US Military Transfers Saddam Loyalists To Iraqi Custody
Tuesday December 16th, 2008 / 18h40
BAGHDAD (AFP)--The U.S. military said Tuesday it has transferred to Iraqi custody a total of 39 high-profile members of Saddam Hussein's ousted regime who had been held in US-run prisons.
"These detainees are all either already convicted or are scheduled to stand trial in the Central Criminal Court of Iraq," the military said in a statement, without disclosing the identity of any of the prisoners.
It is not known whether they included "Chemical Ali," Saddam's notorious hatchet-man who has been sentenced to death twice, or former deputy premier Tariq Aziz who is on trial over the execution of Baghdad merchants in 1992.
The military said the "high-value" prisoners" - who have been in U.S. custody since their capture - were transferred Monday from the U.S.-run Camp Cropper prison near Baghdad airport to an Iraqi-controlled prison.
"Their recent transfer is in recognition that the Iraqi criminal courts and prison systems have become sufficiently robust to safeguard and prosecute these individuals in accordance with the rule of law," the U.S. statement said.
However, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said in a report released Monday that Iraq's main criminal court was failing to meet basic international standards for fair trials.
The U.S. military said there were now about 15,500 detainees in coalition-run prisons, down from a peak of about 26,000 in November 2007, adding that since the start of 2008, nearly 18,000 detainees had been released.
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