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As the last detainee boarded a plane destined for another theater detention center today – September 17 2009, the detainee operations mission at Camp Bucca, Iraq, officially ended.

An Air Force C-17 carrying the last group of 180 detainees lifted off from the Basra airport headed to Camp Cropper at 3:22 a.m., officials said.

“As a result of the great working relationship between the government of Iraq and Task Force 134, I’m pleased to say the Camp Bucca detention facility is now closed,” said Army Brig. Gen. David Quantock, Joint Task Force 134′s commanding general. “We’ve been working hand in hand with the government of Iraq to coordinate our detainee releases and transfers in accordance with the [U.S.-Iraq] security agreement, and that teamwork has allowed us to close the Bucca [theater internment facility].”

Task Force 134 members have been focusing on the safe and orderly releases and transfers of detainees in accordance with the security agreement, which took effect, Jan. 1. The agreement, signed in November 2008, states that detainee transfers between coalition forces and the Iraqi government must be conducted with arrest warrants or detention orders. If detainees don’t have a warrant or detention order, they must be released.

The facility’s closure leaves only two U.S.-run detention centers in Iraq: Camp Taji, 16 miles north of Baghdad, and Camp Cropper, near the Baghdad International Airport, officials said. Detainees who were held at Camp Bucca — but haven’t been released or transferred to the Iraqi government — have been moved to one of the two remaining facilities.

Since February, Task Force 134 has released about 750 detainees from its detention facilities each month and transferred an average of 200 detainees per month to the Iraqi government, officials said.

With the Bucca center’s closure, 8,305 detainees remain in coalition custody, officials said. This year, 1,360 detainees have been transferred to the Iraqi government with a warrant, detention order or conviction of a terrorist act by the Central Criminal Court of Iraq. Since the security agreement went into effect, 5,703 detainees have been released.

DVIDS

The number of detainees in Task Force 134 custody dropped below 9,000 during a detainee transfer between Coalition forces and the Government of Iraq here, Aug. 27.

As a result of the 107-person transfer, the detainee population in Iraq stands at 8,947 – the lowest number in U.S. custody since March 2005.

In accordance with the Security Agreement, detainee transfers between CF and the GoI must be conducted with arrest warrants or detention orders. If detainees do not have arrest warrants or detention orders, they must be released.

“We work very closely with the Iraqi government to ensure releases and transfers are conducted in a safe and orderly manner,” said Capt. Brad Kimberly, Task Force 134 spokesman. “In compliance with the Security Agreement, we transferred these detainees to the GoI after receiving valid warrants or detention orders.”

Every detainee’s file is thoroughly reviewed by CF and the GoI to determine if a warrant should be issued, he said. Detainees whose investigations do not produce a warrant are eligible for release according to the detainee’s threat level.

Of the 8,947 detainees in U.S. custody, 3,572 are held at Camp Cropper, 4,585 are held at Camp Taji, and 790 are held at Camp Bucca.

Task Force 134 is in the process of transferring the Bucca Theater Internment Facility detainee population prior to the facility’s closing, which is scheduled for September. Detainees currently held at Camp Bucca will be transferred to either Camp Cropper or Camp Taji.

Task Force 134 releases approximately 750 detainees from its detention facilities each month. In addition, nearly 250 transfers to the GoI are completed per month.

Since January, 1,179 detainees have been transferred to the GoI with a valid warrant or detention order, and 5,236 have been released.

MNF-I

Senior Airman Tarann Earl plays with an Iraqi child while they wait for transportion to the detainee visitation center Jan. 27 at Camp Bucca, Iraq.

Senior Airman Tarann Earl plays with an Iraqi child while they wait for transportation to the detainee visitation center Jan. 27 at Camp Bucca, Iraq. Members of the 887th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron provides security and transportation to the center for Iraqis who are allowed to visit daily with detained family members held at the Theater Internment Facility. Airman Earl is assigned to the 887th ESFS. (U.S. Air Force photo/Capt. Angelic Dolan)

An Iraqi newspaper reporter recently revealed that most Iraqis believe anyone who is captured by Coalition Forces and sent to Camp Bucca will never be seen again; they are considered dead.

Every month approximately 12,000 Iraqi visitors travel from all over the country to Camp Bucca, the quiet forward operating base along the Kuwait border near the port city of Um Qasr, Iraq’s southern most city.

In addition to the 12,000 visitors that actually walk through the gates of Camp Bucca, another nearly 500 visits between internees and their families happen every month via video teleconference with the facility in Baghdad, Camp Cropper. The VTC visitation is offered for those families who are unable to make the trip to Um Qasr, but can make it to Baghdad. There are a little over 500 cell phone calls made by internees to their families per month from their interment compounds at Camp Bucca.

