12.1 |
Security Sector Reform
recent
assessment of all UK government staff in Iraq had determined that
“the prisons
contribution”
was vital. Risk assessments were being conducted at military
locations to
enable the
deployment of prisons mentors to the provinces. Support to the
prisons effort
was being
maintained by the RMP.
823.
On 20 January
2005, minutes of the SSR meeting recorded that the
prisons
programme
had been extended for a further six months and the Prison Service
had
confirmed
they would provide officers for phase two. A UK criminal justice
adviser had
824.
On 9 August,
the IPU submitted an initial bid for the prison programme to
receive
funding
until 31 March 2006.786
The bid
stated that since it had begun in May 2004, the
programme
had:
•
trained
every prison officer in MND(SE);
•
established
a training school for the Iraqi Correctional Service
(ICS);
•
developed a
corps of Iraqi trainers;
•
built and
established a new prison in Basra that would “become a model
prison
for Iraq”;
and
•
“substantially
improved conditions and treatment of prisoners” in each
other
prison in
the region.
825.
The bid was
for funding to continue supporting prisons advisers, to help to
increase
the
capability of the ICS and to complete the ongoing infrastructure
projects.
826.
In describing
the effects of the programme, the IPU cited Iraq’s “dreadful
human
rights
record” in prisons and stated that the first two phases of the
programme had
“already
dramatically transformed the functioning of the prisons in MND(SE)
both by
improving
the physical conditions in which prisoners are kept, and changing
attitudes
amongst
staff”. Continuing work would build on that, particularly in
respect of female and
juvenile
prisoners.
827.
On 15 August,
Mr Collis sent a telegram to the FCO reporting allegations
of
“systematic
abuse” at al‑Maqil prison in Basra.787
The
allegations, made by an Iraqi
prison
officer, included the sexual abuse of a female prisoner and the
payment of bribes
to avoid
beatings and facilitate visits by relatives. The prison officer
claimed that
one‑quarter
of the prison staff was involved, including at a senior
level.
828.
Mr Stephen
Fradley, the British Senior Prison Adviser, had raised the concerns
with
the
Regional Director of the Iraqi Correctional Service, who
subsequently spoke to the
Prison
Governor. The Governor said that an investigation had been
undertaken and that
785
Minutes, 20
January 2005, Security Sector Reform meeting.
786
Email FCO
[junior official] to FCO [junior official], 17 August 2005, ‘FW:
GCPP Prisons Bid’ attaching
Project Bid
Form, 9 August 2005, ‘Prison Service Support in Southern
Iraq’.
787
Telegram
113 Basra to FCO, 15 August 2004, ‘Iraq: Allegations of Abuse in
Iraqi Run Prison’.
243