Baghdad Central Prison The Baghdad Central Prison , formerly known as Abu Ghraib prison ( " " ; also " Abu Ghuraib " , lit . ' Father of Raven ' , or ' Place of Ravens ' ) is in Abu Ghraib , an Iraqi city 32 km ( 20 mi ) west of Baghdad . It was built by British contractors in the 1950s . Observers estimated that in 2001 , the prison held as many as 15 , 000 inmates . In 2002 Saddam Hussein ' s government began an expansion project to add six new cellblocks to the prison . In October 2002 , he gave amnesty to most prisoners in Iraq . After the prisoners were released and the prison was left empty , it was vandalized and looted . Almost all of the documents relating to prisoners were piled and burnt inside of prison offices and cells , leading to extensive structural damage . After years of shared use by United States - led forces and the Iraqi government beginning in 2003 after the Iraq Invasion , the US transferred complete control of the prison to the Iraqis on September 2 , 2006 . History . United States - led coalition . Until August 2006 , the site known as the Abu Ghraib prison was used for detention purposes by both the U . S . - led coalition occupying Iraq and the Iraqi government . Since then , the Iraqi government has controlled the area of the facility known as " The Hard Site " . The prison is used to house only convicted criminals . Suspected criminals , insurgents or those arrested and awaiting trial are held at other facilities , commonly known as " camps " in U . S . military parlance . The US houses all its detainees at " Camp Redemption " , which is divided into five security levels . This camp built in the summer of 2004 replaced the three - level setup of Camp Ganci , Camp Vigilant and Abu Ghraib ' s Tier 1 . The remainder of the facility was occupied by the United States military . In the recent past , Abu Ghraib served as both a FOB ( Forward Operating Base ) and a detention facility . When the US was using the Abu Ghraib prison as a detention facility , it housed approximately 7490 prisoners there in March 2004 . The current population of detainees is much smaller , because Camp Redemption has a much smaller capacity than Camp Ganci had . Many detainees have been sent from Abu Ghraib to Camp Bucca for this reason . The US initially holds all " persons of interest " in Camp Redemption . Some are suspected rebels , and some suspected criminals . Those convicted by trial in Iraqi court are transferred to the Iraqi - run Hard Site . Reserve soldiers from the 320th military police battalion were charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with prisoner abuse , beginning with an Army Criminal Investigation Division investigation on January 14 , 2004 . In April 2004 , U . S . television news - magazine " 60 Minutes " reported on a story from the magazine " The New Yorker " , which recounted US - sanctioned torture and humiliation of Iraqi detainees by US soldiers and contracted civilians . The story included photographs ' depicting the abuse of prisoners . The events created a substantial political scandal within the US and other coalition countries . ( For more information see Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse . ) On April 20 , 2004 insurgents fired forty ( 40 ) mortar rounds into the prison . Twenty - two detainees were killed and 92 wounded . Commentators thought the attack was either as an attempt to incite a riot or retribution for detainees ' cooperating with the United States . In May 2004 , the US - led coalition embarked on a prisoner - release policy to reduce numbers to fewer than 2000 . Despite numerous large releases and transfers to Camp Bucca , this goal has yet to be obtained . There continue to be numerous incoming detainees . In a May 24 , 2004 address at the U . S . Army War College in Pennsylvania , United States President George W . Bush announced that the prison would be demolished . On June 14 Iraqi interim President Ghazi Mashal Ajil al - Yawer said he opposed this decision , followed by the ruling June 21 by U . S . military judge Col . James Pohl , who said that the prison was a crime scene and could not be demolished until investigations and trials were completed . On April 2 , 2005 the prison was attacked by 60 insurgents . In the two hours before being forced to retreat , the attackers suffered at least 50 casualties . ( Both killed and injured ; according to the US military . ) The attackers used small arms , rockets , and RPG ' s as weapons , and threw grenades over the walls . A Vehicle - Borne IED ( VBIED ) detonated just outside the front wall after Marines fired on it . Officials believe that the car bomb was intended to breach the prison wall , enabling an assault and / or mass escape for detainees . Insurgents also attacked military forces nearby on highways in route to the prison for reinforcement . They used ambushes along the roads . Thirty - six persons at or in the prison , including Marines , soldiers , sailors , civilians and detainees , were injured in the attack . Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility for both of the strikes . During the week ending August 27 , 2005 , at the request of the Iraqi government , the US released nearly 1 , 000 detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison . On December 4 , 2005 , Reuters reported that John Pace , human rights chief for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq ( UNAMI ) , said , " Those held in Abu Ghraib prison were among an estimated 14 , 000 people imprisoned in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1546 . " Transfer to Iraqi control . In March 2006 the U . S . military decided to transfer the 4 , 500 inmates to other prisons and transfer control of the Abu Ghraib prison to Iraqi authorities . The prison was reported emptied of prisoners in August 2006 . The formal transfer was made on September 2 , 2006 . The formal transfer was conducted between Major General Jack Gardner , Commander of Task Force 134 , and representatives of the Iraqi Ministry of Justice and the Iraqi army . In February 2009 Iraq reopened Abu Ghraib under the new name of Baghdad Central Prison . It was designed to house 3 , 500 inmates . The government said it planned to increase the number up to 15 , 000 prisoners by the end of the year . 2013 Prison Break . A prison break occurred on 21 July 2013 , and media outlets reported a mass breakout of prisoners at Abu Ghraib . Reportedly , at least 500 prisoners escaped . A senior member of the security and defense committee in parliament described the prisoners as mostly those who were " convicted senior members of al - Qaeda and had received death sentences . " Al - Qaeda ' s branch in Iraq issued a statement on a jihadist forum claiming that they were responsible for organising and executing the prison break , which had taken months of preparation . Al - Qaida also claimed that the attacks involved 12 car bombs , suicide bombers and a barrage of mortars and rockets . They also claimed that they killed more than 120 government forces , though the Iraqi authorities claimed that 25 members of the security forces were killed , along with 21 prisoners and ten militants . A simultaneous attack occurred at another prison , in Taji , around 12 miles north of Baghdad . The attacks were unsuccessful ; however , sixteen members of the Iraqi security forces and six militants were killed in the attack . The breakout has raised fears that it would lead to further conflict between Shia and Sunni Muslims .