Kut Central Prison is attached to the main police station in the capital of Wasit province, southern Iraq. Designed to hold 100 people on a temporary, pre-trial basis, the prison now frequently houses up to 250 inmates —sometimes as many as 280 — including women. Convicted murderers on death row are held in the same overcrowded cells as petty thieves.
Sayyed Serag, a former inmate, was cleared by US forces of suspected involvement in a Shiite insurgent group. He was moved from an American detention center to Kut Central Prison as part of the release process. Once in Iraqi custody weeks passed and he remained behind bars. By his account, one day a guard approached him and explained he would be released only if he paid a $10,000 bribe. “This is a small price for you to pay for freedom”, the officer told him. With no other choice, Mr. Serag’s brother sold his truck, the source of his livelihood, and paid the fee. Sayyed Serag was released.
Staff Sergeant Thomas Heuer, a US military police officer assigned to monitor and advise the Iraqi Security Forces at the prison in 2008/2009, said allegations of bribery and extortion against prison officers were common. “There is corruption, but it is reducing, and they’re starting to adhere to some of the Geneva Conventions," he said.
Kut Central Prison is hardly an aberration. Corruption, abuse, and human rights violations are ubiquitous in prisons throughout Iraq. Human rights organizations have expressed concern about the systematic use of torture to obtain confessions as well as the rape of male and female prisoners by guards. In June of 2009 Harith al Obaidi, a moderate Sunni MP and outspoken critic of human rights abuses, announced in Parliament his plan to investigate allegations of corruption, torture and abuse in prisons. He was assassinated the following day.
Pictures by Emma LeBlanc, all photos copyright Makoto Photographic Agency and the photographer. Reproduction in any form without permission prohibited.