Nineveh prison conditions a “humanitarian catastrophe,” confirm province MPs

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Nineveh prison conditions have been labelled “tragic” and “catastrophic” by a Nineveh MP following a visit to the province’s prisons, hot on the heels of a damning Human Rights Watch report released Thursday detailed the “degrading” conditions faced by detained women and children.

Sherwan Dubardani and Tuama al-Lihibe visited Tel Kayf and Faysalyah prisons on Sunday, alongside Nineveh deputy governor Sirwan Rozhbayani.

"Truth to be told, what Human Rights Watch reported was small relative to the actual catastrophe inside the prisons of Nineveh," Sherwan Dubardani, a Kurdish Democratic Party MP from Nineveh told reporters.

"The situation is tragic, and what we saw inside the prisons of Nineveh province is a real humanitarian catastrophe," Dubardani said, saying "tens" of sentenced individuals are crammed into a single square meter.

Last Thursday, a Human Rights Watch report slammed Iraq’s authorities for “degrading” conditions in Nineveh’s prisons that it said it amounted to “ill-treatment”. 

Rozhbayani said local government "will never accept" these conditions.

"You can't mix juvenile and women prisoners with those of terror," he added, warning of possible radicalization.

There are six thousand individuals in various phases of prosecution in the two prisons, of which 1,050 are juveniles and 220 are women. 244 of the minors have been sentenced, according to Dubardani.

Central government is to blame for overcrowded facilities in Nineveh, Dubardani claimed.
 

The Ministry of Justice is unwilling to receive the sentenced inmates, who make up half of the prison population, to take them to Baghdad, he said.

The Ministry of Justice is supposed to transfer sentenced prisoners to Baghdad, Nineveh Provincial Council head Saido Chato told reporters, but have failed to do so.

"We have asked and ask the Federal Government in Baghdad to resolve the issue of just a portion, at least 50% of those detained," he said. 

The delay in transferal has left Nineveh’s prisons system at full capacity. Rozhbayani claims that there are arrest warrants out for 70,000 individuals in Nineveh, who cannot be arrested due to a lack of space at detention facilities.

Dubardani also attributed dire detention conditions to a lack of specialized detention facilities for women and children.  

In response to the visit, Dubardani says the provincial council will work with federal government to transfer the prisoners and erect a new prison.

Despite the sobering account given by the MPs, Nineveh Police’s Media Relations department on Sunday denied the accusations made by the Human Rights Watch report.

“What was reported by Human Rights Watch on July 4, 2019 regarding Mosul’s prison conditions is not true.”

“There are no children in our prisons, nor are the conditions inhumane,” said the statement published on Sunday.

“ICRC [International Committee of the Red Cross] is a witness for what we have been stating as they frequently visit and monitor the condition of Mosul’s prisons and prisoners,” it added.

Rudaw is awaiting an ICRC response confirming the visits.

Most of those detained face charges of terrorism or collaboration with Islamic State (ISIS). They were captured by the Iraqi army and PMF (Popular Mobilization Forces) after Mosul was retaken from ISIS control.

Additional reporting by Mohammed S. Rawanduzy