ENDLESS TORMENT The 1991 Uprising in Iraq And Its Aftermath Human Rights Watch/Middle East (formerly Middle East Watch) PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/d81e3a/ ENDLESS TORMENT The 1991 Uprising in Iraq And Its Aftermath Human Rights Watch/Middle East (formerly Middle East Watch) Human Rights Watch New York $$$ Washington $$$ Los Angeles $$$ London PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/d81e3a/ Copyright 8 June 1992 by Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Library of Congress Card Catalog Number: 92-72351 ISBN 1-56432-069-3 Human Rights Watch/Middle East (formerly Middle East Watch) Human Rights Watch/Middle East was established in 1989 to monitor and promote the observance of internationally recognized human rights in the Middle East and North Africa. Christopher George is the executive director; Eric Goldstein is the research director; Aziz Abu Hamad and Virginia N. Sherry are associate directors; Suzanne Howard is the associate. Gary Sick is the chair of the advisory committee and Lisa Anderson and Bruce Rabb are vice chairs. PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/d81e3a/ HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Human Rights Watch conducts regular, systematic investigations of human rights abuses in some seventy countries around the world. It addresses the human rights practices of governments of all political stripes, of all geopolitical alignments, and of all ethnic and religious persuasions. In internal wars it documents violations by both governments and rebel groups. Human Rights Watch defends freedom of thought and expression, due process and equal protection of the law; it documents and denounces murders, disappearances, torture, arbitrary imprisonment, exile, censorship and other abuses of internationally recognized human rights. Human Rights Watch began in 1978 with the founding of its Helsinki division. Today, it includes five divisions covering Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East, as well as the signatories of the Helsinki accords. It also includes five collaborative projects on arms, children's rights, free expression, prison conditions, and women's rights. It maintains offices in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, London, Brussels, Moscow, Belgrade, Zagreb and Hong Kong. Human Rights Watch is an independent, nongovernmental organization, supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations. It accepts no government funds, directly or indirectly. The staff includes Kenneth Roth, executive director; Cynthia Brown, program director; Holly J. Burkhalter, advocacy director; Allyson Collins, research associate; Richard Dicker, associate counsel; Jamie Fellner, foundation relations director; Hamilton Fish, Jr., senior advisor; Barbara Guglielmo, controller; Robert Kimzey, publications director; Gara LaMarche, associate director; Liselotte Leicht, Brussels office director; Michal Longfelder, development director; Ellen Lutz, California director; Juan Méndez, general counsel; Susan Osnos, communications director; Jemera Rone, counsel; Rachel Weintraub, special events director; and Derrick Wong, finance and administration director. The regional directors of Human Rights Watch are Abdullahi An-Na'im, Africa; Cindy Arnson and Anne Manuel (acting directors), Americas; Sidney Jones, Asia; Jeri Laber, Helsinki; and Christopher George, Middle East. The project directors are Kenneth Anderson, Arms Project; Lois Whitman, Children's Rights Project; Gara LaMarche, Free Expression Project; Joanna Weschler, Prison Project; and Dorothy Q. Thomas, Women's Rights Project. The board includes Robert L. Bernstein, chair; Adrian W. DeWind, vice chair; Roland Algrant, Lisa Anderson, Peter D. Bell, Alice L. Brown, William Carmichael, Dorothy Cullman, Irene Diamond, Jonathan Fanton, Alan Finberg, Jack Greenberg, Alice H. Henkin, Stephen L. Kass, Marina Pinto Kaufman, Alexander MacGregor, Peter Osnos, Kathleen Peratis, Bruce Rabb, Orville Schell, Gary G. Sick, and Malcolm Smith. Addresses for Human Rights Watch 485 Fifth Avenue 1522 K Street, N.W., #910 New York, NY 10017-6104 Washington, DC 20005 Tel: (212) 972-8400 Tel: (202) 371-6592 Fax: (212) 972-0905 Fax: (202) 371-0124 email: [email protected] email: [email protected] 10951 West Pico Blvd., #203 90 Borough High Street Los Angeles, CA 90064 London, UK SE1 1LL Tel: (310) 475-3070 Tel: (071) 378-8008 Fax: (310) 475-5613 Fax: (071) 378-8029 email: [email protected] email: [email protected] PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/d81e3a/ TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments................................................................................................................................................v Summary ............................................................................................................................................................vii Recommendations...............................................................................................................................................ix Introduction ..........................................................................................................................................................1 Obstacles to Monitoring Human Rights in Iraq.....................................................................................3 Unearthing Past Abuses .........................................................................................................................5 Chapter One: The Continuing Human Rights Repercussions of the Uprising...................................................7 Detentions and Disappearances during the Uprising ............................................................................7 Displaced Iraqis at Risk..........................................................................................................................9 Rebel-held Northern Iraq........................................................................................................12 The Marshes............................................................................................................................21 Cities Targeted for Repression.............................................................................................................24 Kirkuk: Exploiting the Exodus...............................................................................................24 Al-Najaf and Karbala: Punishing the Shi'a ............................................................................26 Chapter Two: The March 1991 Uprising: Introduction. ..................................................................................29 The Pattern of the Uprisings ................................................................................................................30 The Legal Context of the Uprising ......................................................................................................33 Human Rights Abuses by the Rebels...................................................................................................36 Looting by Both Sides..........................................................................................................................37 U.S. Policy: "You Broke Saddam's Leg and Told Us to Break His Head" ........................................38 Chapter Three: Uprisings in the South..............................................................................................................45 Basra .....................................................................................................................................................45 Al-Najaf ................................................................................................................................................50 Karbala..................................................................................................................................................53 Chapter Four: Uprisings in the North................................................................................................................57 Suleimaniyya ........................................................................................................................................57 Tuz Khurmatu.......................................................................................................................................58 Kirkuk...................................................................................................................................................60 Attacks on fleeing refugees..................................................................................................................65 PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/d81e3a/ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This report is based on Middle East Watch (MEW) interviews with Iraqis refugees in Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and London, and with Iraqis in rebel-controlled northern Iraq. The fieldwork was conducted primarily by Eric Goldstein, research director of Middle East Watch, and Stephen Marks, a board member of Middle East Watch. Carrie Klein and Yuval Ginbar provided research assistance. The mission to Iran was conducted jointly with the U.S. Committee for Refugees. The report was written by Eric Goldstein and edited by Andrew Whitley, executive director of Middle East Watch. The names of all Iraqi refugees who gave testimony have been omitted out of concern for their safety. At the time of their interviews with MEW many had freely furnished their names, stating that they felt comfortable doing so because they would