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SAMAWA, Iraq: With a paintbrush, a forensic
specialist carefully brushes away dirt from a human
skull covered with sandy soil, one of 1500 believed
to be buried in seven mass graves uncovered in this
desolate stretch of the Iraqi desert, now patrolled
by Australian troops.
In a nearby trench dug by US investigators, a mass
of black tangled hair gives a second skull an almost
life-like appearance. A third skull appears to be
screaming, mouth wide open.
Skulls and bones, clothing and other belongings
found in shallow graves offer valuable clues to
investigators gathering evidence against Saddam
Hussein and others from the former regime, says
Gregg Nivala, a regime crimes liaison officer from
the US embassy in Baghdad.
"This allows us to prove the crimes," he said.
The site, near the town of Samawa, about 290km south
of Baghdad, consists of 18 shallow trenches dug by
earth-moving vehicles into hard limestone rock.
In another trench, a shiny gold-and-purple dress and
a blue bead necklace lying next to a fourth skull,
presumed to be that of a woman, is distinctive
enough to indicate the people buried there were
Kurds from northern Iraq, according to Mr Nivala.
Dates on medicine found in the graves indicate the
people were killed about the time of the 1987-88
Anfal campaign in which Kurdish villages were razed
and hundreds of people relocated to the south, said
the US archaeologist in charge of the excavation,
Sonny Trimble.
"Blister packs of pills have expiration dates, wrist
watches have the day, and the dates go back to that
year," Mr Trimble said. "We're finding them very
effective."
The former Iraqi leader, who is being held in a US
detention centre in Iraq, faces seven charges of
crimes against humanity for his alleged role in the
Anfal campaign, including the 1988 gassing of the
village of Halabja, which left 5000 people dead.
The former minister of human rights in the US-backed
Iraqi administration, Baktiar Amin, said that, based
on the AK-47 bullet casings and bullet holes left in
the bones, gunmen opened fire on civilians, mostly
women and children, killing them as they stood in
open trenches.
"It was terrifying," Mr Amin said. "They came and
basically sprayed them with bullets."
The gruesome search is part of a painstaking US
effort costing up to $US10million ($12.5million) per
site to gather forensic evidence.
Defence Minister Robert Hill, on a flying visit to
the Australian troops based just outside Samawa,
said Canberra would consider any request from the
Iraqi authorities for assistance in the recovery.
The investigators will concentrate on gathering
evidence from seven main sites around the country,
which will then be passed on to the Iraq Special
Tribunal, made up of 30 Iraqi judges and US
advisers.
More than 290 mass graves found since Saddam was
overthrown by US-led forces in April 2003 contained
the bodies of at least 300,000 people believed to
have been killed by the regime, Mr Amin said.
He believes the total number missing could be close
to 1million.
Lawyers have interviewed more than 1000 witnesses in
connection with the Anfal campaign, said judge Raid
Jubi, chief investigator in the case. At least 14
tons of documents were collected.
Mr Nivala asked that the specific location of the
graves not be made public, saying he was worried
insurgents would target the site, or that grave
robbers would plunder it after the investigators
left.
When the team has finished its work, the graves will
be filled in. The investigators will then take down
their tents and mess hall, which are less than 1km
from the site, trying to leave everything as they
found it.
"Every body has bullet holes in it," Mr Trimble
said. "You can't work in that pit every day,
sometimes in 117-degree (47C) heat, and not have
very strong emotions."
AFP, Reuters
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