Detainee Camp
handing over sovereignty to the Middle Eastern country enters the drafting stage. The newest draft of the security agreement between Iraq and the United States calls for a large-scale reduction of American military, which up to now has been responsible for the war torn country’s security issues, including the arrest and detention of criminals and people deemed a threat.
If this draft of the security agreement is passed, as of December 31st, America soldiers will no longer have the authority to arrest suspected insurgents and will have to turn over all suspects to the Iraqi authorities within 24 hours. But what to do with the nearly 17,000 people currently detained by the American Military in detention facilities around Iraq? The US would no longer have the right to detain these individuals, and the Iraqi authorities claim that they do not have the training or even the prisons necessary to taking control.
According to the New York Times, negotiations are being carried out in tandem with the agreement drafting that would allow the American military to continue confining detainees deemed particularly dangerous, if requested by Iraqi authorities, while allowing the other detainees to go free, a move that may undermine hard won Iraqi security.
Brig. Gen. David E. Quantock, commanding general for Task Force 134, responsible for the detention system in Iraq, says that of the 17,000 detained Iraqis, about 5,000 are classified “dangerous radicals,” while the remaining 12,000 may have been arrested mistakenly or played minor roles in the insurgency. Of all these detainees, the US will probably have to release all but 1,000: those that have been charged and are awaiting trial or those for whom an Iraqi judge has issued an arrest warrant.
As for the 4,000 “dangerous radicals” that will most likely be set free, General Quantock is relying heavily on a guarantor program. The released detainees are sponsored by a respected member of the community, such as a tribal leader, who agrees that if the released detainee commits another offense, he or another community member will go to jail for the offender.
Detainee Camp
The US military has been working hard to decrease the number of Iraqi detainees, which hit an all time high of 26,000 in the fall of 2007. Release of an additional 2,000 detainees has been scheduled for next month in preparation for the year-end deadline.
-Justine Bayod Espoz–European Marketing Director for Picore Worldwide-Spain