Military insists ’segregation boxes’ for Iraqi prisoners are ‘humane’

David Edwards and Stephen C. Webster Raw Story August 7, 2008 CNN’s Barbara Starr, in a Thursday report, examined what the US military is calling ’segregation boxes’: small, wooden crates being used in Iraq to hold prisoners, which the US military insists are ‘humane.’ Measuring 3 feet square and about 6 feet tall, the military claims that prisoners isolated in the chambers are checked frequently, but the practice is raising concern among human rights advocates. “There is concern that they could be used in places where detainees are enclosed in extremely hot conditions,” said Jennifer Daskal of Human Rights Watch. “Typically, prisoners are isolated for no more than 12 hours,” said Starr. “Someone in a segregation box is actually observed more than those anywhere else,” Maj. Neil Fischer with the United States Marine Corps told CNN. “Since the abuses at Abu Ghraib, the US has improved co...