Iraq prison staff protest lack of medical supplies

AP, Baghdad, March 24, 2011 – An official at a northern Iraq prison says medical staff held a protest, saying they didn’t have enough medical supplies to treat prisoners and demanding more pay.
Bakir Hama, a medical official at the hospital, said that 50 medical employees at Chamchamal federal prison protested Thursday.
He said the staff complained about the lack of medical supplies and medicine to treat sick prisoners. He said the staff is also not receiving extra pay that they used to receive for working in dangerous situations.
Chamchamal is located about 30 miles (50 kilometers) south of the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah.
The prison houses 2,500 prisoners.
Human rights groups have criticized Iraq for its treatment of prisoners saying inmates have sometimes been abused.