Camp Bucca
Camp Bucca (Arabic: سجن بوكا, romanized: Sijn Būkā) was a forward operating base that housed a theater internment facility[1] maintained by the United States military in the vicinity of Umm Qasr, Iraq. After being taken over by the U.S. military (800th Military Police Brigade) in April 2003, it was renamed after Ronald Bucca, a New York City fire marshal who died in the 11 September 2001 attacks.[2] The site where Camp Bucca was built had earlier housed the tallest structure in Iraq, a 492-meter-high TV mast.[3][4][5]
Camp Bucca
Internment Facility
2003
Expansions 2004, 2005, 2007, 2007–2008
U.S. Army Engineers,
U.S. Air Force Prime BEEF teams
Kellogg Brown and Root
United States Army Corps of Engineers
United States Navy Seabees
2003–2009
After the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, many detainees from Abu Ghraib were transferred to Bucca, where U.S. authorities hoped to showcase a model detention facility.[6] Nevertheless, Camp Bucca was the scene of prisoner abuse documented over many years by the Red Cross, Amnesty International, and U.S. Army investigators. It housed numerous prominent Islamic extremists, including a significant portion of the leadership of Al Qaeda in Iraq, and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi future leader of the Islamic State (IS), who enjoyed good relations with camp authorities while there. Bucca has been described as a breeding ground for Islamic extremism, and has been cited as contributing to the emergence of IS.[7]
On 17 September 2009, the U.S. military announced that the base would be closed.[8] In December 2010, the U.S. military handed the base to the government of Iraq, who, on the same day, gave Kufan Group of Iraq a license to invest in the new Basra Gateway, to provide a hub for Iraq's port.
Prisoner abuse scandals[edit]
Camp Bucca was the scene of egregious abuse of prisoners by military personnel from its establishment in 2003 until its closure in 2009.[86][87][88][89][90][91]
In 2003, prisoners freed from Camp Bucca described "detainees punished by hours lying bound in the sun; being attacked by dogs; being deprived of sufficient water; spending days with hoods over their heads."[92] After leaked pictures of abuse from another U.S. prison in Iraq, Abu Ghraib, stirred outrage and attention to that prison, one former Camp Bucca prisoner said, "I wish somebody could go take a picture of Camp Bucca."[92]
A 2003 report by Amnesty International found that prisoners at Camp Bucca "were held in tents in the extreme heat and were not provided with sufficient drinking water or adequate washing facilities," and that "they were forced to use open trenches for toilets and were not given a change of clothes -- even after two months detention."[89]
A 2004 report by United States Army investigators found "egregious acts and grave breaches of international law" at Camp Bucca.[88][90]
A 2004 report by the International Committee of the Red Cross described Geneva Convention violations at Camp Bucca and stated that "inmates were routinely treated by their guards with general contempt, with petty violence such as having orders screamed at them and being cursed, kicked, struck with rifle butts, roughed up or pushed around. They were reportedly handcuffed in the back and hooded for the duration of the interrogation and were prohibited from talking to each other or to the guards."[87] A Red Cross representative said that their report documented a "broad pattern" of abuse, as opposed to isolated incidents.[93]
A 2006 report by Amnesty International contained alleged violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention by U.S. military personnel at Camp Bucca.[94] These allegations include that "internees at Camp Bucca are alleged to have been exposed deliberately to extremes of both heat and cold, by being made to wait for hours in the heat of the sun while their accommodation was searched and forcibly showered with cold water and exposed to cold air conditioners."[94]
In 2007, a Canadian citizen and U.S. resident who had been a prisoner at Camp Bucca described abuse by military personnel.[95] The prisoner, Hossam Shaltout, called Camp Bucca a "torture camp" and said that prisoners were beaten and sexually humiliated.[95] Shaltout said that his arms and legs had been hogtied by US soldiers who then placed scorpions on his body.[95]
In 2008, six United States Navy personnel were charged and later convicted of abusing Camp Bucca prisoners after they beat the prisoners and locked several overnight in a room that had been filled with pepper spray.[91]
Role in the growth of ISIS[edit]
Camp Bucca has been described as playing an important role in shaping the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).[96] The detention of large numbers of Ba'athists and Islamists during the Iraqi insurgency provided them with the opportunity to forge alliances and learn from each other, combining the ideological fervour of the latter with the organizational skills of the former.[97][98] Former Camp Bucca detainees who went on to become leaders in the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant include Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the former leader of the ISIL before his death in October 2019; Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi who succeeded him; Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, spokesperson and senior ISIL leader; Abu Muslim al-Turkmani, al-Baghdadi's deputy; Haji Bakr, who spearheaded ISIL's expansion into Syria; Abu Abdulrahman al-Bilawi, the military leader responsible for planning the seizure of Mosul; and Abu Ayman al-Iraqi, another senior military leader.[97] Abu Mohammad al-Julani, who founded the Syrian Al Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front, was also a Camp Bucca detainee.[99]