Adopt-a-Detainee: Overview

Since July 2003, Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) Iraq has been following the cases of numerous Iraqis detained by US-led forces. Often these detentions have involved acts of violence, including the following:

• house raids using excessive force against unarmed civilians
• theft and destruction of personal property
• lack of legal representation or clear judicial process for detainees
• mistreatment, including torture of detainees during interrogation and in prison camps
• withholding of information about detainees' whereabouts and well-being from the detainees' families and/or Iraqi and international human rights organizations

These actions are violations of Iraqis' human rights according to international law and fuel violent responses which endanger the lives of the soldiers who occupy Iraq.

CPT Iraq is working in partnership with Iraqi community leaders and human rights organizations to publicize the stories of Iraqi detainees and their families. In addition, CPT Iraq workers meet with officials to ask for changes in these detention policies. CPT Iraq also accompanies families of detainees in search of information about, and justice for, their loved ones.

CPT Iraq asks its supporters to participate directly in this campaign from their home communities. We know that communication by people of faith to national leadership via delegations, faxes and letters makes a significant difference.  

CPT asks its constituents to do the following:

• Join the Adopt-a-Detainee Campaign  with special activities for people from the US and other countries.   Contact the coordinator for more information.
• Print and share detainee testimonies with your church congregation, campus ministry groups, and other gatherings of concerned people. Post copies in high-traffic areas such as hallway bulletin boards at your church.
• Take copies of detainee testimonies and related campaign materials to the editors of your local newspaper, radio and television stations and ask them to cover this issue.
• Call and/or fax your elected officials asking for an end to excessive force in detaining Iraqis accused of crimes and a guarantee of timely due process for Iraqi detainees as provided for under international law.
• As individuals or a small group, follow up your fax/call with a visit to your elected officials while they are in their home districts during this holiday recess. Bring copies of the testimonies to share with them. (Especially important!)
• Form a small group to consider which creative, non-violent public witness activities could best alert your elected officials and local community to the need for change in U.S. policy on detainees.
• Pray for the safety and health of Iraqi detainees, their families, soldiers and officials who carry out the detentions of Iraqis.

Trends, Developments and Findings

Since this campaign began in February 2004, the detention system in Iraq has undergone several changes. The biggest changes occurred in June 2004:

• The U.S.-led Coalition’s military arm, Combined Joint Task Force – 7 (commonly known as the Coalition Forces, or CF) restructured to become the Multinational Force – Iraq and the Multinational Corps – Iraq (the two together are commonly referred to as the Multinational Force, or MNF) beginning May 15, 2004
• The Coalition Provisional Authority and the Iraqi Governing Council both dissolved on June 28, 2004, relinquishing authority to the Interim Government of Iraq
• The U.S. State Department established a new Embassy in Iraq on June 30, 2004

The MNF is commanded by U.S. military officials and composed primarily of U.S. troops. The new Iraqi Ministry of Justice now governs all aspects of the Iraqi penal system, but with supervision by the MNF in detention and prison facilities. With this shift, the MNF turned over control of the cell blocks inside the Abu Ghraib prison compound.  As before the transfer of sovereignty, the MNF still manages security at Abu Ghraib and several temporary detention camps inside.  However, the MNF has now centralized its own detention system at Camp Bucca in the south of Iraq, where they presently hold approximately 5,000 detainees.

Since July 2003, CPT Iraq has been following the cases of numerous Iraqis detained by the Coalition Forces and the MNF. Team members compiled a report in January 2004 based on 72 cases of persons captured and detained in Iraq by Coalition Forces between May and December 2003. In July 2004, they issued a situation report on Iraqi detainees as a supplement to the initial report.  In September 2004, they compiled a second full report, updating the information from the original 72 cases and adding information from one new case opened since December 2003.   Click here for the CPT reports.

The initial January 2004 report identified several problematic trends in the former CF’s detention process based on the 72 specific cases:

• House raids using excessive force, often against unarmed civilians
• Mistreatment and deliberate abuse of detainees in U.S. military facilities
• Inadequate living conditions in detention facilities
• Detentions without explanation, formal charges, access to legal counsel, or an appropriate judicial process
• Theft and destruction of personal property
• Ineffective processes for retrieving confiscated property
• Lack of communication of information about detainees to their families

The situation report indicated that all of the above trends continued with the MNF into July, with only one significant improvement. The Coalition Forces did improve their communication of information about detainees notably since January 2004, and the MNF has continued along this line. For example, they began publishing a list of detainees in Arabic on the Internet in March, and they established several General Information Centers around Baghdad where Iraqis could go with inquiries about persons detained or imprisoned in Iraq. However, many families of detainees still complained to team members that it was too difficult to get word about their detained relatives from the MNF.

