Camp Cropper Camp Cropper was a holding facility for security detainees operated by the United States Army near Baghdad International Airport in Iraq . The facility was initially operated as a high - value detention site ( HVD ) , but has since been expanded increasing its capacity from 163 to 2 , 000 detainees . Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was held there prior to his execution . History . Camp Cropper was established by the Headquarters and Headquarters Company ( HHC ) of the 115th Military Police Battalion in April 2003 . It is named for Staff Sgt . Kenneth Cropper , a member of the Maryland National Guard who died in March 2002 while supporting security operations at the Pentagon . Almost immediately after being established , it was designated as the site for the Corps Holding Area ( CHA ) . Initially , the facility was meant to serve as " central booking " for the US forces operating in Baghdad and central Iraq , though detainees from northern Iraq were brought there as well . The original concept called for a small temporary camp that could hold up to 300 detainees for no more than 72 hours . After being processed at Camp Cropper detainees were supposed to be shipped to other detention facilities in Baghdad and throughout Iraq . However , in practice , this proved unworkable since most other prisons in Baghdad were badly damaged by looting after the fall of the Baath regime . Additional units to operate Camp Cropper include : In August 2006 , a combat support hospital was opened on Camp Cropper that would treat both coalition soldiers and detainees from Camp Cropper . The hospital was initially staffed by members of the 21st Combat Support Hospital from Fort Hood , Texas who transferred to the new facility after the closure of the Abu Ghraib detention facility . The 21st CSH was later replaced by the 31st Combat Support Hospital from Fort Bliss , Texas . On March 15 , 2007 military officials announced plans to once again expand Camp Bucca and Camp Cropper . Officials stated that this increase in capacity would be necessary to handle the detainees generated from the increased security operations in Baghdad . In the summer of 2010 the Camp Cropper facility was turned over to the Iraqi government and renamed Karkh Prison . Criticism . On 2004 - 06 - 16 , The Pentagon confirmed a report in the New York Times that former CIA chief George Tenet had been allowed by former U . S . Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to have an Iraqi prisoner secretly detained at Camp Cropper since November , but denied they were trying to hide the prisoner from the International Committee of the Red Cross . Rumsfeld later told reporters that the prisoner was treated humanely . In 2004 , the Red Cross was given regular and open access to the facility and the detainees , the Red Cross documented severe living conditions , harsh treatment by guards , and poor medical care . In October 2006 , the International Committee of the Red Cross reported the wounding of one American soldier to date by detainees . The attack was reported to have been under suspicious circumstances . Since the closure of Abu Ghraib and the subsequent relocation to Camp Cropper , the now - larger prison has seen criticism for abuses of detainees and a hotbed of insurgent recruitment . Between October and December 2006 , the MNF - I reported the deaths of three detainees at Camp Cropper . One from injuries inflicted by other detainees on October 29 , two on November 30 and December 2 from natural causes . Other detainees died on 2007 - 04 - 04 , 2007 - 05 - 26 and 2007 - 07 - 07 . In late April 2007 , the former commander of Camp Cropper , Lieutenant Colonel William H . Steele was reported to be held in a military prison in Kuwait to await an Article 32 hearing . He was charged with various breaches of military law , including supplying an unmonitored cellphone to a detainee and inappropriate relationship with a detainee ' s daughter . On October 19 , 2007 , a military judge found Steele not guilty on the charge of aiding the enemy , but guilty of " unauthorized possession of classified documents , behavior unbecoming an officer for an inappropriate relationship with an interpreter and failing to obey an order " . Steele faced a possible maximum 6 year sentence for the charges he previously pled guilty to , as well as an additional 10 years for the charges for which he was convicted . Instead , he was sentenced to 2 years confinement , minus time already served , loss of his military retirement , forfeiture of pay and allowances and a dismissal from the military .