• Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq was formerly operated by the Ba'ath government of Saddam Hussein. During that time, the prison was known for its cruel treatment of prisoners.

  After the fall of Saddam, Abu Ghraib fell into the control of the U.S. Military. Under U.S. control, a program of abuse including enforced nudity, mock executions, sleep deprivation, and repeated beatings were sanctioned by the Bush administration, at least tacitly. The abuse was revealed in a series of photographs published in the worldwide media brought forth a controversy over the treatment of detainees therein.

  Twelve soldiers were convicted of charges arising from Abu Ghraib. The highest ranked was Colonel Thomas Pappas, was was fined $8000 and was forced to end his military career.MSNBC: Behind the Abu Ghraib photos (October 2, 2005) Atlantic Online: Newsweek Defends Abu Ghraib (January 13, 2009) Newsweek: Obama's Cheney Dilemma (January 10, 2009)

• Fast Facts

  1. Abu Ghraib is a city 20 miles west of Baghdad
  2. Prison built by British contractors in the 1960s
  3. Covers 280 acres
  4. April 2004: reports of prisoner abuse surface in U.S. media
  5. 4,000 prisoners executed in 1984
  6. Saddam's guards reportedly fed plastic shreds to prisoners
  7. Mass graves found

• Prison Complex

  Abu Ghraib Prison is in Abu Ghraib, Iraq, about 20 miles from Baghdad. The prison under Hussein's control was often referred to in Western Media as "Saddam's Torture Central". When the United States gained control, they renamed it Baghdad Central Confinement Facility (BCCF) or Baghdad Central Correctional Facility. The complex was built in the 1960s by British contractors. The prison had 24 guard towers, and covered 280 acres.

• Under Saddam Regime

  In the 1990s, the human rights group Amnesty International reported that on several occasions, hundreds of prisoners were executed in a single episode. They reported that in 1998 and 2001, several hundred Shi'ites were killed. Amnesty International claimed that due to the secrecy of Saddam's regime, they could not provide further details of the events. Shi'ites were not allowed to have any contact with the outside world. The prison is said to have had as many as 15,000 inmates. Kurds and Iraqi citizens of Iranian ethnicity were reportedly held there without charges since the beginning of the Iran-Iraq War. The prison was abandoned shortly before the 2003 invasion of Iraq

• Prison to re-open

  Iraq will re-open the notorious prison in February 2009 but it won't be quite the same. The prison has been renovated and upgraded. When it re-opens in mid-February it will house 3,500 inmates. By the end of 2009 it will have a capacity for up to 15,000 inmates. It will also re-open under the new name of Baghdad's Central Prison.USAToday: Iraq to reopen notorious Abu Ghraib prison (January 27, 2009)

• Disclaimer

  Many of the links here contain disturbing and violent images and should be considered mature content.

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Paul Bergrin | Prison Abuse Photos | Amnesty International | Iraq War | Guantanamo Bay | American Prisoner Abuse Controversy | George W. Bush | Dick Cheney | John Yoo | Donald Rumsfeld | Lynndie England | Michael Leahy | John Hatley

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