BLEAK BUT IMPROVING - PRISON CONDITIONS IN SOUTHERN IRAQ

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BASRAH 000077

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 5/16/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR KJUS IZ
SUBJECT: BLEAK BUT IMPROVING - PRISON CONDITIONS IN SOUTHERN IRAQ

BASRAH 00000077 001.2 OF 002


CLASSIFIED BY: Ken Gross, Regional Coordinator, REO Basrah,
Department of State.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (U) Summary: Prison conditions in southern Iraq are
comparable to those of a poor third world country -- bleak and
dismal. However, real progress has been made, and despite
political pressure the Regional Director of Prisons for southern
Iraq is committed to improving prison and related human rights
conditions in the four correction facilities that he oversees.
The two main issues of concern are the housing women and
juveniles in the same facilities as the adult male population
and the deteriorating facilities. Iraqis working in corrections
continue to cooperate with Coalition Forces, seeking assistance
and guidance despite recent disengagement by some provincial
governments. End summary.

PRISONS IN THE SOUTH
--------------


2. (U) There are currently five Ministry of Justice (MoJ)
detention facilities in the four southern provinces of Basrah,
Maysan, Muthanna and Dhi Qar and one MNF-I theater-level
detention facility called Camp Bucca. One new prison is being
constructed with U.S. Government funds, and the MoJ has proposed
building a new prison but awaits final approval and funding.


3. (SBU) Basrah province is home to the Al Maqel and Al Minah
prisons and Camp Bucca. Al Maqel prison houses approximately
300 inmates, and Al Minah prison has approximately 400 inmates;
the detention facility at Camp Bucca holds approximately 9,000
detainees. Maysan province's prison, Al Amarah, houses
approximately 500 inmates. Nasiriyah prison in Dhi Qar province
has approximately 450 inmates, and Samawah prison in Muthanna
province is home to approximately 250 inmates.


4. (SBU) The U.S. Government is funding construction of a new
prison in Nasiriyah, which when completed in 2007, will hold 800
inmates, almost doubling the capacity of the current prison.
There is a proposal to build a new prison in Basrah that would
house all of the inmates currently in the Al Maqel and Al Minah
prisons. The proposed prison would hold approximately 1,200
inmates (more than the combined total of the two existing
prisons). The site has been identified and existing buildings
on the site need renovation and must be converted to a detention
facility, but that should not be a major construction project.
The delay in moving ahead with approval involves transferring
the title of the land to the MoJ. Almost every contact poloff
spoke with lamented the holdup in opening the new prison and
expressed how urgently it is needed.

IN CHARGE AND NOT BOWING TO PRESSURE
-------------- --------------


5. (U) The Regional Director of Prisons, Mazzin Afal Maniam
Jabbar, oversees all of the prisons under MoJ control in the
four southern provinces. Leadership within the prisons consists
of a warden, deputy warden and an administrative manager. Very
little autonomy is given to the leadership within the prisons,
and the MoJ in Baghdad determines the selection of candidates
for these positions after reviewing recommendations from the
Regional Director. The Regional Director works very closely
with the Director General of Iraqi Corrections Facilities based
in Baghdad and with the MoJ.


6. (C) In a meeting with REO poloff, Mazzin said that Basrah is
the most difficult of the four provinces in terms of oversight
because of political pressure and, as he put it, people trying
to interfere in his work. The main culprit is the Governor of
Basrah, Mohammed Moassibh al-Wa'eli. According to Mazzin, the
Governor tried to pressure Mazzin to allow him to recruit prison
guards for the prison at Camp Bucca and has repeatedly tried to
have prisoners released without proper documentation. Mazzin
said that he knows of the Governor's past and present criminal
activities and said to poloff, "Can you imagine what he would do
if he were in control of 1,500 prison guards at Bucca?" Mazzin
stressed to poloff that as the Regional Director of the four
provinces, the Governor had no authority over him and he takes
his orders directly from Baghdad.


