Appendix A

Testimony of Mr Ali Hussain Abbas

Born in 1949 in Baghdad, Kurdish Iraqi Citizen
Interviewed in UK on 6 June 1993

               In detention in Qalat-Al Salman, 1985

     Giving Testimony, June 1993 in England

The word freedom is not just a word. It is made of many human senses and you don't know how valuable this word freedom is until you lose it. I would like to say I am an Iraqi National, I have all my rights as an Iraqi person but unfortunately my rights as an Iraqi person were abused by the Iraqi Ba'ath regime. They staged certain acts to achieve what they were planning.

The most valuable thing for a human being to sacrifice is to give his blood for his country by serving in the National Service. The Iraqi regime deported our families in the name of us being Iranians in Iraq, while we were conscripts. Therefore he staged the Al-Mustasseria incident at the end of March 1980 where Mr Tareq Aziz was attacked and the regime used that as a pretext to blame the Iraqi Faily Kurds and accuse them of being Iranian collaborators and Iranian in Iraq and to justify their mass deportation of our families on 4th April 1980.

During the deportation they ordered the confiscation of all our family's belongings including their properties and businesses and Iraqi passports. Unfortunately some of the remaining Iraqi citizens were misled and they believed these allegations of the Iraqi government against our people. In addition amongst our deported families there were non-Kurdish Iraqi people who also suffered the same. Before and during the deportation of our families the other long term plan of the regime was to retain certain members of these families, mainly men of the age 16-40, and retain them as hostages.

The Iraqi Government called for the men with 1949 date of birth to re-join the army for another National Service and I was one of them and that was my second time as a reserve for National Service. I was going to the various military offices for preparation of my military documents to re-join the army. I was nominated to go and work in the Military Press Department, but instead myself and another group of conscript soldiers were sent to Al-Najaf Military Barracks. This is evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime were planning for the war against Iran otherwise why did they have to recall people to join up in the army again, when there was no internal or external crisis threatening Iraq at that time? (Iraq invaded Iran on 22-9-80).

We went and took our documents to join the Military Barracks in Najaf. Among this group there were 150 and we handed in our papers and instead of being taken to our units we were put into the Military Prisons there. They told us circumstances had changed and that we were being sent to do our Military Service in Baghdad. They brought 3 military trucks and we were taken to a military section for Al-Harthea in Baghdad. We were then put in the prison of this military unit and on our imprisonment we met other prisoners who were also recently called conscripts and who were ranked as Iranians. (At this stage we did not know we were being ranked as Iranians or why we were being imprisoned).

We were divided into groups of 400-450 and they brought lorries for us and took us to Al-Rashid Military Prison No. 1 in Baghdad. When we arrived at that prison we were stripped of all belongings, even a pen, money, cigarettes, everything except clothes, then we were distributed to the various prison sections and there they told us, "You are here because you are Iranians". When we went in we were not the only people accused of being foreigners there. There were other 'foreigners' from Pakistan, England, France, Germany and India. All foreign nationals were brought in, and they were all conscript soldiers (Iraqi Military law is that only Iraqi Citizens are allowed to serve in the army. No other citizens are allowed).

After 3 days a communication from the authorities came and ordered the release of all the other foreigners except the Iranian nationals i.e. us. 3 days after this another communique came ordering the release of any Christian Iranians but the Muslim Iranians remained in detention. If Saddam Hussain accused us of being Iranian dissidents what did it matter if we were Christian, Muslim or whatever? Then they sent the Military High Commander. His name is Khayru Al-Tikriti. He came and spoke to us saying that we were not kept there as prisoners but as guests. (" There are a lot of Iranian agents in Baghdad and it is possible that they will come and speak to you. Therefore you are only staying with us as guests.") For one month we stayed like this.

