US  doubts government control of Iraqi prisons News
US doubts government control of Iraqi prisons

[JURIST] The US State Department said Tuesday that Iraqi prisons are only “nominally” under control of the elected government in Baghdad, acknowledging that they are in practice run by the Shiite-led Interior Ministry [Global Security backgrounder], which has not yet relinquished control of them. The central government, with help from US forces, is trying to take charge of the prisons after prisoner abuse in two detention facilities [JURIST report] was revealed earlier this month. The US military said Sunday that it would not hand over its own Iraq detention facilities [JURIST report] or individual detainees to Iraqi officials until they have demonstrated an adequate standard of care towards prisoners [JURIST report]. AP has more.