Torture and rape reported in Iraqi children prisons

Even children can be detained in Iraq placed in special jails. But that is not enough. They can also be raped, tortured and burned.

That is the new picture emerging from the U.S.-led ‘liberation’ of a country that has been bleeding since U.S. and allies invaded it in 2003.

But the prison disgrace is not this time directly linked to the country’s U.S. occupiers though the world has not yet forgotten their atrocities and inhuman practices at Abu Ghraib prison.

The children languish in prisons administered by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government. It seems the only story of success U.S. invaders and their Iraqi lackeys can boast of is the construction of numerous prisons now available across the country.

Arab satellite television channels shocked their viewers last week when they aired footage of children bearing marks of torture. The children were detained during military operations in Baghdad neighborhoods of Adhamiya, Latifiya, Doura and Hay al-Amel.

The children had no capacity to commit any wrongdoing but they were jailed because they carried names revealing their sectarian identity.

The Iraqi Bar Society, a London-based independent group, has condemned the government for jailing and abusing children.

“Let all officials in Iraq with their different ranks know … that sooner or later they will be held accountable for their crimes,” the bar said in a statement.

Leading the campaign to free imprisoned children and innocent prisoners in Iraqi jails is Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi.

He discovered the cells where children were being tortured during a visit to the detention center in the district of Tobji in Baghdad. He was the one who brought their tragedy to media’s attention.

Source: Azzaman