A published report Monday says authorities in Baghdad have found more prisoners who were tortured and abused at a detention center operated by Iraq's Interior Ministry.
The Washington Post reports investigators found at least 13 prisoners who had been mistreated. Quoting an Iraqi official involved in the case, the newspaper says most of the victims had been subjected to "severe torture," and are now receiving medical treatment.
The incidents of abuse came to light during a search of a detention facility, operated by Interior Ministry "special commandos," that houses more than 600 prisoners in the capital.
The site, which was searched Thursday, is said to be the second Interior Ministry detention center where cases of prisoner abuse have been confirmed by American and Iraqi officials.
Concern about mistreatment of prisoners in Iraqi government facilities have increased since U.S. troops discovered a secret Interior Ministry detention center in Baghdad last month where Sunni Arab inmates had been severely beaten by their Shi'ite Muslim jailers.
That finding drew a sharp public rebuke of the Iraqi government from U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, who said the human rights of all detainees in the country must be respected. The facility described in today's Washington Post report was the first prison investigated as a result of last month's discoveries.
