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INVESTIGATORS have uncovered a mass grave in
southern Iraq containing as many as 1,500 bodies,
most of them thought to be Kurds forcibly removed
from their homes in the late 1980s.
The site, near the town of Samawa, 180 miles south
of Baghdad, consists of 18 trenches dug by
earth-moving vehicles into limestone rock.
Investigators described the mass graves as evidence
of "a widespread and systematic crime, committed
over a long time, we think with the knowledge and
direction of high-level members of the regime".
The identification of the skeletons of the Kurds,
still in their distinctive, colourful garb, is not
expected to happen for some time.
Most were under 18 years of age. Ten were clearly
infants. It may also have been a rainy day when they
were shot dead, sinking into the mud after they were
struck down. They were killed with bursts of fire
from AK-47s, the Russian-designed automatic rifle.
About 110 bodies have been excavated from the site
so far. They are being forensically examined and
evidence gathered will be used to build cases
against Saddam Hussein and his top deputies for war
crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Gregg Nivala, from the US government’s Regime Crimes
Liaison Office, said: "These were not combatants,
they were women and children."
The site appears to have been carefully chosen and
was well concealed - factors prosecutors believe
will convince a court of the systematic nature of
the crime. The victims were wrapped in multiple
layers, suggesting they knew they were being moved
somewhere, investigators said.
The site was first identified early last year by the
US Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, but
proper examination did not begin until early this
month.
It is one of around 300 suspected mass graves that
have been discovered around Iraq since Saddam was
overthrown. Some contain as few as a dozen bodies
while others, including one near the southern city
of Basra, contain several thousand. In the area
around Samawa, a largely Shi’ite Muslim town where
Saddam cracked down on locals after an uprising in
1991, 27 suspected grave sites have been found.
An official from the Regime Crimes Liaison Office
said the Kurds were probably moved south during the
Anfal campaigns of 1987-88.
Saddam and Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as
‘Chemical Ali’ are the main defendants facing
charges for the Anfal campaign.
During that period, Saddam and his top lieutenants
oversaw the rounding up and forced removal of
hundreds of thousands of Kurds from towns and
villages across northern Iraq.
Saddam’s armies crushed Kurdish opposition
throughout the region and are accused of gassing
residents of Halabja, near the Iranian border,
killing more than 5,000 people.
No date has been set for the trials of Saddam,
captured in December 2003, and 11 of his senior
aides.
Chief investigating judge Raid Juhi, who oversaw
Saddam’s court appearance in July last year, said
the Iraqi Special Tribunal had interviewed more than
1,000 witnesses in connection with the Anfal
campaign.
"Every judge working on the case, if he finds any
evidence against an accused, can interview the
accused," he said.
Some of the accused were being "co-operative" he
said, without elaborating.
Bakhtiar Amin, Iraq’s outgoing human rights
minister, said Iraqi authorities needed to set up
some sort of fund for the victims of Saddam’s rule.
He suggested that 5% of oil revenues be allocated
for compensation.
"Compassion is not sufficient," he said. "Something
tangible needs to be done for the victims of
Saddam’s regime.
"We must know what happened [and deal with]
collective memory, so we can do justice, rather than
revenge."
Amin said the ongoing insurgency, fuelled largely by
disenchanted Sunni Arabs and ex-Baathists, was
hampering investigations.
"The same people that did this are the same people
that want to stop me doing this [investigation]," he
said.
http://news.scotsman.com
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