Inmates at Mosul prison face ‘grave abuse’: Ex-prisoner

By Mohamed Waleed and Ali Jawad

NINEVEH, Iraq

Inmates at a newly established prison south of Mosul are being routinely subjected to “grave abuses” at the hands of Iraqi security personnel, a recently released inmate asserted on Monday.

"Hundreds of prisoners are being subjected to abuse -- including physical torture -- at the prison, which was recently established in the Al-Rafidain Bank building in the Hamam al-Alil district south of Mosul," Abu Ali, who was released from the facility last week, told Anadolu Agency.

He did not provide his real name due to fears of reprisal and possible re-arrest.

Abu Ali, who says he spent more than two months in the prison, said the bank building -- which was recently converted into a detention facility -- now holds almost 400 inmates, who, he alleged, were frequently subjected “to the worst forms of abuse”.

He claimed at least five inmates in the facility had recently been tortured to death while under interrogation by Iraqi security personnel.

Habib al-Tarfi, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s human rights committee, responded to Abu Ali’s assertions by saying that "arrests made in Mosul are being carried out according to intelligence gleaned about the Daesh terrorist organization”.

“This is normal in any combat situation,” he said.

Al-Tarfi added: "Iraqi forces now engaged in the fight for Mosul are very conscientious about respecting human rights."

He refrained from saying whether Abu Ali’s claims would be investigated by the Iraqi authorities.

In January, Iraqi forces drove Daesh militants from eastern Mosul as part of a wide-ranging campaign launched late last year to retake the city, which the terrorist group overran in mid-2014.

In mid-February, Iraqi forces -- backed by U.S.-led air power -- began a fresh push to take western Mosul, Daesh’s last remaining stronghold in northern Iraq.