U.S. opens juvenile detention facility; Some 'detainees' as young as 11 years old

Above: A boy holds a 'souvenir' from a roadside bombing in May which killed British troops in Basra. Under emergency powers, detainees may be arrested upon suspicion, and without trial.

The U.S. military on Tuesday will open its first detention facility in Iraq meant specifically to hold juveniles.

According to the American command in Baghdad, the Dar al-Hikmah facility will house some 600 detainees between the ages of 11 and 17. An opening ceremony for the facility will be held Tuesday in Baghdad, officials said and will be presided over by Maj. Gen. Doug Stone, commander of detainee operations in Iraq.

The new facility will provide “basic education instruction” and will include “classroom spaces, a library, a medical treatment facility and four soccer/athletic fields,” a statement issued Monday read.

“The juvenile education center is designed to give juvenile detainees an education that will be beneficial after their eventual release and reintegration into society.”

The military prison system in Iraq has come under repeated criticism, including from some activists who objected to adult and juvenile prisoners being held separately in the same larger prison facilities.

Read the rest at Stars and Stripes

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