Abdel al-Sattar al-Bahad
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Fate of five Iranians captured by U.S. in Arbil unknown
Security, Iran
(IPS) - As the Western media turns its attention to the fate of 15 Britons detained for allegedly trespassing into Iranian waters over the weekend, the status of five Iranian officials captured in a U.S. military raid on a liaison office in northern Iraq on Jan. 11 remains a mystery. Even though high-level Iraqi officials have publicly called for their release, for all practical purposes, the Iranians have disappeared into the U.S.-sanctioned "coalition detention" system that has been criticised as arbitrary and even illegal by many experts on international law.
Hours before President George W. Bush declared that they would "seek out and destroy the [Iranian] networks providing advanced weaponry and training to our enemies in Iraq," U.S. forces raided what has been described as a diplomatic liaison office in the northern city of Arbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, and detained six Iranians, infuriating Kurdish officials in the process.
The troops took office files and computers, ostensibly to find evidence regarding the alleged role of Iranian agents in anti-coalition attacks and sectarian violence in Iraq. One diplomat was released, but the other five men remain in U.S. custody and have not been formally charged with a crime. "They have disappeared. I don't know if they've gone into the enemy combatant system," said Gary Sick, an Iran expert at Columbia University who served in the White House under former President Jimmy Carter. "Nobody on the outside knows."
A spokesman for the Multinational Forces Iraq (MFI), Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, told IPS this week from his office in Baghdad, "They are still in 'coalition detention' in accordance with the U.N. Security Council Resolution 1546, 1637 and 1723."
"The Iranian group in Iraq was arrested by American forces, and we have been asking continuously for their release," Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told the Saudi daily Al-Riyadh this week, "but this is something different from the British sailors." A State Department official with knowledge of the situation said the Iranians were informed of the status of the diplomats after their detention through the Swiss government, which represents U.S. interests in Iran in the absence of any U.S. diplomatic presence. He referred all additional questions to MFI in Baghdad.
During this month's regional meeting in Baghdad in which U.S. officials also participated, the Iranian delegation requested the release of the five men, according to a State Department spokeswoman. In response, the Iraqi government asked the U.S.-led coalition to investigate the circumstances involving their detention, The legal fate of the captured Iranians turns in part on the issue of whether the two-storey building in Arbil that was the target of the Jan. 11 raid was, as Iran claims, an official consulate, in which case its premises and staff are entitled to diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention, or rather a liaison office, as U.S. officials contend, which would not be entitled to the same protections. Both Iran and the Kurdish regional government have agreed that consular activities -- such as the issuance of visas -- had been carried out by office staff since 1992. But the U.S. State Department insists that it was not an accredited consulate and that the five detainees are members of the Quds force, an elite unit of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) described by spokesman Sean McCormack as specialising in "training terrorists and those sorts of activities".
According to a knowledgeable source at the Iraqi Embassy here, the five were not accredited diplomats, although they had submitted documents for accreditation before the raid was carried out. Their applications were being processed at the time, said the source, who asked not to be identified. The source also said that the Kurdish regional government had treated them as if they were indeed accredited. The raid on the Arbil liaison office was the third in a series of episodes that targeted Iranian officials operating in Iraq.
Labels: Arbil, Hoshyar Zibari, Iranians, Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, prisoners, U.S.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Insurgents raid prison, free prisoners
Security, Insurgency
(Gulf Daily News) - Hundreds of insurgents stormed a prison in the town of Al-Miqdadiyah, northeast of Baghdad, on March 21 and freed 33 prisoners, the "Gulf Daily News" reported on March 22. Allawi Farhan, the mayor of Al-Miqdadiyah, said there were approximately 200 insurgents using an array of weapons, and he described the operation as well-planned and highly sophisticated. The insurgents detonated a car bomb to seal off the eastern road to the prison and a roadside bomb to block the southern road, impeding the arrival of reinforcements. When U.S. and Iraqi reinforcements finally arrived, they were ambushed by the insurgents, who then set fire to a police station, courthouse, and 20 police vehicles before escaping. Iraqi officials said 18 policemen and 10 insurgents were killed.
Labels: insurgents, Muqdadiya, prisoners