Then there was a communique from the government on either 15/16th May. Anyone who had full Iraqi Nationalisation documents were going to be released, provided that person could bring 2 witnesses and a local councillor from his area to verify that his family had not been deported. Then 150 of my group (from 1949 group) were taken back to Najaf Military Barracks to continue our military Service. They gave us 1 week's leave; after that we came back and started our service. Then daily abuse started. They said we were stupid, (most of us were University graduates and well educated). They then started to give us work to do. The deportations continued all this time until the war started between Iraq and Iran, and deportation started to be heavier and from any family deported, certain members of the family were detained.

During the 1 week leave I went on 16/5/80 to Baghdad to visit my family and I found out that all my family were deported to Iran except my younger brother Salam who was detained on 12 May 1980. Salam was also a conscript soldier along with Jamal (Dr. Kamal Ketuly's brother).

During this war a lot of so called Iranians who were sent as conscript soldiers onto the battlefield against Iran died during this time and their coffins were wrapped with Iraqi flags while their families were deported to Iran and in some cases the families were deported immediately after the funeral service of their martyred sons!

Every time we had to fill in forms while were serving in Al-Najaf military Barracks asking us which members of our families are deported and which ones are not. Then they arrested us again and imprisoned us there in January 1981. Then they transferred us to the Ministry of Defence, the Istakhbarat Section (Military Secret Service) in Baghdad. I stayed here imprisoned for 3 days. Full interrogation and more form filling. Then they transferred me to AlKathomia Military Secret Service Prison in Baghdad, right on the Tigris River.

I spent a few days there and then was taken back to Ministry of Defence Prison. One day I spent there and the next evening I was blindfolded and handcuffed from the back. They put me in an ambulance but inside it was a metal prison cage. I was able to see that from under the blindfold. My body was being hit in the car during the 20 minute journey and we ended in the general security office in Baghdad. Before they opened the door, the lorry was going backwards and forwards about 10 times.

I thought I was going to be put into an acid bath. The general security prison in Baghdad has acid baths. Then they ordered me to get out of the car and walk and every time they slapped my face and hit and kicked my body repeatedly. Then I was brought to a room and I heard a voice saying "Sir, we brought this prisoner to you".

There was another chap of the same name there as well but his family were not deported. That poor guy was being hit and kicked and they said "We've got the guy we want. Then they let the guy leave. Then this officer started to interrogate me, after taking off my blindfold. He asked my name and I gave him my name and the officer replied "Ali Hussain Abbas, what are these filthy names?". Then they ordered for me to be taken to Solitary Confinement. My food was put to me from under the door.

After 3 days in this prison they came and took me to Baghdad Security Prison. Again interrogation and form filling and questions. I stayed there for 2 days and then I was transferred to Al-Rasafa Security Prison in Baghdad. Again full interrogation and form filling. I was there for 1 day.

Then they took me to the main general security prison in Baghdad and I was imprisoned there for 2 weeks. This time they handcuffed me and stripped me of my military uniform which I had worn since the time of imprisonment in Najaf and the other prisons. I was lucky to be wearing a vest and pyjama under my uniform. Then they transferred me to Abu Ghraib Central prison Northwest of Baghdad in the heavy sentence section on 21/1/80. The first day of my imprisonment I accidentally found myself in the same cell where my brother Salam and Dr Ketuly's brother Jamal were also detained.

Detention in Abu Ghraib Prison 21/1/81 - 5/12/84
Our detention cell was 5 x 5 metres sq with painted black walls, 1 toilet, a very small vent 5cm x 10cm and no window but we could see the other opposite cells from inside but we could not see outside the prison. Initially we were about 30-35 in each cell but that number increased when they were bringing in new detainees. For every prison block there is a small courtyard which we were taken to every day for 1/2hr for fresh air. We were denied access or mixing with other detainees in the other blocks. We were under immense psychological stress by that stage without knowing our destiny and loss of hope; with lack of prison facilities and harsh treatment and insult from the prison warders we looked like skeletons with pale faces. When we looked at each other during the daily 1/2hr breaks. The food was unhealthy and they presented it in one bowl per cell, sometimes they spat in it or threw shoes in it, anything to insult us or put us off it.

