BAGHDAD: Iraq will reopen the notorious Abu Ghraib prison next month, but it's getting a facelift and a new name, a senior justice official said. The heavily fortified compound has come to symbolize American abuse of prisoners captured in Iraq since photos were released showing U.S. soldiers sexually humiliating inmates at the facility, causing a worldwide outcry. The renovated facility will be called Baghdad Central Prison because the name Abu Ghraib has left a "bitter feeling inside Iraqis' hearts," the deputy justice minister, Busho Ibrahim, said. Abu Ghraib, which was a torture center under Saddam Hussein, has been closed since 2006. The prison will house 3,500 inmates when it reopens in mid-February and will have a capacity for about 15,000 by the end of this year, Ibrahim said in an interview. The announcement comes as the U.S. military has begun handing over about 15,000 detainees in its custody to the Iraqis under a new security agreement, prompting concern about Iraq's beleaguered judicial system. The United Nations warned in a recent human rights report about overcrowding and "grave human rights violations" of detainees in Iraqi custody.
BAGHDAD: Iraq will reopen the notorious Abu Ghraib prison next month, but it's getting a facelift and a new name, a senior justice official said.
The heavily fortified compound has come to symbolize American abuse of prisoners captured in Iraq since photos were released showing U.S. soldiers sexually humiliating inmates at the facility, causing a worldwide outcry.
The renovated facility will be called Baghdad Central Prison because the name Abu Ghraib has left a "bitter feeling inside Iraqis' hearts," the deputy justice minister, Busho Ibrahim, said.
Abu Ghraib, which was a torture center under Saddam Hussein, has been closed since 2006. The prison will house 3,500 inmates when it reopens in mid-February and will have a capacity for about 15,000 by the end of this year, Ibrahim said in an interview.
The announcement comes as the U.S. military has begun handing over about 15,000 detainees in its custody to the Iraqis under a new security agreement, prompting concern about Iraq's beleaguered judicial system. The United Nations warned in a recent human rights report about overcrowding and "grave human rights violations" of detainees in Iraqi custody.
The Saddam Hussein Memorial Fun Palace ? keep to the Fen Causeway
But then I thought that wasn't nearly cynical enough, considering.
