US military: Some 11,000 Iraqis freed from detention centers in 2008

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
More than 11,000 Iraqis have been released from American detention centers this year, leaving nearly 20,000 still in custody, the US military said Saturday. Some 19,700 Iraqis remain in detention at two main centers in Iraq - Camp Cropper in Baghdad and Camp Bucca in southern Iraq. Several hundred more detainees are expected to be released by mid-September, Maj. Neal Fisher said in a statement. The United States wants to transfer the detainees to Iraqi control, but have been hindered by the lack of adequate Iraqi prison space and trained guards. More than 8,900 people were released from detention last year. Rights groups have criticized US detention policy as a misrepresentation of international law, which requires some form of legal process to detain someone, but the US military has said its detention system is authorized by a UN resolution under which the Iraqi government allows US troops to arrest people at will.