Abu Ghraib prison reopens

Iraq has reopened the infamous Abu Ghraib prison – with promises that prisoners would be treated according to international standards in a bid to overcome the facility’s reputation as a centre for abuse.

Judicial authorities showed off the renovated compound during a tour that featured a sewing room, exercise equipment, computers, a library, outdoor recreational areas, greenhouses and even a barber shop.

Abdul-Mutalb Jassim, general-director of the Iraqi Rehabilitation Department, said about 400 prisoners have been transferred to the site. A total of some 3,000 inmates are expected in the near future with an eventual total capacity of 12,000 to 15,000, according to the Justice Ministry.

Officials have defended their decision to reopen the prison – now called the Baghdad Central Prison – saying they need the space as the US military has begun handing over about 15,000 detainees in its custody to the Iraqis under a new security agreement that took effect on January 1.

The compound of grey, stone-walled buildings and watchtowers west of Baghdad became the centre of a global scandal in 2004 after photos were released showing US soldiers sexually humiliating inmates.

Outrage over the pictures fuelled support for the insurgency and was one of the biggest setbacks to the US military effort to win the peace in Iraq.

The 280-acre prison, which was already notorious as a torture centre under Saddam Hussein, has been closed since 2006.

“All kinds of human rights violations took place in this prison. So, we and the government felt that it was our duty to rehabilitate the prison... and we did this in accordance to the international standards,” said Mohammed al-Zeidi, the assistant director of the Iraqi Rehabilitation Department.

“We turned it to something like a resort not a prison. The first step was to change the name,” he said.

American authorities implemented a series of reforms following the Abu Ghraib scandal, although they still faced complaints about prolonged detentions without charges.

More recently, human rights groups have raised concern about the Iraqis’ ability to care for inmates, with the United Nations warning in a recent report about overcrowding and “grave human rights violations” of detainees already in Iraqi custody.

Iraqi officials said that would not be the case at Abu Ghraib.

“This prison has had a bad reputation,” Jassim said. “Now it is a place where law and justice are respected and prisoners are rehabilitated.”

Last year, the government said it would turn a section of the prison into a museum documenting Saddam’s crimes but not the abuses committed by US guards.