New prison in Basra eases overcrowding

Although a new prison in the southern Iraqi city of Basra will mitigate overcrowding at the nearby al-Ma'aqal jail, much more penal capacity is needed as security incidents increase, according to local officials. More than 400 male prisoners have been transferred the new to al-Mina prison, which has running water, electrical and sewage facilities with a total capacity for 600 inmates, Fahmy Jabbar, director of al-Ma'aqal jail, told IRIN. Although he welcomed the opening of the new prison, he said there was still a need for more space with growing insecurity. "This prison is small and cannot handle all those arrested, especially since the number of serious crimes such as murder, theft, kidnapping and drug smuggling has risen," Jabbar said. Al-Ma'qal prison can hold 420 prisoners. "Al-Ma'aqal prison became overcrowded when Basra's central prison was destroyed and ransacked after the recent war," Jabbar said. Al-Mina prison was built four months ago by the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), now disbanding following the handover of sovereignty on 28 June. A spokesperson for the CPA's southern law and order team said that after the decision was taken to build the temporary prison to manage the increase, it soon became apparent that there was a need for it to stay open longer than originally planned. Very little money has been budgeted for prison buildings over the last 30 years in Iraq, according to the CPA. Conditions for prisoners and staff in the main jails had fallen below the standards that are now considered acceptable. Ra'd Khalaf Faris, head of the new al-Mina prison, said unemployment was adding to increased crime. "There's a lot of crime, especially with greater unemployment. Most of the criminals here are former prisoners from before the war who were set free when Saddam emptied the prisons throughout the country," he told IRIN. "Before, the crimes were more political for going against Saddam's government," Faris pointed out. "But now there is also organised crime, with organised gangs," he said, adding: "At our peak, we had 409 convicted men, 17 juveniles and four women with sentences ranging from between three and five years, to one of life imprisonment." Faris believed prison conditions were much better now. "During Saddam's regime, there were many beatings and torture. There was also bribery and administrative corruption. In many cases, people who could pay the high fines would go free without a conviction," he said. But now, he said, there was more control: "Now, a social worker has to visit the prison every day and ask the prisoners about their problems. The prison director also has to come daily and check to see if there are any complications caused by court delays." The head of the new prison proudly added that in the new jail there were air conditioners and space for physical exercise. Inmates are given three meals a day, whereas before money allocated for prison food was stolen, according to Faris. "Now the prisoners eat meat every day at dinner and have milk and fruit which were not provided before," he said. Prisoners are also allowed to have visitors on Tuesdays (for men) and Wednesdays (for women). The new prison is temporary, Faris noted, until a bigger facility is built in several years' time. There are two others prisons near Basra, both built by the CPA next to the two military bases at Umm Qasr and al-Shayba. They contain "security detainees" arrested by the Coalition forces and still remain under their control. According to the CPA spokesperson, al-Mina prison was only one of a number of projects undertaken to improve conditions for prisoners. "We are also planning to open a new facility in al-Amara and to build a major detention centre in Nasiriyah [both in southern Iraq]," he said. "These facilities will provide humane conditions and will also provide jobs for several hundred people as prison officers and support staff," he added. The US military was condemned recently for treatment of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, where human rights groups say many were treated inhumanely and not in accordance with the Geneva Conventions.