[JURIST] Detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison [JURIST news archive], recently transferred from US to Iraqi control [JURIST report], are allegedly being tortured by prison officials, according to an independent observer who told the UK's Telegraph that screaming was heard coming from the inmate cell blocks, that health conditions there are unacceptable, and that inmates are given inadequate food and no time to exercise. Prison staff have also said that dozens of terror suspects have been transferred in the last week to Abu Ghraib from the controversial Interior Ministry facility at Jadriyah, where US troops discovered 173 malnourished Iraqi detainees [JURIST report] in November, some showing signs of torture. Last week, 27 prisoners were executed [Telegraph report] at Abu Ghraib, the first mass execution in Iraq since the downfall of Saddam Hussein.

The US faced pressure to close Abu Ghraib since scandalous photos [JURIST report] of US troops abusing Iraqi prisoners there surfaced in April 2004. A Human Rights Watch report released in July claimed that US commanders authorized [JURIST report] widespread torture of Iraqi detainees during and even after the Abu Ghraib scandal. The Telegraph has more.