"Non-convicted" detainees to vote

Reuters reported this week that all "non-convicted" detainees will be provided voting stations by the Independent Electoral Commission for October 15's referendum on the draft constitution in Iraq.

The US military has declined to comment on the statements by Iraqi election officials, who claim to be preparing the logistics for detainee voting at Camp Cropper (at Baghdad airport), and Abu Ghraib. Two days before nationwide polling begins, over 10,000 detainees, mostly Sunni Arabs, will be given a chance to vote on the constitution, which has been widely rejected by prominent Sunnis.

Western newspapers hyped the quite unimportant fact that Saddam Hussein will be allowed to vote, given his trial will only begin October 19, and he has yet to be convicted of any crime.