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Camp Bucca, with about 20,000 inmates, is perhaps the world's largest extrajudicial internment camp.

Foreign Policy In Focus | The "Surge" of Iraqi Prisoners: "Detainees are held by the U.S. command in two main locations -- Camp Bucca, a 100-acre prison camp and Camp Cropper, inside a massive U.S. base near the Baghdad airport. The number of Iraqis held in these facilities has steadily risen since the early days of the occupation. In 2007, the inmate count rose 70% -- from 14,500 to 24,700.

Camp Bucca, with about 20,000 inmates, is perhaps the world's largest extrajudicial internment camp. The facility is organized into 'compounds' of 800 detainees each, surrounded by fences and watch towers. Most detainees live in large communal tents, subject to collapse in the area's frequent sandstorms. Water has at times been in short supply, while temperatures in the desert conditions can be scorching hot in the day and bone-chilling at night.

In October 2007, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a contract to expand Camp Bucca's capacity from 20,000 to 30,000. While easing notorious crowding, the contract suggests Washington is preparing for even more detentions in the future.

Camp Cropper consists of more traditional cellblock buildings. Among its roughly 4,000 inmates are hundreds of juveniles. Cropper is a site of ongoing interrogation and it holds many long-term detainees who complain that they never see the light of day. Though recently expanded, the facility suffers from overcrowding, poor medical attention and miserable conditions."

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