Appendix A
Testimony of Mr. Raad Ali Akabar Muradi
Born 20 December 1966, Baghdad
Kurdish Iraqi citizen, now resident in Sweden
Interviewed in Sweden on 13 September
At 1.30am on 28 June 1984, when I was 17 years old and taking "A" Levels in my Sixth Year, along with my elder brother Ali and the rest of my immediate family, I was taken to Baghdad Immigration Department. We spent the night there. Our Iraqi citizenship documents and passports, and Ali's military service documents were all confiscated. I later learned that all our family belongings had been confiscated and our house sealed.
On the following day we were taken to the Deportation Centre, a part of the Al Sha-ab football stadium complex, and put with thousands of other families accused of being Iranians awaiting deportation to Iran. The person in charge was a Colonel Abud, a man who abused those in his keeping by insulting them, denying them medicine and clothing and, sometimes, food.
We remained there till 9 July, when my brother and myself were separated from the rest of the family and taken, handcuffed, along with 12 other young men, to Abu Ghraeb Central Prison, by Iraqi security service men and police. We were put into heavy sentence block No. 8. The prison was already packed with hostages, some of whom had been held since April 1980.
Hostages were held in 2 blocks and 1 annexe. Each block held some 20 cells, each measuring 5m. by 4m., each occupied by between 30 and 35 prisoners. There were no beds, bedding, lockers or proper toilets. Prisoners only had the clothes they stood in. Some had to stand to allow others to lie down. Urinating and defecating had all to be done into one bucket. Water for drinking and washing was also supplied in a single bucket. Food for the entire cell was put in a single bowl; this had often been spat into or had insects put into it.
We were wakened at 5am and fed. From 8 till 10am we were allowed into the fresh air, and for a further 2 hours in the late afternoon. We had no contact with inmates of the other blocks, each block having its own guards. Our treatment varied according to the progress of the war - during Iranian attacks we were denied food and water. The only bright spot in all this was that on the 12th of each month those prisoners whose families had not been deported were allowed a visit from their relations.
The night of 25 November my brother Ali, my cousin Hussan and I attempted to escape. We got out of our cell, but were re-captured within the prison. We were taken to solitary cells in the special execution blocks where prisoners await execution.
There I was tortured to make me reveal details of outside help (we had had no outside help). I was beaten, flogged, soaked in cold water and had two of my fingernails pulled off. (Ali had his toenails pulled off).
While all this was happening, the prisoners in Cell Blocks No.7 and 8 demonstrated noisily but peacefully in their cells. After 16 days I was returned to Cell Block No.7. Following our escape and the protests, prison officers strengthened the cell doors, cancelled our periods in the open air and reduced our water supply to one gallon per day - among more than 30 prisoners.
On 5,6 and 7 December 1984 all the hostages in Abu Ghraeb Central Prison were transferred to Qalat Al Salman in 3 groups of between 600 and 750, about 2000 in all. The journey started at 6am and we arrived at about midnight.
Qalat Al Salman was built in mid 1980. It lies on a small hill about 5km north east of the old Nugrat Al Salman prison which is now used as a warehouse for building materials. It is about 10 times Nugrat's size, consisting of 16 blocks, holding up to 180 hostages each and 6 annexes holding about 30 each. There is no surfaced road to it. I believe it to be one of 7 identical prisons built throughout Iraq at that time, one of which can be seen at Speelik near Gali Ali Beg district in the Kurdish Federal State in the Safe Haven.
After a month those with families still in Iraq were allowed visits on the 12th of each month. They were allowed to bring food, bedding, clothes radios and TVs etc, and we were allowed to mix, so conditions were very much better than in Abu Ghraeb. Between then and 1986 roughly another 1,000 hostages were brought from other prisons. I also learned that another 2,000 hostages who had been doing national service before being detained were being held in Al Rashid Military Prison on the outskirts of Baghdad. Thus I knew the whereabouts of some 5,000 hostages in 1986.
In January of that year the Commandant, Security Service Officer Colonel Abu Saif received an order from Saddam Hussein that all prisoners with immediate relatives still in Iraq be granted an "amnesty" and released. This was done, monthly, in groups of between 50 and 100, who were put into militia uniforms and taken to unknown destinations. My brother Ali's wife had not been deported.
In early 1987 Ali and I were put into a group of 94 hostages, who were then sub-divided into four groups who were sent to the Security Service prisons at Al Diwaniyah, Al Najaf, Al Karbala and Al Babylon, where Ali and I were kept for 6 months. Then we were transferred to the Security Service prison at Al Ramadi, classed as Iranians. In December 1988 we were transferred to Abu Ghraeb special rehabilitation block along with the rest of the 94. We stayed there for 2 more months, then were transferred to the Baghdad General Security prison. Ali and I were released on 14 February 1989. We were refused passports and citizenship documents, but were given instead a piece of paper on which were two telephone numbers to be contacted in case of any trouble.
On 18 May 1991 I escaped to Iran, then to Russia on 8 September 1992. After staying in Moscow for about 3 months I was granted asylum in Sweden on 20 January 1993.
In addition to the prisons and concentration camps mentioned, I know of others at Al Fathelia, Al Baladyat, Kirkuk, Musel, Wasat, Dyala, Khanageen, Baaguba and Al Ameria. I have been able to give the Committee the names and some details of 146 hostages, 59 of whom they already knew.