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The Baghdad Central Prison, formerly known as Abu Ghraib prison (Arabic: سجن أبو غريب Sijn Abu Ghuraib; also Abu Ghurayb, meaning ’father of the raven’ or ’Place of Ravens’) is in Abu Ghraib, an Iraqi city 32 km (20 mi) west of Baghdad. It was built by British contractors in the 1950s. Observers estimated that in 2001, the prison held as many as 15,000 inmates. In 2002 Saddam’s government began an expansion project to add six new cellblocks to the prison. In October 2002, Saddam Hussein gave amnesty to most prisoners in Iraq. After the prisoners were released and the prison was left empty, it was vandalized and looted. Almost all of the documents relating to prisoners were piled and burnt inside of prison offices and cells, leading to extensive structural damage. After years of shared use by United States-led forces and the Iraqi government beginning in 2003 after the Iraq Invasion, on September 2, 2006 the US transferred the prison to complete control of the Iraqis. 
Baghdad Central Prison cell block
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia : Ministry of Justice and Prisons |