Every day they gave us a bucket of water and this was for drinking, bathing and for the toilet. Summer season was hell for us. Each prison section was divided into 2 floors and on each floor there were 10 prison cells with metal bars inside. While we were in detention some of our cellmates became ill. They were denied medical treatment but luckily some of our inmates were professional doctors and they tried to help but without access to medicine.

The Prison Riot on 30 April 1981
In the night of 30/4/81 in our prison cell one of our inmates Mr Hassan AlHaddad became seriously ill with his stomach. We called the prison wardens to come and transfer him to a hospital urgently but nobody listened or cared and at 6.30pm he died amongst us. We couldn't save his life. This made us very nervous and put us in a state of total hysteria and each of us imagined we would face the same destiny if we became ill. We started to shout loudly and cry and we couldn't control our nerves. This led us to break the metal bars in our cells and the other detainees from the other blocks did the same and we managed to get out to the main gates of the prison.

We started to shout loudly demanding the lifting of this constant oppression because we had not committed any crime and we were not guilty of anything to justify such harsh treatment. We were able to control the main passage of the prison. We started to shout at the prison authorities to bring us one of the Iraqi High officials in order to speak to him about our situation. That evening the Prison Governor came to us and asked us to go back to our prison cells and negotiate with them; but we were determined not to leave the main passage and the other areas we had controlled.

Then shortly after that we saw helicopters land in the prison and special Units of the Republican Guards started to shoot at us and use teargas bombs, while we had to throw whatever was in our possession at them. In some cases we wrapped the teargas bombs in a wet towel and threw them back at them. We were shouting loudly "Why do you want to kill us? What is our guilt?" Some of our inmates were hit by live bullets and seriously injured. Then they cut our water and electricity supplies up until 2am that night.

Barazan Al Tikriti (the half brother of President Saddam Hussein) is now the Iraqi Ambassador in Geneva. At that time Barazan was the Head of the Iraqi General Intelligence Service. He arrived with his group and they had with them video cameras and tape recorders and loudspeakers and they were also heavily armed. He started to speak to us from a distance with the loudspeaker. He said that they were ready to improve our prison conditions and meet most of our demands but two things we must not think about at the present time were firstly, we are not being deported to join our families and secondly, we are not going to be released. Our release would depend on the end of the Iraq/Iran war. If the war finished the following morning we would be released that day and if it finished the next week we will be released the next week. Therefore our release depended on the length of the war. These two decisions were officially taken by the highest authority in Iraq.

These statements I have heard personally from Barazan because I was amongst the protesters. But we replied to him "We do not want anything from you. We would like to get our freedom because we are not criminals and we have not been accused of anything. Therefore if we are considered as Iraqis you must release us and at the same time we are ready to rejoin the Iraqi army and to go for active fighting in the front lines and if you consider us to be Iranians therefore you must join us with our families whom you deported to Iran without any reason". But Barazan insisted and he said to us that this decision is from the highest authorities and he would like to make 1 point clear to us from now. "If you all want to stay alive and see your family again in the future you must go back to you prison cells and the ones who don't want to go back, they will die like dogs."

We shouted back loudly at Barazan. "This decision by your authorities is the top of oppression and we refuse it." Then he ordered his men to hail us with bullets. The confrontation continued. We continued to shout "We demand our immediate release or deport us, or we die". Then he left and the confrontation continued violently until 5am the next day. We were very tired and a lot of us were injured and with no water or electricity we reached an intolerable state. We had no choice but to go back to our cells.

Then after 1 hour the prison authorities with the help of General Security and Intelligence Service men came and added more metal bars and welded it on our prison cells. Even the small cell vent was blocked, affecting our breathing. There was no daily release for fresh air. This continued up until 14th July 1981. On this month the prison authorities came with lists of detainees names who they claimed to deport. They used to come twice or three times a week and each time they used to take from our detainees 30-40 to unknown destinations and within 2 months they took from us about 700-750 detainees and among them was my brother Salam and Jamal (Dr Ketuly's brother). Until now nobody knows what has happened to them. We thought the reason for taken away these 700-75- detainees, was because the prison authorities thought they were behind the riot.

