For more than two years, Iraqi writer Muhsin al-Khafaji has been held without charge or trial in the US-run prison,  Camp Bucca in southern Iraq. Family and friends say he is in poor health, and fear that he will not survive the notoriously bad conditions in the prison camp.

When last visited by friends in January 2004, he told them that he had no idea why he had been arrested. During his last interrogation in September 2003 he signed a statement provided by the camp authorities, promising not to sue them for damages after his release.

According to Amnesty International around 9,000 detainees are held at Camp Bucca. Two Palestinian students, who were released from the camp in August 2005 told the human rights watchdog that they suffered humiliation and torture at Camp Bucca including being forced to stand for hours in the heat of the sun. According to the Washington Post, the average length of incarceration at the Camp is one year. A recent report by the United Nations mission in Iraq expressed deep concern that nearly 12,000 Iraqis are being held by the occupying forces.

Human rights groups across the Arab world are calling for the release of Muhsin al-Khafaji and for the closure of the occupiers’ prison camps in Iraq.