Thousands of Iraqis are kept in prisons without charges

Thousands of Iraqis, detained as suspects, are kept in prisons in Iraq without charges. This was written on Saturday by the ASH-Shark Al-Ausat Mezharab newspaper with reference to the head of the Iraqi branch of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Baghdad Dzhanny Magadzeni.

This circumstance is contrary to the human law recognized by international law and human freedoms, the UN representative emphasizes, RIA Novosti reports.

At a briefing at the UN headquarters in Geneva, he said that in February 2006 the number of detainees contained "for the necessary security" in prisons under the control of the US multinational forces in Iraq was 14 thousand 222 people. More than 15 thousand Iraqis are in state penitentiary institutions of the country.

Only the Iraqi Ministry of Justice, said Magadzeni, has the authority to detain suspects, which is a temporary measure of procedural coercion in order to clarify their involvement in the crimes (according to Iraqi legislation, no more than 72 hours).

Most in prisons in Iraq are contained there by order of the Iraqi Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Defense.

All detainees said, Magadzeni said, must appear before the Iraqi justice, which should decide the issue of their involvement in crimes or to pass an acquittal.