Human Rights Abuses in Iraq

The socialist, pan-arabist Ba’ath party began as a party of the intellectual elite of Iraq. After its successful coup in 1968 it made some positive progress including the building of schools, roads and housing for the poor. In fact, Iraq developed one of the best public health systems in the Middle East. However, a lot of the success was built on the rather rough methods of then Vice-President Saddam Hussein who proved to be a very effective administrator.

Soon after the takeover of Saddam Hussein things changed for the worse. He tolerated no opposition, the Shi’a majority suffered severe discrimination and he pursued his goal to regain Arab superiority lost hundreds of years ago willing to go over dead bodies.

The following gives an incomplete but telling overview over the history of human rights abuses in Iraq including ethnic cleansing, genocide, arbitrary violence and detention as well as torture.

When Saddam Hussein rose to power he invited all members of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council to a meeting in a big conference room in Baghdad. At that meeting Secretary General of the Council Muhyi Abd al-Hussein Mashhadi, who had been arrested and tortured the day before, stood on stage and pointed at 60 "traitors" among those present who were arrested on the spot. Following secret trials they were all executed by a shooting squad in a frightening display of how Saddam Hussein was going to run the country. In fact during his time in power he never hesitated to remove threats to his safety, power or reputation through murder.

The Anfal Campaign

As retribution for the Kurds’ support for Iranian troops during the Iran-Iraq War, Saddam Hussein ordered the al-Anfal Campaign under the command of Ali Hassan al Majid, a cousin of the dictator who earned the nickname "Chemical Ali". "al-Anfal" is the name of the eighth sura of the Qur’an and means "the spoils of war". Lasting three years from 1986 until 1989 it included bombings, mass deportations, arbitrary detention and executions as well as the destruction of infrastructure in northern Iraq. One of the best-known atrocities of the campaign was the chemical attack on Halabja on March 16, 1988. Using a number of chemical weapons including sarin and mustard gas as well as hydrogen cyanide the attackers killed over 15,000 people either immediately or over the next decade.

The al-Anfal genocide is estimated to have caused the deaths of 100,000-150,000 Kurds, the bodies of which are still being discovered in mass graves today, the destruction of 3000-4000 villages and the displacement of several hundred thousand non-Arabs.

Arabization

Successive Iraqi governments have tried for at least 80 years to change the ethnic make-up of northern Iraq in order to gain access to the resource rich region. However, beginning in 1975 the government of Saddam Hussein massively increased these efforts that became known as the "Arabization" policy. Some 250.000 Kurds, Turkomans, and Assyrians were forcibly displaced and their houses and land repopulated by Arabs from Central and Southern Iraq. The government unilaterally declared the governorates of Arbil, Sulaimaniya and Dohuk to form a Kurdistan Autonomous Region, which did not include the resource rich area around Kirkuk.

Human Rights Watch estimates that in 1990 alone 120,000 people had to leave Kirkuk, while between 1991 and 2000 the total number of displaced non-Arabs amounted to 200,000.

A variety of methods were used to achieve this. Arab tribes from the al-Jazeera desert were incentivized to move north, where they were given irrigated land that belonged to the Kurds and other non-Arab minorities. The inhabitants were forced to leave their houses and property behind through blackmail, kidnappings and the threat of force. According to a report by UN Habitat, in 2001 there were over 800,000 internally displaced non-Arabs as a result of the Arabization campaign, which only stopped with the onset of the War in 2003.

After the removal of Saddam Hussein and his Ba’ath regime in 2003 the displaced returned to their former homes. Ethnic tensions ran high as returning non-Arabs and Arabs clashed and property disputes have continued to be a problem since the Iraq Property Claims Commission established in 2004 has proven unable to deal with the large number of property disputes.

Gulf War

The 1991 Gulf War during which US led troops liberated Kuweit from Iraqi occupation was followed by uprisings against the government of Saddam Hussein among Shi’a groups in southern and Kurds in northern Iraq. Kurdish Paschmergas were able to benefit from the temporary weakness of the Iraqi army and managed to occupy nearly all of the area the Kurds traditionally lay claim to including the city of Kirkuk. However, without the support of the western troops, they were not able to hold back the counter offensive launched against them. Thousands were indiscriminately killed and tens of thousands arrested and summarily executed. As a response to this, American and British troops announced a no-fly zone north of the 36th degree of latitude. This zone did not cover Kirkuk and other predominantly Kurdish areas, which posed a setback for the Kurdish project and forced many to have to flee north.

