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Encyclopedia > Human rights in Saddam's Iraq

Iraq under Saddam Hussein was notorious for high levels of torture and mass murder. Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti, (Arabic ), born April 28, 1937 , was the President of Iraq from 1979 until he lost power over Iraq when American troops arrived in Baghdad on April 9, 2003. ... Torture is any act by which severe pain, whether physical or psychological, is intentionally inflicted on a person as a means of intimidation, a deterrent, revenge, a punishment, or as a method for the extraction of information or confessions (i. ... This article deals with mass killings which are not considered genocide. ...


Secret police, torture, murders, targeted assassinations, chemical weapons, and the destruction of wetlands (i.e. the destruction of the food source of rival groups) were some of the methods critics say Saddam Hussein used to maintain control. The total number of deaths related to torture and murder during this period are unknown as are the reports of human rights violations. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International issued regular reports of widespread imprisonment and torture. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Early detection of chemical agents Sociopolitical climate of chemical warfare While the study of chemicals and their military uses was widespread in China, the use of toxic materials has historically been viewed with mixed emotions and some disdain in the West (especially when the enemy were doing it). ... A subtropical wetland in Florida, USA, with an endangered American Crocodile. ... This page deals with the cessation of life. ... Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ... The word violation, when used alone, has several possible meanings in the English language. ... Human Rights Watch is a U.S.-based international human rights non-governmental organization located in New York City, USA, that conducts advocacy and research on human rights issues. ... Amnesty International logo Amnesty International (commonly known as Amnesty or AI) is an international, non-governmental organization with the stated purpose of promoting all the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international standards. ... A prison is a place in which people are confined and deprived of a range of liberties. ...

Contents


Documented human rights violations 1979-2003

Human rights organizations have documented government approved executions, acts of torture, and rape for decades since Saddam Hussein came to power in 1979 until his fall in 2003. This page refers to the year 1979. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

  • In 2002, a resolution sponsored by the European Union was adopted by the Commission for Human Rights, which stated that there had been no improvement in the human rights crisis in Iraq. The statement condemned President Saddam Hussein's government for its "systematic, widespread and extremely grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law". The resolution demanded that Iraq immediately put an end to its "summary and arbitrary executions... the use of rape as a political tool and all enforced and involuntary disappearances".
  • Two years earlier, two human rights groups, the International Federation of Human Rights League and the Coalition for Justice in Iraq released a joint report, accusing the Saddam Hussein regime of committing "massive and systematic" human rights violations, particularly against women. The report spoke of public beheadings of women who were accused of being prostitutes, which took place in front of family members, including children. The heads of the victims were publicly displayed near signs reading, "For the honor of Iraq." The report documented 130 women who had been killed in this way, but stated that the actual number was probably much higher. The report also describes human rights violations directed against children. The report states that children, as young as 5 years old, are recruited into the Ashbal Saddam, or "Saddam's Cubs," and indoctrinated to adulate Saddam Hussein and denounce their own family members. The children are also subjected to military training, which includes cruelty to animals. The report also describes how parents of children are executed if they object to this treatment, and in some cases, the children themselves are imprisoned.
  • Full political participation at the national level was restricted only to members of the Arab Ba'ath Party, which constituted only 8% of the population. Therefore, it was impossible for Iraqi citizens to change their government.
  • Iraqi citizens were not allowed to assemble legally unless it was to express support for the government. The Iraqi government controlled the establishment of political parties, regulates their internal affairs and monitors their activities.
  • Police checkpoints on Iraqi's roads and highways prevented ordinary citizens from traveling abroad without government permission and expensive exit visas. Before traveling, an Iraqi citizen had to post collateral. Iraqi women could not travel outside of the country without the escort of a male relative.
  • The activities of citizens living inside Iraq who received money from relatives abroad were closely monitored.
  • In 1988, the Hussein regime began a campaign of extermination against the Kurdish people living in Northern Iraq. This is known as the Anfal campaign. The attacks resulted in the death of at least 50,000 (some reports estimate as many as 100,000 people), many of them women and children. A team of Human Rights Watch investigators determined, after analyzing eighteen tons of captured Iraqi documents, testing soil samples and carrying out interviews with more than 350 witnesses, that the attacks on the Kurdish people were characterized by gross violations of human rights, including mass executions and disappearances of many tens of thousands of noncombatants, widespread use of chemical weapons including Sarin, mustard gas and nerve agents that killed thousands, the arbitrary imprisoning of tens of thousands of women, children, and elderly people for months in conditions of extreme deprivation, forced displacement of hundreds of thousands of villagers after the demolition of their homes, and the wholesale destruction of nearly two thousand villages along with their schools, mosques, farms, and power stations.
  • In April 1991, after Saddam lost control of Kuwait in the Gulf War, he cracked down ruthlessly against uprisings in the Kurdish north and the Shia south. His forces committed wholesale massacres and other gross human rights violations against both groups similar to the violations mentioned before. Estimates of deaths during that time range from 40,000 to 100,000 for Kurds, and 60,000 to 130,000 for Shi'ites.
  • In March of 2003, Britain released video footage of Iraqi soldiers firing on fleeing Iraqi citizens near the town of Basra in southern Iraq.
  • Also in April of 2003, CNN revealed that it had withheld information about Iraq torturing journalists and Iraqi citizens in the 1990s. According to CNN's chief news executive, the channel had been concerned for the safety not only of its own staff, but also of Iraqi sources and informants, who could expect punishment for speaking freely to reporters. Also according to the executive, "other news organizations were in the same bind." [1]
  • After the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, several mass graves were found in Iraq containing several thousand bodies total, and more are being uncovered to this day. While most of the dead in the graves were believed to have died in the 1991 uprising against Saddam Hussein, some of them appeared to have died due to executions or died at times other than the 1991 rebellion.
  • Also after the invasion, numerous torture centers were found in security offices and police stations throughout Iraq. The equipment found at these centers typically included hooks for hanging people by the hands for beatings, devices for electric shock, and other equipment often found in nations with harsh security services and other Middle Eastern nations.
  • According to some reports, torture was used to improve the performance of the Iraqi soccer team. [2].

