Saddam's Cell Better Than Hell

From the Observer:

UN inspector paints bleak picture of Saddam's jail

Antony Barnett
Sunday May 22, 2005

Dramatic details of conditions at Camp Cropper, the top-secret Baghdad prison where Saddam Hussein is being held, have been revealed by a senior UN weapons inspector.

Dr Rod Barton, former special adviser to the Iraq Survey Group and a leading expert in chemical and biological weapons, was involved in the interrogation of Iraqi scientists at Camp Cropper.

Barton, who gave an exclusive interview to The Observer, decided to speak out to highlight what he believes is the unjust detention of scientists at the Baghdad jail.

...He said there were about 100 prisoners kept at the 'bleak' prison, which consists of three rows of single-story buildings with tiny two-metre square cells and no windows. The cells have steel doors with a metal flap a metre from the ground.

He said: 'Sometimes the prisoners would push the flap open to look out into the exercise yard or to get fresh air. The guards could lock the flap as punishment. Exercise was permitted on a rotation basis for half-hour a day though this was increased to an hour after the Red Cross protested in January 2004. Other prisoners shared larger accommodation sleeping on camp stretchers. Many, he said, have spent more than 18 months in solitary confinement.

...Barton describes how prisoners were brought into the interrogation rooms dressed in orange jumpsuits escorted by armed guards. 'There were about 45 case officers and each inmate had one case officer assigned to him. The idea was that the detainee would develop a rapport with his case officer.'

Barton said he witnessed no physical abuse at the jail, but he believes some prisoners had been 'softened up' before they arrived in an induction process known as 'purgatory'.

Barton has an agenda, to speak out against what he considers the unjust detention of scientists in Baghdad. Therefore, it's no surprise he would attempt to characterize conditions in the jail as poor.

However, Barnett's story doesn't exactly expose anything. He is describing a prison. Does he expect conditions there to be akin to a four-star hotel?

Saddam's jail is "bleak." So what?

The torture and rape rooms weren't bright, cheery places.

Saddam no longer lives a life of extravagance and luxury in palaces. He spends his days in a cell. He's a murderer. I'd call that fitting.

The prisoners wear orange jumpsuits. I don't see what's so bad about that. Thousands of inmates in American prisons dress that way. What's the problem?

It seems like there's an attempt being made to engender sympathy for Saddam.

It's not working on me.

I think Saddam should consider himself lucky. His cell is better than Hell.