Rights body urges disinfection of overcrowded Basra prison
Shafaq News- Basra
Iraq's High Commission for Human Rights in Basra called on the provincial government on Wednesday to order a full disinfection campaign at Basra Central Prison, where inmates are experiencing rising rates of skin and respiratory illnesses amid overcrowding at five times the facility's capacity.
The commission's Basra office said the campaign should cover all sections of the prison and inmates' belongings, with the facility to be provided with sufficient disinfectants and cleaning supplies.
It also urged that the campaign be extended to detention facilities run by the Interior Ministry, particularly those operated by the anti-narcotics, criminal investigation and intelligence directorates, as well as facilities run by other security agencies.
Overcrowding at Basra Central Prison reflects a broader problem across Iraq's prison system, which human rights monitors and members of parliament have described as severely overcrowded. A 2024 report by the parliamentary Human Rights Committee estimated that between 60,000 and 70,000 inmates were held in fewer than 30 facilities nationwide, conditions it linked to the spread of diseases such as tuberculosis, asthma, and hepatitis. An inmate at Basra Central Prison died of tuberculosis that year while receiving hospital treatment.
Iraq has sought to ease the pressure partly through its amended General Amnesty Law, under which tens of thousands of prisoners have been released, and by sending some drug users to rehabilitation rather than prison.
