A winch, a chain and a hook: inside the Islamic State’s secret prison and torture chamber in Fallujah

From the outside, there’s not a lot that stands out about the three neighbouring houses on this residential street in the Iraqi city of Fallujah.

One is grander than most, with two tall columns straddling its entrance. The others are unassuming and beige, like much of this city, which had been under the control of the Islamic State for the past two and a half years.

But behind their front doors is a makeshift prison used by the militants to mete out their archaic punishments. It provides a harrowing window into the brutal rule of law that governed here before the city was retaken, a glimpse of its regime of executions, floggings and torture.

Home to many of the Islamic State’s leaders, Fallujah was the first city to fall into the hands of the organisation and was a hub for their operations in Iraq. The prison is just one of the remnants of their self-proclaimed caliphate that were left behind by the militants as they died or fled the city and that are now slowly being discovered, allowing Iraqi forces firsthand insight into the group’s inner workings.

Colonel Haitham Ghazi, an intelligence officer for the Iraqi police’s emergency response division, also known as SWAT, indicates behind a barred door in one of the smaller buildings.

“You can feel the breath of the prisoners inside,” he said.