The Jumhouri Hospital Prison

This prison was in the Jumhouri (Republican) Hospital, located in the Shifa neighborhood of Mosul. Built in 1938, the hospital was one of the first medical facilities in the city. It included a medical complex with a nursing school and medical school. After capturing Mosul in 2014, ISIS converted the 240-square-meter hospital basement into a prison in which it detained former Iraqi military officers and soldiers, as well as people accused of ridiculing or modifying the Quran. According to former detainees, the humidity level in the prison was very high as no sunlight reached the cell. This, and the lack of health care, resulted in illnesses among the prisoners. Hanging detainees by their limbs (shabh) was one of the main methods of torture in the prison. Detainees were tied and lifted by a hoist attached to the ceiling, then beaten with an iron tool all over their bodies. According to witnesses, detainees were blindfolded and their hands were tied behind their backs before being taken for interrogation, and were ordered to kneel once they reached the interrogation room. The main name associated with this prison is that of a judge called Abu Hareth, who was in charge of the prison. He was an officer in the intelligence service during Saddam Hussein’s rule. The hospital suffered a great deal of damage during the battles to expel ISIS from Mosul, which lasted for months. After the expulsion of ISIS from Mosul in 2017, the Azba field hospital was moved to the Jumhouri Hospital.