Los Angeles: A security force linked to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is holding detainees in miserable conditions for months without access to lawyers or families, `The Los Angeles Times` reported on Monday.
Citing unnamed Iraqi officials and diplomatic sources, the newspaper said some of the detainees have been held for up to two years.
Violence has dropped dramatically across Iraq since its peak in 2006 and 2007 but attacks remain common.
A total of 151 people were killed in the country throughout December.
The reduction of violence is attributed to a tough counter-terrorism campaign waged by the government and its allies. Iraqi officials said efforts to aggressively monitor the facility appeared to have ended, The Times said.
"It is inaccessible, and no one can go there," the paper quoted a senior diplomatic source as saying. "Lawyers cannot get there. Families cannot go there." The facility, formally known as Camp Honor, is run by the Baghdad Brigade and the Iraqi Counter-Terrorism bureau.
It is located inside a sprawling Defence Ministry compound in Baghdad`s Green Zone.
Bureau Report
