§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many prisoners are currently held by United States allied forces in Iraq; at what rate they are being processed to decide their status and future; whether some have been charged with crimes; if so, how many; and what courts will hear their cases. [HL1845]
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)Questions relating to detainees held by the United States are a matter for the US Government.
In general, the rate at which criminal detainees are being processed by the Iraqi criminal justice system is increasing as the Iraqi capacity to deal with them builds. The detention of prisoners of war and security detainees is kept under review. Security detainees who do not pose a threat to coalition forces are released.
98WAThe Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) is currently implementing a number of measures to improve the flow of information on detainees, including placing a list of detainees in Arabic on the CPA website and the formation of general information centres open to the public.
The Deputy US Commander, General Kimmit, announced on 13 March that the coalition is holding approximately 10,000 detainees.