7. (C) Comment: Mazzin is genuine in his efforts to improve
the conditions in the prisons in his domain. Backed by a solid
reputation and support from the MoJ and the religious community
in Basrah, he maintains the ability and authority to do his job
without political influence. Although his life is directly
threatened on a regular basis and his affiliation with MNF-I is
constantly used against him by his critics, Mazzin vows to
continue to do his job to the best of his ability and improve
the corrections facilities for both the prisoners and the staff

BASRAH 00000077 002.2 OF 002


that work in them. He said that with the help of the United
States and the United Kingdom, the prison system in the south
has made significant improvements. Though he is often called a
traitor and an agent of the Coalition, he understands the
assistance and expertise the Coalition can provide to him to
improve the conditions in prisons. End comment.

CURRENT CHALLENGES
--------------


8. (SBU) Poloff discussed the state of prisons and related
human rights issues with various local Iraqi contacts, including
Mazzin, Mahdi al-Timimi, Director General of Human Rights (DGHR)
for southern Iraq, Imam Hasneen al-Safi, member of the Basrah
Provincial Council (BPC) and focal point for human rights for
the Basrah Provincial Reconstruction and Development Committee,
and Bassam al-Timimi, chief of a human rights NGO. Poloff also
received input from the REO corrections advisor.


9. (SBU) The main concern expressed by all contacts was the
lack of separate facilities for women and juveniles. Women and
juveniles are held in the same facilities with the adult male
population in all of the MoJ controlled facilities. This
co-habitation is difficult on many levels, especially in a
culture where women should not be seen by men they do not know.
Due to this cultural taboo and lack of female guards, women are
rarely giving any outdoor time and remain cooped up in their
cells. Juveniles are held with the adult population and do not
have access to books or recreational activities. BPC member
Hasneen al-Safi said that if the youth do not have enough to do
while incarcerated they will only learn more criminal ways and
return to a life of crime upon release. Al-Safi said that the
BPC requested that the Basrah Sports Institute donate sports
equipment for the prisons but never received a response.


10. (SBU) The condition of the prisons themselves is also a
major concern. Many of the prisons are extremely old and are in
a state of disrepair and decay. The largest prison in Basrah,
Al Maqel prison, is a very old structure that is leaking and
falling apart, has no hot water during the winter and only
recently had a shaded area constructed for prisoners outdoors.
No maintenance is being done on the building. Al Amarah prison
in Maysan province is also deteriorating, and the inability to
do upkeep is affecting security at the prison. Recently, a
prisoner escaped by cutting a hole in a fence. When the REO
corrections advisor inquired a month later to see if the hole
had been fixed the answer was negative. An insufficient number
of beds contributes to the problem, and many inmates are forced
to sleep on the floor in crowded cells.


11. (SBU) Overall, the consensus among REO contacts is that the
prisoner rights situation within in the prisons is gradually
improving. Mahdi al-Timimi told poloff that the situation in
the prisons now is very different than it was a year ago and
that progress has been made in the way guards treat and deal
with inmates. There also is adequate monitoring of the prisons
by the Regional Director and the DGHR, both of whom submit
weekly reports to Baghdad. The prison authorities are working
to correct the deficiencies.


12. (C) Comment: A functioning corrections system with proper
safeguards for the rights of prisoners is integral to achieving
the rule of law. The correctional institutions started this
process from scratch. After over three decades of a brutal
regime in which prisons were used as torture chambers and were
filled with anyone the government was unhappy with, the
corrections system has made significant progress in three years.
Although some of the local governments in the south have at
times disengaged from or boycotted Coalition forces, the one
sector that seems to ignore politics is corrections. The Iraqis
who work in this area understand the importance of the
assistance and knowledge that Coalition members provide and are
willing to work together to achieve their goals of good
corrections facilities with well-trained staff. However,
working closely with Coalition forces may have caused too much
dependence. The REO corrections advisor commented to poloff
that after three years Coalition Forces are still making
decisions and plans for the Iraqis, and the time has come for
the Iraqis to take ownership. Decision making and planning are
skills still needed when the prison at Camp Bucca is turned over
to the Iraqis (estimated to happen in 2007),and they will have
to go from overseeing 2,000 inmates in the region to close to
9,000. End comment.
GROSS