Detainees overcrowded in Iraqi holding facilities

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Detainees overcrowded in Iraqi holding facilities
By James Warden, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, May 23, 2008

MOSUL, Iraq — The holding cells in the Al Kindi Iraq Army base appeared comfortable enough Tuesday while the detainees sat in the sunlight outside during their limited time in the fresh air. The floors were clean, and the room had little odor. Red-tinted Plexiglas on the windows kept the sun out.

But the situation began to change when the detention center lieutenant started the roll call for the detainees to go back inside. With each name the lieutenant called, the cells began to fill up. When he was finished, more than 100 detainees squeezed into a building the size of a small house.

Both Iraqi and coalition force leaders have declared Iraqi-led operations that began here earlier this month an overwhelming success. But that success has filled some Mosul detention centers beyond capacity.

As of Sunday, the Iraqi Army had detained 1,156 people in the operation, said Lt. Col. Robert Molinari, operations officer of the U.S. Army’s 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment.

The Al Kindi facility and another on the same base are holding many of those detainees. Both facilities were designed for 85 people, although they can temporarily hold twice that in extreme circumstances, said Capt. Christopher Allen, an adviser to the military police unit that runs the holding centers.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=55014