Analysis: Iraqi prisons see a few improvements

Though Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has promised to crack down on those held responsible for perpetuating alleged human rights violations inside Iraqi prisons, Iraqis who have only recently been detained, say prison treatment and conditions are still harsh.

Al-Maliki's promise is part of a 24 point reconciliation plan, released by the Iraqi government on 25 June. The plan lays out means to curb sectarian violence in the country by addressing a diverse range of aspects of Iraqi society, such as human rights, compensation to victims, democracy, the judiciary and the economy among others.

While former prisoners welcome the government's new initiatives, fresh memories of their experiences haunt them.

"I saw in that year [2005] what I have never seen in whole my life. I was badly beaten with sticks, and we were tied to chairs or the cell's bars," said Ahmed Jabre Essa, a 33-year-old taxi driver arrested in March 2005 in the Iraqi city of Fallujah, and accused of distributing pamphlets inciting a jihad (holy war).

"They were threatening me during the interrogation to arrest and bring my wife, my sisters or my old father in front of me if I didn't confess," he said.

Nadhim Ismaiel Khadim was held in three Iraqi prisons from March 2005 to August 2006, but says he knew nothing of the Prime Minister's promise until after his release.

"We had the same ill-treatment and same dirty prisons, in contrast to what I just heard about this reconciliation plan," said Khadim, the 45-year-old owner of a seeds and agricultural business, who was accused of supplying militant groups with chemical materials for their bombs.

"They were beating us with sticks almost every day to force me to say things that have nothing to do with me," he said.

However, human rights groups say that since the plan was announced, conditions in some prisons have improved, and confirm that some Ministry of Interior officials have been fired.

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