The second report reiterates that all of the above trends continue as of the end of August. CPT’s primary concerns about the MNF’s detention system in Iraq at present can be summarized as follows:

• Released detainees continue to report abuses in a variety of CF/MNF facilities, even after the CF/MNF took action to correct problems in Abu Ghraib in April 2004.
• U.S. military commanders still have final authority on the fate of all security detainees.
• The MNF and IGI are in standing violation of several regulations under international humanitarian law for about 5,000 detainees in Iraq.
• Families of detainees still find it very difficult to visit, or even to get information regarding their detained relatives.
• Elderly and infirm detainees suffer deteriorating health conditions while in MNF custody.
• Detainees continue to report that they did not receive receipts for confiscated items and thus have had great difficulty in retrieving their property or making compensation claims after the CF/MNF released them.
• The MNF limits information on detainees such that some families cannot confirm the detention of relatives they have reason to believe were captured. The MNF may be hiding certain detainees deliberately.
• Families suffer economic and emotional hardships from prolonged detention, especially when the MNF gives no reason for it. This feeds resentment against the MNF.

Click here to read more about Iraqi detainees, their families and international law.

CPT emphasizes that the above trends indicate continual and severe violations of international humanitarian law.   House raids are especially deplorable, as they invariably create more innocent victims than is justifiable by any standard. Moreover, CPTers in Iraq have witnessed how all of the patterns of abusive behavior by U.S. and other soldiers fuel support among ordinary Iraqis for insurgency attacks against MNF troops.

Military leaders in Iraq state that they must take drastic measures to ensure the security of Iraqis, as well as their own security, because the current situation in Iraq is so unstable. CPT contends that while trying to improve Iraqis’ and their own immediate security, the resentment MNF troops fuel in fact jeopardizes the long-term security of Iraqi citizens, as well as their own long-term security, and both the immediate and long-term security of U.S. citizens and citizens of nations allied to the U.S.

Take Action!

People of faith can take action to invite leaders to behave justly for the benefit of all. In an effort to aid other people of faith to take such action, CPT has organized the Adopt-a-Detainee Campaign to advocate for justice for Iraqi detainees. We encourage you to advocate for justice for individual detainees by writing letters to authority figures related to the detention system in Iraq.

CPTers in Iraq originally put together profiles for nineteen Iraqi detainees whose families pled to CPT for help. The specific concerns for each detainee and their families are outlined in the profiles.

As of July 2004, five of the nineteen detainees have been released, while fourteen are either confirmed detained or in an unknown location. Click here to read the latest updates and reports on each detainee.

Results to Date

Although we cannot know for sure whether the MNF has released these five detainees because of letter-writers, we do know that the actions of those involved in the campaign have produced positive results.

In April 2004, the Senior Advisor on Detainee Affairs for the Coalition Provisional Authority told CPTers in Iraq that he received letters from CPT supporters writing on behalf of several individual detainees. Consequently, he checked up on these individuals and reported his findings to CPTers, who then relayed the information to the detainees’ families.

CPTers in Iraq also shared letters with detainees’ families, all of whom greatly appreciated the letter-writers’ efforts. The uncle of Yasser Hameed Ahmed, one detainee in the campaign, wrote, “We do not know how to express our feeling for you because you care for our suffering under the occupation… [All] of our gratitude and respect for you. God be with you to help your work for the good.”

One church received a letter from a US Public Affairs officer in Iraq that illustrates the difficulties CPTers, internationals and Iraqis face in getting answers about detainees.

Please continue to write letters on behalf of the fourteen remaining detainees! Be sure to send a copy of any letter you send to the Adopt-a-Detainee Campaign coordinator Rick Polhamus at jrp@cpt.org. CPTers in Iraq and families of detainees will be greatly encouraged to learn of your actions.

Material Aid Policy

While recognizing the urgent needs of many of the people with whom we work, we remind supporters that CPT's mandate is violence reduction. In order to do that work effectively, CPT cannot offer financial, medical or material assistance to detainee families as part of this campaign. During this time of crisis, we encourage groups to channel such support for Iraqis through other organizations.