However, Iraqi troops did respect the no-fly zone, de facto granting autonomy to the Kurds in the North who established their own administration. This led to the return of many formerly displaced non-Arabs to the region and the expulsion of many Arab settlers, who were forced out of the villages. In total, between one and two million non-Arabs were forced to flee to Iran, Turkey and Syria following the Gulf War.

The Ma'dan or Marsh Arabs

The mostly Shi’a Ma’dan or Marsh Arabs lived in the Marshes of southern Iraq for about 5000 years. They remained outside the control of the Iraqi Government until the end of the Iran-Iraq war when their systematic repression became policy. As retribution for their uprising in 1991, and presumably also because of the immense oil wealth of the region, the government began to dry out the Marshes, destroying the livelihood of the Ma’dan. Arrests, "disappearances" and executions become common and a large number or Marsh Arabs fled their homeland. After the United Nations special rapporteur on Iraq voiced his concern about the situation in 1992, the Security Council failed to act, however, the US, Britain and France declared a no fly zone over southern Iraq. This did not stop the Iraqi army to run ground incursion including the laying of mines, poisoning of the ecosystem and burning down of homes. Additionally economic sanctions were imposed and the further draining of the main rivers that gave life to the marshes.

What used to be a population of 250,000 as recently as 1991 was estimated to have been reduced to about 40,000 in 2003. According to the United Nations as little as 20,000 Ma’dan still live in Iraq, while roughly 100,000 live as refugees in Iran.

Torture

While torture is illegal in Iraq, under the rule of Saddam Hussein it was standard practice in the headquarters of the General Security Directorate in Baghdad, in its branches in the governorates as well as police stations and detention centres all across the country. Following arrest the detainees were often held incommunicado for month or years and denied access to their lawyers or family while being severely mistreated. According to several human rights organizations prisoners have been subjected to a wide range of forms of torture including gauging out of the eyes, suspension, electric shocks and beatings with cables or hoses, extraction of fingernails and piercing of the hands with electric drills. Sexual abuse, or the threat thereof, was also common. Some prisoners were forced to watch or perform sexual acts on each other or threatened to be raped by the guards or have female family members raped in front of them. Numerous detainees died as a result of the ill treatment and many have suffered permanent physical and physiological damage.

The victims or torture were often political opponents, Shi’a Muslims or individuals accused of cooperating with the state’s enemies. Frequently torture is not only used to force confessions but also as a punishment. Additionally, Iraq introduced punishments such amputation of hands and feet and ear as well as branding.

Abu Ghraib

After the 2003 invasion torture continued in the prisons including those run by the Multinational Force (MNF). While there were cases of abusive behaviour and torture by British and US forces, increasingly the perpetrators are Iraqi security forces.

The events at Abu Ghraib were the first publicised incidents of US soldiers committing acts of torture. In 2004 and again in 2006 images emerged showing US guards humiliating and torturing detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.

Amnesty International claims that prisoners of the occupation forces were denied the right to challenge their detention and are often held for years without access to lawyers, doctors or family. In reference to this situation then Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan said in 2005: "One of the major human rights challenges remains the detention of thousands of persons without due process (…). Prolonged detention without access to lawyers and courts is prohibited under international law, including during states of emergency."

Since the handover of power in June 2004 cases of torture and ill treatment continue to be reported by human rights groups. The methods involved are similar to those employed under the Ba’ath regime and include beatings, electric shocks, prolonged suspension in stress positions and sexual humiliation. In 2005 reports of secret detention facilities under the direct control of the Ministry of the Interior emerged. Upon raiding one such prison, US troops came across more than 170 prisoners being held under terrible conditions and showing signs of torture. Investigation by the MNF brought a number of such cases to the fore, but it is assumed that these practices still go on in many Iraqi prisons.

In 2008 Amnesty International estimated that there were still around 60,000 people held without charge or trial by either the MNF or Iraqi security forces and charged that torture and ill treatment were still commonplace in Iraqi prisons.

In an article from April 2010 the LA Times alleged "hundreds of Sunni men disappeared into a secret Baghdad prison". This prison was under the jurisdiction of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki’s military office and the detainees were routinely tortured. According to officials from the Ministry of Human Rights 431 prisoners were found in appalling condition, at least 100 of which had been tortured. At least one detainee died as the result of torture including beatings, electricity, suffocation and rape.

Kurdistan has remained more stable with regard to sectarian violence and arbitrary abuse. However, the Asayish (the security forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government) have been accused of severe Human rights violations such as arbitrary arrest, torture and the use of the death penalty. Journalists have complained of suppression and intimidation.