For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... International Humanitarian Law (IHL), also known as the law of war, the laws and customs of war or the law of armed conflict, is the legal corpus comprised of the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Regulations, as well as subsequent treaties, case law, and customary international law. ... Image of a woman on the Pioneer plaque sent to outer space. ... Beheading. ... Fedayeen Saddam (فدائيي صدام) was a paramilitary organization loyal to the former Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Cruelty to animals refers to treatment which causes unacceptable suffering or harm to animals. ... The Arabs (Arabic: عرب ) are a large and heterogeneous ethnic group found throughout the Middle East and North Africa. ... Bath Party flag The Arab Socialist Bath Party (also spelled Baath or Baath; Arabic: حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي) was founded in 1945 as a radical, left-wing, secular Arab nationalist political party. ... Citizenship is membership in a political community (originally a city but now a state), and carries with it rights to political participation; a person having such membership is a citizen. ... A political party is a political organization subscribing to a certain ideology or formed around very special issues. ... Highway in Pennsylvania, USA For other uses, see Highway (disambiguation). ... Visa or VISA has several meanings: Look up visa in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Visa (document) — a document required to enter a specific country. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Kurdish may refer to: The Kurdish people The Kurdish language This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Excavating the skeletons of Kurds killed at the Al-Anfal Campaign. ... Human Rights Watch is a U.S.-based international human rights non-governmental organization located in New York City, USA, that conducts advocacy and research on human rights issues. ... This page is about witnesses in law courts. ... Sarin or GB (O-Isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate) is an extremely toxic substance. ... Airborne exposure limit 0. ... Nerve agents (also known as nerve gases, though these chemicals are liquid at room temperature) are a class of phosphorus-containing organic chemicals (organophosphates) that inhibit the acetylcholinesterase enzyme in animals. ... Deprivation may refer to: Poverty Sleep deprivation This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Look up displacement in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A high-reach excavator is used to demolish this tower block in northern England Demolition is the opposite of construction: the tearing-down of buildings and other structures. ... A mosque is a place of worship for followers of the Islamic faith. ... A power station (also power plant) is a facility for the generation of electric power. ... Combatants U.S.-led coalition Iraq Commanders George H. W. Bush, Norman Schwarzkopf, Colin Powell Saddam Hussein, Ali Hassan Al-Majid, Hussein Kamel Strength 660,000 ~545,000 Casualties 345 dead, 1,000 wounded 25,000 - 100,000 dead, 100,000 - 300,000 wounded The 1991 Gulf War (also Persian... Shiʻa Islam (Arabic شيعى follower; English has traditionally used Shiite) makes up the second largest sect of believers in Islam, constituting about 30%–35% of all Muslim. ... Massacres are individual events of deliberate mass killing, especially of noncombatant civilians or other innocents. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... A penalty is a punishment: a legal sentence, e. ... Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma or surgery. ... Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is the judicially ordered execution of a prisoner as a punishment for a serious crime, often called a capital offense or a capital crime. ... Thief redirects to here. ... Note: For the use of the term speculative in literature, see speculative fiction. ... Desertion is the act of abandoning or withdrawing support from an entity to which one has given. ... March 23 is the 82nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (83rd in Leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article covers invasion specifics. ... Geneva Convention definition A prisoner of war (POW) is a soldier, sailor, airman, or marine who is imprisoned by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. ... See TV (disambiguation) for other uses and Television (band) for the rock band European networks National In much of Europe television broadcasting has historically been state dominated, rather than commercially organised, although commercial stations have grown in number recently. ... The Geneva Conventions consist of treaties formulated in Geneva, Switzerland that set the standards for international law for humanitarian concerns. ... Look up Video in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Video is the technology of capturing, recording, processing, transmitting, and reconstructing moving pictures, typically using celluloid film, electronic signals, or digital media. ... In film and video, footage is the raw, unedited material as it has been recorded by the camera, which usually must be edited to create a motion picture, video clip, television show or similar completed work. ... Location of Basra Basra (also spelled BaÅŸrah or Basara; historically sometimes written Busra, Busrah, and the early form Bassorah; Arabic: , Al-Basrah) is the second largest city of Iraq with an estimated population of c. ... The Cable News Network, usually referred to as CNN, is a cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner[1] [2]. It is a division of the Turner Broadcasting System, owned by Time Warner. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive. ... A reporter is a type of journalist who researches and presents information in certain types of mass media. ... This article covers invasion specifics. ... Grave in Sarajevo during the siege in 1992-1993. ... Uprising is another word for rebellion. ... A rebellion is, in the most general sense, a refusal to accept authority. ... A typical suburban police station in the United States (this one is in San Bruno, California). ... Beating is striking more than once, in violence, beating a drum, etc. ... Sign warning of possible electric shock hazard An electric shock can occur upon contact of a human or animal body with any source of voltage high enough to cause sufficient current flow through the muscles or nerves. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... Football is a ball game played between two teams of eleven players, each attempting to win by scoring more goals than their opponent. ...

