Fresh Paint and Flowers at Iraqi House of Horrors

[undeterred]

Source: New York Times

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Ministry of Justice allowed reporters rare access on Saturday to the Abu Ghraib prison, which has been partly renovated by the Iraqis and now holds about 400 prisoners after a new influx on Friday.

The Iraqi government has forged ahead in reopening the prison despite the stigma from years of torture and abuse there, both under American control and during Saddam Hussein’s rule. The government has said it needs Abu Ghraib, which can hold up to 15,000 prisoners, to ease severe overcrowding at other detention centers. Officials plan to bring the total here up to about 3,000 as a first step.

Officials were eager to highlight a different face of Abu Ghraib, one they emphasized was more focused on reforming prisoners. The prison’s outer walls were painted a bright cream color, and Iraqi flags fluttered at the entrance. The driveway to the main gate was spruced up and lined with colorful lampposts, flowers and other plants.

Large billboards identified the prison compound by its new name, the Baghdad Central Prison. Jailers were dressed in their finest navy uniforms and hats and made to stand frozen in formation along a red carpet laid down for the occasion. It led into the cellblocks that make up the prison’s so-called hard site.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/22/world/middleeast/22iraq.html?ref=middleeast

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They even put up anti torture posters with the words “No to torture” above close-up photos of bodies battered with bruises and cuts were hung on the wall... and plastic flowers.

Sounds like The Onion.

[shraby]

1. Sounds more like the entrances to the

Nazi death camps.

[puebloknot]

2. Sounds like Theresienstadt, "The Paradise Ghetto."

"Paradise Camp is a 1986 documentary about Theresienstadt, a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. Unlike other Holocaust camps, Jews entered Theresianstadt willingly, even eagerly, because Nazi lies led them to believe it would be a peaceful retreat. The deception continued even after it was clear that Theresienstadt was a ghetto. The Nazis used the camp to film a pro-concentration camp propaganda film and fool Red Cross officials into believing the Jews were being well cared for."