Hundreds of suspected IS militants held in stifling, disease-ridden prisons

  • 19/07/2017

Footage taken by the Associated Press shows hundreds of suspected Islamic State miliants cramped into detention cells in Mosul, following the liberation of the city.

AP reports outside temperatures were above 45 degrees, but inside there was no power and no form of ventilation. Conditions are so cramped in the video that the men sit crossed-legged, so cramped they can barely move. They are sweating in the heat, and are doing nothing but sitting quietly.

The outlet was told 370 prisoners were being held in the facility. The Iraqi officer who told them that said the prisoners are infected with diseases. They have been held so long their legs are swollen and they can't walk. He said 1150 detainees have come through the makeshift prison as Iraqi troops swept Mosul.

One prisoner said he has been detained for eight months and doesn't even know what he's accused of. He said he'd seen prisoners with pus coming from wounds taken to hospital and returned with amputated limbs.

"We want to die", one prisoner said.

As the Iraqi Army has retaken Mosul from ISIS, Human Rights Watch has documented forces detaining "thousands of men and boys in inhumane conditions without charge, and in some cases torturing and executing them".

On June 30, Human Rights Watch reported allegations of the unlawful killing and beating of men fleeing Mosul.

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