Abu Ghraib Prison to Close in June

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The U.S. military is set to end operations at Abu Ghraib prison in June and Iraq’s justice minister says it is to be turned into a storage facility. However, some U.S. officials suggested Iraqi authorities might continue to use it as a jail.

The U.S. military says 4,500 inmates held at Abu Ghraib on suspicion of insurgent activity would be transferred to a new site near the Baghdad airport, known as Camp Cropper, in two to three months (see related article, Correctional News January/February 2006). Camp Cropper is a high-security prison, which holds, among others, Saddam Hussein.

Abu Ghraib until recently also held 2,400 common criminals under the control of the Justice Ministry. They have already been transferred to other sites, says Justice Minister Abd al-Hussein Shandel.

Shandel says the prison will be closed for security reasons. Located in the Baghdad suburb of the same name, Abu Ghraib was built in the 1960s by British troops.

The prison was at the center of a prisoner-abuse scandal in 2004 involving U.S. troops. To date, 10 U.S. soldiers have been convicted of charges stemming from the scandal, including former Cpl. Charles Graner Jr., who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role.

The prison has been subject to several insurgent attacks. In April 2005, dozens of insurgents launched a raid on the prison, detonating suicide car bombs and firing rocket-propelled grenades that wounded 44 U.S. soldiers.