Prison ‘cleansing’ operations

Two offenders were executed at the Mahattah Prison in Arbil, in accordance with a court ruling. The two, whose initials were S and F, were arrested by the Barzan army corps in Mergasur region. They later confessed to the killing of four citizens and stealing their cars. (Sources: Iraqi Kurdish newspaper Hawlati monitored by BBC, 14/02/2002)
February 25, 2002: the Iraqi regime perpetrated a new massacre in Abu Ghraib Prison on the outskirts of Baghdad early in February, an Iraqi opposition group said. The Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) said in a statement the Iraqi authorities executed 60 prisoners including 35 inmates, charged with opposition to the regime. The inmates had been detained on charges of manipulation of prices, monopolisation, refusal to join the Al-Quds Army [volunteer army formed by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to fight alongside the Palestinians to free Jerusalem from Israeli control] or payment of protection money to gangs run by Uday, son of the Iraqi ruler. (Sources: Kuna news agency web site monitored by BBC, 25/02/2002)
March 4, 2002: the Iraqi authorities executed 52 detainees at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad, relatives said. Speaking to Iraq Press on condition of anonymity, they said President Saddam Hussein issued the execution order only one day after large-scale prison riots in which several detainees were injured. The riots started as prison guards opened the gates to provide food to the detainees. When the scuffles continued and the commotion spread to other wings, the prison authorities opened fire on the rioters, wounding many of them. The relatives said they believed the riots were the largest ever reported in Abu Ghraib and they were so disturbing that the second day the prison wardens got orders from Saddam to execute all those involved. Some 52 detainees, most of them held for political reasons, were immediately executed, the relatives said.The authorities try to clamp a blackout on reports of riots, which have so far taken place in several detention centres in the country. Early this year, three soldiers were killed during riots at an army detention centre at the military camp of Habaniya, west of Baghdad. Late in 2001, the authorities stepped up security at Abu Ghraib also following clashes between inmates and prison guards. Scores of prisoners attacked their guards who demanded exorbitant bribes to let relatives carry food, medicine and other essentials inside the prison. The relatives said conditions in Abu Ghraib were appalling and the inmates suffered from overcrowding and mistreatment. (Sources: Sulaimaniya, Iraq Press, 04/03/2002)
September 25, 2002: the UK government released a dossier of evidence against Iraqi President entitled Saddam Hussein: Crimes and Human Rights Abuses.The report, compiled by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said that:"Human rights organisations, such as Human Rights Watch, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iraq have reported the phenomenon of killing inmates in order to `cleanse´ the prisons. In 1984, 4,000 political prisoners were executed at a single prison, the Abu Ghraib. An estimated 2,500 prisoners were executed between 1997 and 1999 in a further "prison cleansing" campaign. In February 2000, 64 male prisoners were executed at Abu Ghraib, followed in March by a further 58, all of whom had previously been held in solitary confinement. In October 2001, 23 political prisoners, mainly Shia Muslims, were executed at Abu Ghraib. Between 1993 and 1998 around 3,000 prisoners from the "Mahjar" prison were executed in an execution area called the "Hadiqa" (garden) near to the prison. The "Hadiqa" consisted of an open area and sand bank that was covered by a steel awning. Prisoners from the "Mahjar" were executed in the "Hadiqa" by machine gun. A Special Oversight Committee at the prison decided on the executions."(Sources: Foreign and Commonwealth Office Report, 25/09/2002)