Collusion of foreign powers in Saddam-era human rights abuses

During his rule Saddam Hussein was aided by foreign powers; the great bulk of Iraq's weapons were supplied by the Soviet Bloc, China, France, and Egypt, all of whom helped arm the Ba'athist government throughout the 1980s. Western relations with Iraq seem to have been motivated mostly by the potentially larger threat of an Iranian based Islamic Revolution, which might have threatened foreign investment and disturbed the strategic balance in the region. It was hoped that an appropriate amount of foreign aid would allow for an Iraqi victory over Iran in the Iran-Iraq War, but be insufficient to allow for Iraqi expansion into Iran and other countries in the region. The Western alliance with the Soviet Union during the Second World War provides a similar example. Western relations with Iraq after the Iran-Iraq War demonstrated a continued interest to support Iraq in an effort to balance the power of Iran and other actors. As late as July 25, 1990, a week before the invasion of Kuwait, the U.S. ambassador to Baghdad, April Glaspie, assured Saddam Hussein that the U.S. "wanted better and deeper relations." [3] During the Cold War, the Eastern Bloc (or Soviet Bloc) comprised the following Central and Eastern European countries: Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, East Germany, Poland, Albania (until the early 1960s, see below), the Soviet Union, and Czechoslovakia. ... The Soviet Union and her satellites were the main suppliers of arms to Iraq following the 1972 signing of the Soviet-Iraqi Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation. ... Protestors take to the street in support of Ayatollah Khomeini. ... Combatants Iran Iraq Casualties Est. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... July 25 is the 206th day (207th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 159 days remaining. ... This article is about the year. ... An ambassador, rarely embassador, is a diplomatic official accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization, to serve as the official representative of his or her own country. ... April Catherine Glaspie (born April 26, 1942), American diplomat, is best-known for her role in the events leading up to the Gulf War of 1991. ...


Involvement of 'Saddam's Dirty Dozen' in abuses

According to officials of the United States State Department, many human rights abuses in Saddam Hussein's Iraq were largely carried out in person or by the orders of Saddam Hussein and eleven other people. The term "Saddam's Dirty Dozen" was coined in October 2002 (from a novel by E.M. Richardson, later adapted as a film directed by Robert Aldrich) and used by US officials to describe this group. Most members of the group held high positions in the Iraqi government and membership went all the way from Saddam's personal guard to Saddam's sons. The list was used by the Bush Administration to help argue that the 2003 Iraq war was against Saddam Hussein and the Baath Party leadership, rather than against the Iraqi people. The members are: The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries. ... For the Cusco album, see 2002 (album). ... Robert Aldrich (August 9, 1918 – December 5, 1983) was a United States film director, writer and producer notable for a number of films including What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte, and The Dirty Dozen. ... This article covers invasion specifics. ...

