Are there other mechanisms besides the Human Rights Ministry to investigate abuses inside prisons?
Samer: It’s very difficult. I know that the Prime Minister’s office established a committee last year when there were allegations of torture at various prisons to look into the issue. We haven’t heard anything, this was early last year, and we still haven’t heard anything about results or what happened with the committee, if they’ve actually produced anything or gave comments. It’s very difficult to visit facilities in Iraq. Even for us, when we had permission from the Minister of Justice and the Deputy Minister of Justice, we had to negotiate for three hours to get into this facility even though we had all of the proper paperwork. For other groups, for local NGOs, it’s much more difficult. They don’t have the same access as international human rights organizations. I know in northern Iraq there are some NGOs that do limited prison visits. But then again, usually they have to announce beforehand when they’re coming, the prisoners they meet are a select group that perhaps the warden mig
