Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07BAGHDAD1584
2007-05-14 16:02:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Baghdad
Cable title:  

MINDEF AGREES TO DETENTION REFORM AS POPULATION

Tags:  MOPS MCAP PHUM PGOV PTER MARR PINS PNAT IZ 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0029
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGB #1584/01 1341602
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 141602Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1152
INFO RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1153
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 001584 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

CONFIDENTIAL/REL MNF-I

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/14/2017
TAGS: MOPS MCAP PHUM PGOV PTER MARR PINS PNAT IZ
SUBJECT: MINDEF AGREES TO DETENTION REFORM AS POPULATION
SURGES

REF: A) BAGHDAD 1517 B) BAGHDAD 1378

Classified By: A/POL-MIL COUNSELOR ALEJANDRO BAEZ FOR REASONS 1.4 (A),
(B),AND (D)

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 001584

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

CONFIDENTIAL/REL MNF-I

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/14/2017
TAGS: MOPS MCAP PHUM PGOV PTER MARR PINS PNAT IZ
SUBJECT: MINDEF AGREES TO DETENTION REFORM AS POPULATION
SURGES

REF: A) BAGHDAD 1517 B) BAGHDAD 1378

Classified By: A/POL-MIL COUNSELOR ALEJANDRO BAEZ FOR REASONS 1.4 (A),
(B),AND (D)


1. (C/REL MNF-I) SUMMARY: At the urging of MNSTC-I
Commanding General Lieutenant General Dempsey, Minister of
Defense Abd al-Qadir agreed on May 6 to address the abuse and
substandard detention conditions discovered recently by an
MOD-led inspection team visit to the Baghdad military
intelligence prison at Old Muthanna Air base. An
MOD-Coalition team has developed a way forward and follow up
action has begun at the facility. LTG Dempsey will offer
significant reform incentives to add momentum to this effort.
We will assist the team in following up these corrections
with efforts to institute similar reforms at other MOD
facilities. We recognize, however, that complete
rehabilitation of the MOD detention system is dependent on
inter-ministerial commitment. END SUMMARY

Inspection Background
--------------


2. (C/REL MNF-I) On April 30, Emboffs accompanied Ministry
of Defense and Coalition Forces officials on an inspection of
an Iraqi military intelligence (M2) prison in Baghdad at the
Old Muthanna air base. The team investigated allegations in
an April 28 Coalition document that the M2 prison was:
overcrowded and substandard; held civilian, as well as
military detainees; housed several detainees that showed
signs of physical abuse; and lacked proper judicial
oversight. The MoD-led investigative team concluded that the
allegations in the April 28 document were accurate. Steps are
now underway to remedy the identified problems.

Surge in Detainee Intake
--------------


3. (C/REL MNF-I) The M2 prison,s authorized maximum capacity

is 150. On the day of the inspection there were 324
detainees crammed into the four-room facility. The rooms were
poorly ventilated and the population showed indications of
possible lice and scabby infestation. The MOD-inspection
team attributed the rise in numbers to the increased tempo of
operations under the revised Baghdad Security Plan and
detainees transferred to Muthanna under orders from the PM,s
Office of Commander in Chief. Overcrowded conditions were
first documented by the inspection team in early March,
approximately a month into the BSP.

Two Juveniles
--------------


4. (C/REL MNF-I) While touring the facility, Emboffs located
two juveniles, one thirteen and the other sixteen years old.
Both had been in the facility for over one month. The M2
detainee operations director and intelligence officer, Major
Haider Abbas said he did not have the authority to release or
transfer the boys to a Ministry of Labor facility )- the
legal holding authority for juveniles. He said that the
responsibility for ordering a transfer rested with the
investigative judge. (Note: We confirmed that even though
the investigative judge had seen the two boys, he had not
ordered their transfer as required by law.)

Civilian and Military Prisoners Held at M2
--------------


5. (C/REL MNF-I) Major Haider said Iraqi Security Forces had
repeatedly asked his facility to accept civilian detainees,
despite the fact that the prison is meant to hold only
convicted military personnel. Haider said that managers of
many ISF detention facilities send detainees to M2 because
they believe it has space that their even more overcrowded
facilities do not. &High-threat8 detainees are also sent
to M2 for intelligence review. The MOD-led inspection team
urged Haider to refuse to accept these civilian detainees.
Haider said he would need a written directive from the
Minister of Defense to implement such a policy.

Detainee Abuse
--------------


6. (C/REL MNF-I) The inspection team identified and
documented four cases of alleged physical abuse. One man,
with a broken collar bone and bruises on his left arm, said
that interrogators injured him by pulling his arms behind him

and hanging him in stress positions from the ceiling. Another
man with thin scars around his torso said that he had been
whipped with cables. A third man who had purple bruises on
his left shoulder-blade said prison guards beat him on April
29 with iron cables and forced him to sign a confession while
blindfolded. Similarly, one of the juveniles reported that
he was forced to sign a blank sheet of paper after having
been beaten. (Comment: Emboff separately interviewed each
alleged torture victim. Their reports were consistent with
accounts of physical abuse we have heard from detainees at
other MoD detention facilities detainees (ref B). End
Comment)


7. (C/REL MNF-I) One alleged abuse victim passed Emboff a
three-page handwritten letter detailing his detention
experience from point of capture to the present. The letter
detailed specific complaints of abuse, identifying Lieutenant
Colonel Emad and Colonel Abdel Husain Swaidan as the most
abusive of the facility,s staff. When Emboff showed the
letter to two of the MOD inspection team members, they
dismissed it as unimportant and returned it. (NOTE: Both
Hussein and Emad were dismissed by the M2 from their prison
positions prior to this inspection; MOD officials reported
Emad left the military and Hussein was transferred to an
&administrative office8 within the MoD.)