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti, (Arabic ), born April 28, 1937 , was the President of Iraq from 1979 until he lost power over Iraq when American troops arrived in Baghdad on April 9, 2003. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Kurds are one of the Iranian peoples and speak Kurdish, a north-Western Iranian language related to Persian. ... Qusay Hussein Qusay Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti (or Qusai) (May 17, 1966 - July 22, 2003) was the second son of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. ... Two United States Air Force explosive ordnance technicians search for weapons and ordnance through a former Republican Guard facility near Kirkuk. ... A successor function is the label in the literature for what is actually an operation. ... Uday Hussein Uday Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti (June 18, 1964 – July 22, 2003) Arabic: عدي صدام حسين; also transliterated as Odai) was the eldest son of Saddam Hussein, the deposed president of Iraq, and his first wife, Sajida Talfah. ... Paralysis is the complete loss of muscle function for one or more muscle groups. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... A paramilitary organization is a group of civilians trained and organized in a military fashion. ... Fedayeen Saddam (فدائيي صدام) was a paramilitary organization loyal to the former Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein. ... Taha Yassin Ramadan (born 1938) was the Vice President of Iraq from March 1991 to the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003. ... Shia Islam, also Shi`ite Islam or Shi`ism (Arabic: ‎ translit: Persian: ‎) is the second largest denomination of the religion of Islam. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Kurdistan Region (Kurdish: Herêmî Kurdistan, Arabic: اقلیم کردستان) is an autonomous political entity located in Iraq, in the north. ... Tariq Aziz, also Tareq Aziz (Arabic: طارق عزيز) (born 1936 in Tel Keppe, Iraq) was the Foreign Minister (1983–1991) and Deputy Prime Minister (1979–2003) of Iraq, and a close advisor of President Saddam Hussein for decades. ... Suicide by hanging. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti is one of three half brothers of Saddam Hussein and former leader of the Iraqi secret service, Mukhabarat. ... Mukhabarat (مخابرات) is the Arabic term for intelligence, as in intelligence agency. ... United Nations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Coat of arms of the Canton of Geneva Coat of arms of the City of Geneva Geneva (French: Genève, German: Genf, Italian: Ginevra, Romansh Genevra, Spanish: Ginebra) is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zurich), located where Lake Geneva (French: Lac de Genève or Lac L... Sabawi Ibrahim al-Tikriti, half brother of Saddam Hussein, was leader of the Iraqi secret service, the Mukhabarat, at the time of the 1991 Gulf War. ... Combatants U.S.-led coalition Iraq Commanders George H. W. Bush, Norman Schwarzkopf, Colin Powell Saddam Hussein, Ali Hassan Al-Majid, Hussein Kamel Strength 660,000 ~545,000 Casualties 345 dead, 1,000 wounded 25,000 - 100,000 dead, 100,000 - 300,000 wounded The 1991 Gulf War (also Persian... Categories: Stub | Iraqi politicians | Members of Saddam Husseins family | Most-wanted Iraqi playing cards ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Deportation is the expelling of someone from a country. ... Ali Hassan al-Majid Ali Hassan al-Majid (born 1941), is an Iraqi official and commander. ... Lethal injection is used as a method of capital punishment that involves injecting the condemned with fatal doses of drugs to cause death. ... A gas is one of the four main phases of matter (after solid and liquid, and followed by plasma), that subsequently appear as a solid material is subjected to increasingly higher temperatures. ... Olivia Amador ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri along with members of his delegation at the opening of the Arab League summit in Beirut on March 27, 2002 Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri (born July 1, 1942) was an Iraqi military commander and was vice-president and deputy chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council until... Aziz Saleh Nuhmah was appointed Iraqi governor of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein during the 1991 Gulf War. ... This article is about the year. ... This is a list of cities that various groups regard as holy. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... MacGyver is one of the symbols of 1980s The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ... Mohammed Amza al-Zubeidi was the Prime Minister of Iraq from 1991 to 1993. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ...

See also

Abuses during the British Occupation of Iraq in the early 20th century Human rights abuses in Iraq predated the dictatorial rule of Saddam Hussein. ... Human rights in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq have caused many concerns and controversies since the 2003 occupation. ... In April 2003, the United States drew up a list of most-wanted Iraqis, consisting of the 55 members of the deposed Iraqi regime whom they most wanted to capture. ... This article covers invasion specifics. ... The Soviet Union and her satellites were the main suppliers of arms to Iraq following the 1972 signing of the Soviet-Iraqi Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation. ... Map of Iraq highlighting Abu Ghraib The Abu Ghraib prison (Arabic: سجن أبو غريب; also Abu Ghurayb) is in Abu Ghraib, an Iraqi city 32 km (19. ... Remembering Saddam is a documentary by Don North, a television news producer. ... The Republic of Iraq had a policy of treating homosexuality as a criminal offense under the leadership of Saddam Hussein. ... The People shredder was a plastic shredder that was allegedly used during Iraqi President Saddam Husseins rule for executions. ...

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