The Veterans Association Prison

This prison was located in Mosul’s Dawwasa area. It repurposed the Veterans Association building, which had been built in 1951 on the bank of the Tigris. The Veterans Association was created to serve retired military personnel and the families of dead soldiers. It was the first association of its kind in the Arab world. After its capture of Mosul in 2014, ISIS divided the building into two sections. One was converted into a sharia court for marriage and divorce contracts and inheritance matters. The other was converted into a prison. Though people were detained on various charges, the majority of detainees were tribal representatives. Other detainees included Iraqi military officers, police officers, electoral commission employees, and men accused of spying for the Iraqi security forces. According to former detainees in this prison interviewed by the IPM, interrogation and torture were conducted after midnight, and involved sharp tools being inserted into sensitive areas of a detainee’s body. In most cases, the detainees were chained and blindfolded. The most prominent names associated with this prison are Abu Aisha, who was appointed a judge in charge of the prison, and Abu Islam, who was the Emir. After the expulsion of ISIS from Mosul in 2017, the building was returned to its former use as a Veterans Association .