Not Much of a Detainee Intake Process
--------------


8. (C/REL MNF-I) The M2,s seemingly inadequate intake
processing system has resulted in a high number of poorly
documented detainees. Haider said that he accepts only
detainees who are accompanied by a valid arrest warrant,
which his staff files. Haider said he ensures that each
detainee receives a physical by a staff medical assistant
within 24 hours of arriving at the facility. Haider admitted
that his staff takes no further steps during the
in-processing phase. He confirmed that his staff does not
fingerprint or take photos of the detainees, identify their
addresses, allow them to make phone calls to next of kin
(until the investigation is complete),or record the
rationale for why they should be detained at M2.

Where,s the Judge, Where are the Investigative Files
-------------- --------------


9. (C/REL MNF-I) Haider said the investigative judge
assigned to the facility comes approximately twice a week,
spending approximately four hours each time reviewing files
and adjudicating cases. The judge had been at the facility on
April 29, during which time he reviewed seven cases and
released six detainees who had been held for only two days.
When asked how these six had become such a priority in a
facility where many detainees had been waiting more than six
months for their case to be heard by a judge, Haider said the
Prime Minister had directed their release. Haider further
explained that the judge had his own system for prioritizing
cases, adding that the judge,s system was not linked to the
time a detainee had spent in the facility.


10. (C/REL MNF-I) Haider said we could not see any of the
detainee investigative files because they were not held on
site. Because the M2 prison is an intelligence facility, he
reported, the files are considered &sensitive8 and by
policy must be held at the M2 headquarters across town. As
a result, each time the judge shows up he must provide a list
of the cases he would like to review and one of the
facility,s officers must go across town to retrieve them.


Way Ahead at M2 Facility
--------------


11. (C/REL MNF-I) During a May 6 meeting, LTG Dempsey
discussed the preliminary findings of the M2,s inspection
with Minister of Defense Abd al-Qadir, pressing him to
immediately work with the Coalition to address the problems
identified. LTG Dempsey advised Qadir that if action was not
taken or was delayed, he could end up publicly accused of
being implicated in serious human rights abuses. Qadir
agreed to Dempsey,s recommendation. On the other hand, Qadir
also questioned the legitimacy of some of the investigative
team,s findings, noting that the pictures of the supposed
cable whippings were probably just "shirt marks" and that
many of these detainees, including the juveniles, were
probably involved in planting IEDs and killing innocent
Iraqis. (Comment: Qadir's acknowledgement of the need for

reform seemed unenthusiastic. His subsequent comments
suggested that perhaps he believed a bit of abuse and
substandard conditions were acceptable, or at the least
unavoidable. End Comment.)



12. (C/REL MNF-I) In cooperation with MNSTC-I, MOD officials
have developed a number of strategies to remedy the problems
found at the M2 facility. Implementation of these concepts
is underway.

--The two juveniles are to be transferred immediately, as
directed by MinDef Qadir on May 6. (NOTE: The thirteen year
old was transferred on May 11. MNSTC-I reported the sixteen
year old remains because he has no valid identity papers on
file with the prison to prove his age.)

--M2 staff has opened an investigation into the four cases of
physical abuse identified at the facility. Based on the
letter passed by one of the abused detainees, M2 staff will
open an investigation on the two individuals identified as
prime human rights violators at the facility. We recommend a
joint investigation with the MoD,s Inspector General, noting
the potential conflict of interest for MoD personnel assigned
to the investigation.

--The M2 staff will implement a clear detainee in-taking
process. The M2 has placed a computer in the prison and the
staff will be trained to enter identifying data into it for
each detainee that enters the facility. Furthermore, the
Coalition has also contributed one biometric kit to the
facility and has begun training of staff on biometrics.
Photographs will now be taken of each detainee upon arrival
and any signs of abuse will be documented. Within two hours
of arrival, each detainee will be allowed a supervised
telephone call to notify a family member or friend of their
circumstances.

--The M2 director, Major General Abdul Aziz Kubaisi is
developing a policy for M2 detention. The M2 facility at old
Muthanna airbase will no longer be allowed to accept civilian
detainees, nor women or juveniles under any circumstance.
All facilities must maintain copies of investigative files
for each held individual.

--LTG Dempsey will offer a significant new cost-sharing
incentive to MoD to expand, improve, and professionalize the
Old Muthanna detention facility, as well as to generally
professionalize all MoD detention security forces through
reorganization and training. He will specifically recommend
that MoD transfer responsibility for military detention
facilities and forces from the M2 (Intelligence) to the Iraqi
Military Police, and will offer incentives to assist with
such a transition.

--The Minister of Defense will meet with the Higher Juridical
Counsel to discuss the need for more oversight and regulation
of investigative judges assigned to detention facilities.
CROCKER