CPTnet
January 19, 2004
IRAQ: A Mother at Abu Ghraib

  by Le Anne Clausen

  I visited Abu Ghraib prison camp for the first time in late November. Her
son, Aus, had been detained inside since June 27th.

Aus' mother was only successful in obtaining her son's prisoner number and
location after Aus had been detained three months and fifteen days.
His mother got in to visit him only once, ten days earlier. Under U.S.
policy, she isn't allowed to visit again for another two months. Only six
detainees are allowed visits on visiting days, which only occur three times
per week. Visits are limited to one hour each. There are thousands of
detainees in Abu Ghraib.

Abu Ghraib was the most feared prison under the Saddam regime. Even still,
remarked a bystander, most prisoners' families could come to visit once a
week.

U.S. Forces detained Aus in the middle of the summer, when he was wearing
only light weight clothing. Now the temperatures hover just above freezing
every night. "We can't bring anything in to our sons in the camp," cried
his mother. "He has nothing to wear in the cold." Reports from several
detainees formerly held at Abu Ghraib whom we have
interviewed have said the U.S. guards provide them with a blanket, and
sometimes two pairs of underwear, but they had only the clothes they were
wearing when they were first detained for the duration of their
imprisonment.

The same bystander said, "It's impossible to get information about our
relatives. We go to the Iraqi Assistance Center. They give us a number
and tell us to wait five days. Then we come here. The guard says, 'This
number is fake.' So we go back to the IAC. They give us the same number."

  Later, my teammates and I were able to speak with Col. Ralph Sabatino, who
has "oversight responsibility" for the prisons in Iraq. We told him how
difficult it was for families to be unable to see their loved ones for
months at a time, and how important it was to increase the visitation
rights of detainees held in the camp. Other U.S. prison camps, such as
Bucca in southern Iraq, allow visitation every three weeks. Sabatino seemed
unmoved. He said the U.S. military had no plans to increase either the size
of visiting facilities or the security staff to allow more families to
visit more often. "In reality, this isn't going to change," he said. "In
fact, when we close Camp Bucca and ship all the inmates back to Baghdad,
families will be waiting four to six months between visits."

  We left the meeting disappointed and a little stunned by the Colonel's
nonchalance. Yet he alone is not to blame. His words echo the prevailing
sentiment we have experienced so far from the Coalition Forces occupying
Iraq.