Fort Suse Fort Suse is the name of an Iraqi military barracks and training facility built in 1977 by Russia n engineers . Fort Suse is located in Kurdistan region of Iraq Iraq in the vicinity of Al - Sulamaniya . Use as a detention facility . In 2005 , the fort was converted from a once United Nations demining facility to a detention facility capable of holding 1 , 700 – 2 , 000 security detainees at a cost of $ 8 million . The conversion was done using civilian contractors under the supervision of the 20th Engineer Brigade , 82nd Airborne Division Military Police , 101st Airborne Brigade Troops Battalion , and Task Force 134 . Task Force 134 is in charge of all Multi - National Force Iraq ( MNFI ) detention operations in Iraq . Conversion of the fort to a detention facility , coupled with the expansion of existing facilities at Camp Bucca and Camp Cropper was part of a plan to alleviate over crowding at existing facilities , close the detention facility at Abu Ghraib and to eventually transition detention operations to the Iraqi government . Construction began on August 3 , 2005 and the facility received its first 50 detainees on October 24 , 2005 . The facility was initially manned by 1st Battalion 504th Parachute Infantry Battalion , 82nd Airborne Division with detainee operations supervised by members of the 82nd Military Police , and medics from the 101st Airborne . Facility detainee operations were conducted in conjunction with Kurdish prison guards which obtained extensive training via the 1 / 504 PIR . In January 2006 , 508th Military Police Battalion ( Internment / Resettlement ) took control over Theater Internment Facility ( TIF ) operations . Soldiers from the 508th trained up navy personnel to perform guard force duties and detainee operations . In February 2006 , members of the Navy Provisional Detainee Battalion ( NPDB ) began detainee operations . 508th Military Police BN ( I / R ) opened a training program for Kurdish prison guards . Kurdish guards first graduated from the extensive training given by 508th MPs , and later integrated into operating independently on each cell block . 508th MPs maintained control of the TIF operations , while NPDB controlled FOB operations . On December 12 , 2005 , Nearly 90 percent of all eligible security detainees in Multi - National Forces - Iraq Theater Internment Facilities , including those at Fort Suse , participated in the democratic vote on the Iraqi National Ballot . On May 8 , 2006 , the U . S . Military announced that five security detainees had escaped from Fort Suse , the first escape from that facility . Reports blamed the escape on negligence on the part of Kurdish guards . All five detainees were later recaptured by in a joint operation by Kurdish security forces and peshmerga militiamen . ( Only four detainees were recaptured , the last was suspected to have died while in the Kurdish mountains . ) In August 2006 , it was reported that all security detainees from Fort Suse would be transferred to Camp Cropper and Camp Bucca and the facility turned over to the Iraqi government on September 22 , 2006 . Iraqi run prison . After its handover in September 2006 , Fort Suse became an Iraqi run prison with a maximum capacity of 1 , 500 inmates . It received its first inmates on November 19 , 2006 and now holds convicted criminals , serving their sentence after being convicted in Iraqi courts . In October 2007 , the International Committee of the Red Cross ( ICRC ) conducted a visit of Fort Suse , the first visit for that organization of an Iraqi run prison facility . « ICRC visited Fort Suse in early 2006 while 508th MP BN ( I / R ) was still in charge of the TIF »