With all of this communication occurring in and around Camp Bucca, how does the myth of this place being so evil and foreboding persist? It may be impossible to unravel the mysteries of the Iraqi rumor lines, but below are facts to correct the misinformation, “myth-busting” if you will.

The following are a few of the myths that surround detention operations, along with the correct information:

• MYTH: Detainees are being brainwashed by the Americans.
o FACT: At the two Coalition detention facilities, all of the education, vocational, and Islamic Discussion Programs are led by Iraqi trained and certified teachers, social workers, and clerics. When these sessions occur the only Coalition staff present are the guards, and their presence is for the protection of the staff and not for interaction with the detainees, classes or discussions.

• MYTH: Detainees are held for years without being told why they are in custody.
o FACT: When someone is captured they go through a process of continuous evaluations and reviews to determine whether or not they pose an imperative threat to the people of Iraq, the Government of Iraq, or any security forces. At multiple points in this process, the captured person is advised in detail why they are in custody. This process occurs long before the person leaves the region of Iraq in which they were captured and before they are deemed an official detainee.

• MYTH: All detainees are extremely bad men who do not care about Iraq.
o FACT: Many of the internees are indeed very dangerous and have no loyalty to Iraq or its people. However, a large number of those detained are good Iraqis who made terrible mistakes in judgment or were severely misled by extremists set on destroying the hard earned gains made in this country. A significant number of the internees voluntarily participate in education and vocational classes in order to better themselves for their own brighter future and for their role in the future of Iraq. Many voluntarily join in Islamic Discussion Programs with Iraqi clerics and social workers in order to enhance their understanding of their religion and how their actions either match or contradict its teachings.

• MYTH: Americans are not following Iraqi law in the detention of its citizens.
o FACT: Those in coalition detention have been deemed an imperative threat to the citizens of Iraq, the Government of Iraq, and those security forces that are working to ensure peace and stability. Those captured who have been identified as having broken the law, are turned over to the Government of Iraq and processed according to Iraqi Law. Coalition Forces detain persons based on threat and the Government of Iraq imprisons based on Iraqi law. Basically, Coalition Forces hold detainees and the Government of Iraq holds prisoners and inmates.

• MYTH: The Americans have too many detainees for them to receive proper medical treatment.
o FACT: The team of Coalition doctors, nurses, and medics run an extremely efficient program of care that provides coverage for not only the internees, but also the service members and civilian staff. The doctors divide their workload based on the need in the compounds, and the legion of medics and Iraqi Medical Officers (IMOs) are available in every internment compound around the clock.

Detention operations touch nearly every Iraqi citizen. It is of vital importance that as often as these myths are discovered, every effort is made to answer their charges.

No nation in the history of modern warfare has ever attempted detention operations in the manner in which Coalition Forces have, with the amount of dedicated manpower and resources seen in Iraq.

MNF-I

More than 10,000 detainees have been released from Coalition detention facilities in Iraq this year, since implementation of programs designed to better prepare detainees for reintegration into society and to reduce recidivism.

“A recent innovation is to have a social worker and an Islamic cleric counsel detainees before they go before their first Multi-National Forces Review Committee (MNFRC)”, said Rear Adm. Garland Wright, commander of Task Force 134 Detainee Operations in Baghdad. “Also, last February we started having officers from the Multi-National Corps-Iraq division or capturing unit sit on our MNFRC boards.”

MNFRC Boards were instituted last August as part of several agreements Multi-National Force – Iraq has with the Government of Iraq regarding detainee operations. After an individual is detained, his or her case is heard by the MNFRC board within six months of being detained.

TF 134 also has instituted a number of religious, educational, and vocational programs since 2007 to enhance its reconciliation programs. According to Wright, “Engagement services are highly desired by the detainees. Most of the detainees have had a positive experience with the Islamic Discussion Program and the Level 1 education (Grades 1-3). We have witnessed many of the detainees returning from class and sharing notes and thoughts with their compound members.”

General David H. Petraeus, commanding general of MNF-I, noted that “due to changes in the conduct of detainee operations and programs to prepare detainees for reintegration into society, we have not only gone over 10,000 releases, but our re-internment rate is less than 1 percent.”

Coalition detention programs currently hold just under 21,000 detainees, approximately 17,000 at Camp Bucca near Basrah, and approximately 3,000 at Camp Cropper in Baghdad. There are about a dozen women, just over 300 juveniles, about 200 third country nationals, and about 200 detainees over the age of 60. More than 10,000 detainees have been released so far this year, more than the total from last year of 8,900. We are currently detaining about 30 a day and releasing 45 a day. The average detention time is 330 days.

Coalition Forces are authorized by U.N. Security Resolution 1790 and the Geneva Convention to detain individuals “necessary for imperative reasons of security.” There is a detainee review process in place, which judges security risk, such that at any point in that process, detainees can be retained or released.

MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ
TF 134
BAGHDAD, IRAQ