The Dilemma of Foreign Prisoners in Iraq

By Ma'ad Fayad, Asharq Al-Awsat. Posted December 4, 2008.

A Saudi Arabian national, Faisal Ghanim Khalid Al Anasi, 27, who was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment for crossing the border illegally, made an appeal “to be transferred to Saudi Arabia to serve the rest of our sentence so that our families can visit us.” He added, “Many of the prisoners completed their sentences two years ago and still have not been released nor have preparations been made for them to return to their countries of origin.” However, al Anasi did thank “the prison administration for treating us well.”

Another Saudi Arabian national, Abdullah Hamood Abdul Aziz al Towaijiri explained that he was shocked by being “sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for illegally crossing the border even though I entered Iraq legitimately having obtained a visa to visit my cousin in Baquba.” He added that “U.S. troops did not pass my passport onto the courts so I could not prove my innocence.” He continues, “I called my family in Riyadh recently on the phone, a service provided to us by the prison administration.” He echoed his fellow countryman’s desire “to be transferred to Saudi Arabia to be retried, or to serve the rest of our sentence there.”

Ahmed Ali Ghanam, 23, a Saudi national from Riyadh, thanked the prison administration for “their excellent care, and for providing us with a telephone so that we can speak to our families.” He added, “I hope the Red Cross transfers us to Saudi Arabia so that I can see my family as my mother is suffering from a serious illness.” He stressed that he had entered Iraq legitimately “and did not commit any illegal acts ... we are in need of lawyers to represent us.”

Khalid Abdul Rahman, an Algerian imprisoned in Sousa Prison said, “How can I be tried on charges of illegally crossing the border when I am actually an Iraqi resident, and was studying law at the University of Baghdad?” He added, “The U.S. forces kept hold of my passport, and all I need now is for the Algerian embassy to retrieve it, so that I can prove my innocence.”

Abdul Rahman, who has served four years of a 15-year sentence, said, “Even the judge who sentenced me told me ‘I’m sure you’re innocent but you do not have a passport just as it says here in your documents.’”

Abdul Rahman went on to say that he was transferred to Sousa prison from Abu Ghraib Prison and Badoush Prison. He described the conditions in the prison as being “bad because they have put me in with Iraqis who I have ideological disputes with.”

Abdul Rahman sent a message via Asharq Al-Awsat to the Algerian government, “which has forgotten all about us, and has not sent any official or lawyer to visit us.”

A Sudanese national, Abdul Rahman Hassan Hussein asked “How could I be accused of illegally crossing the border when I have officially lived in Iraq for 28 years. I have an auto paint shop in Balad Ruz, Diyala.” He added that he had spoken to the Sudanese embassy but “the last call was three months ago and so far nothing has happened.”

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