Despite an acquittal rate of 50%, Iraq's new prison population has tripled since February

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Iraq's New Justice Unfolds in a Fortress


Saturday September 8, 2007
Associated Press

BAGHDAD (AP) - {snip} The security crackdown in Baghdad has pushed up the number of detainees from about 15,000 in January to more than 24,000, worsening already serious backlogs.

``Some prisoners we found have been in confinement here since 2003 waiting to make an appearance before an investigative judge,'' said Michael Walther, a senior Justice Department official who is in charge of the 72-member U.S. Law and Order Task Force overseeing the project.
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The development of the complex was pushed by the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, who appears before Congress this week before issuing a crucial progress report on U.S. strategies in Iraq.

The Baghdad complex is dubbed a mini-Green Zone after the larger Baghdad complex that protects the Iraqi government and U.S. Embassy. It stands on grounds developed by Saddam Hussein as an Olympic village and later taken over by the dictator's Interior Ministry. Construction of the court and additional prison space began in March - just after the beginning of the troop surge into Baghdad.

As of Aug. 31, the court had 2,377 cases on its dockets, investigative judges had dismissed 428 cases, and 120 trials had been completed.

Meanwhile, the existing complex is filling up - from about 2,500 prisoners in February to 6,300 today and likely to hit its maximum level of 7,300 before the end of November, Walther said.
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The Law and Order Task Force does not give breakdowns of types of sentence, or a figure for death penalties. An estimated 50 percent of cases that go to trial before the jury-less court end in acquittals . . .


report: http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6906715,00.html