In August 1981 two military officers came to interrogate us and singled out a few of us and spoke to them privately. They asked these detainees for collaboration, for example they asked for detainees to be sent to Iran and assassinate Imam Khomeini!

These officers, after their interrogations, said they would try to help us and find a solution. All that time and until 12/9/81, we were not allowed any visits by our remaining relatives in Iraq. On this date the Governor of the Prison with his assistants came and told us "Today we have allowed your relatives to come and visit you", but we could not believe that. However at 9.30am that morning we started to see our relatives coming in to see us. We could not believe our eyes. They were crying and we all (the detainees) cried. It was a very sad scene. Then on the twelfth of every month they allowed us to have visits from our relatives and friends. But during these visits our visitors faced abuse and insults from the prison authorities, in order to discourage them from visiting us. Our visitors brought food, clothing, bedding and other items, but some of this used to be taken from us by the prison wardens. Our imprisonment there continued until 5/12/94, when the authorities decided to transfer us to Qalat Al Salman.

Qalat Al Salman Prison - 5/12/84
On early morning of 5th December 1984, the prison Governor of Abu Ghraib with secret service men came to us and informed us that we were being transferred. They ordered us to collect our belongings immediately and told us that the transport buses were ready. They transferred us in three groups over three successive days. I was with the first group and they put us into 100 prison lorries. We did not know where we were being taken, and they guarded us with prison police and secret service cars, and they were armed. The convoy left Abu Ghraib at 8.00am and we arrived at around 1.00am they next morning at Qalat Al Salman. The convoy had a guide with them as the road which leads to Qalat Al Salman is all desert and we could only see in the dark the lights of our convoy. We thought initially they were taking us to invade Saudi Arabia! This prison is in the middle of the desert near Samawa and the Saudi border. Then they distributed us in various cells. After about a month they allowed visits by our remaining relatives and friends at every 12th of each month.

These relatives brought us at this time every possible thing allowed by the prison authorities. They brought us radios, televisions, cameras, sports and gardening equipments. We had much better freedom within Qalat Al Salman. It was like a 5 star hotel compared to Abu Ghraib prison! In Abu Ghraib we were not allowed anything to do or to see, even when international Human Rights Groups came to visit. The Prison Authorities they used to board up our prison blocks and write on it "warehouse" or "store" or "stockroom". Thus we were not allowed to see any of these investigators. We learned about their visits from some of the prison warders the next day.

In early 1986 Saddam Hussein issued a communique stating that any of our detainees who had an immediate relative who still resided in Iraq i.e. a father, mother, brother, sister, wife or son, or a brother who was martyr of the war or missing, would be eligible to be released provided they got witnesses, a letter from their councillor, documents of their relatives and a letter from the Ba'athist officials of his area. Then after all these were provided the Governor of the prison would give his final decision. I, among another 650 detainees, was eligible for the release. We were divided into groups of 50-100 detainees. Each group did not know where the others had been taken. All the remaining detainees in Qalat Al Salman were gradually transferred to unknown destinations in small groups. They transferred me to Al Fathailia prison in Baghdad. We stayed there for a few months, then they transferred us to the General Security prison in Baghdad. After few weeks there, they came and told us "You're now getting released, after the Amnesty by Saddam Hussein and with his blessing. We are going to you give these military uniforms to wear". They gave us Saddam's portrait and they ordered us to show happiness for this Amnesty and our thanks and gratitude for Saddam, while they were filming us.

Then they did not let us go back to our families, but instead took us for military service to Al Nahrawan military camps near the front line. I stayed there for about 8 months, until the end of the Iran/Iraq war, mid July 1988, then 3 months after that, they ordered my release from the army and my freedom. Then I planned my escape from Iraq, by a false passport to Turkey in early 1990, then to Bulgaria, then finally to Britain on 29/10/1990, where I was granted asylum. 0, then to Bulgaria, then finally to Britain on 29/10/1990, where I was granted asylum.