300 Iraqi prisoners freed from torture jail

More than 300 Iraqi detainees, some weeping and waving to friends, were released from the infamous Abu Ghraib prison today, a day after US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made a surprise visit and insisted the Pentagon did not try to cover up abuses there.

One bus carrying 40 prisoners left the jail and drove to an American military base in west Baghdad, where tribal leaders awaited some of them.

One by one, prisoners got out, kneeled, and prayed beside the bus. Others left on the same bus, bound for other Baghdad neighbourhoods.

Hundreds of relatives of those detained had stood outside the prison since early morning, waiting for their release. US Marines blocked off both lanes of a road as the first bus left the prison compound. At least five other buses left the prison.

After spending over nine months in the prison, Hussein Sami did not complain of physical abuse. However, he said he and other prisoners were under psychological pressure, with guards repeatedly shouting and insulting inmates.

Sami arrived at his house in the Dora neighbourhood of Baghdad, and family members slaughtered a sheep at the gates in celebration. He claimed he was never told why he was arrested. His father and brother were left behind at Abu Ghraib, Sami said.

Another former prisoner, Mohammed al-Musawi, complained that he was humiliated by guards at least once during his 11-month incarceration.

“They forced me to take all my clothes off and female prison guards were whispering and laughing at me, “ Musawi said while sitting in a room with tribal leaders. He was arrested in Baghdad’s Hurriyah neighbourhood, for allegedly participating in an attack against a US tank.

Musawi spoke of other detainees who left interrogation rooms with bruises, apparently from beatings.

“After taking some of the detainees into the interrogation rooms, they would come out with bruises and swellings in their bodies,” he said.

Both men spoke inside the US military’s Camp Thunder in west Baghdad after a short bus journey from Abu Ghraib.

The coalition periodically releases prisoners from the notorious Saddam-era jail, where abuses of prisoners by American soldiers have erupted into a major scandal and damaged the credibility of the US-led coalition governing Iraq.

Images of abuse were taken by American military guards at the prison near Baghdad. Courts-martial have been ordered for three military police guards.

All prisoners under US control will have been moved out of the old prison building by the end of the month, and a new complex of outdoor camps will be built to provide better living conditions.