Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Baszn Ozeti
Decreeing broad amnesty,
,Saddam ,empties' the jails
Many Shiite opponents of regime are freed
l:Jy Rajiv Cbandrasek3ran
The WIsbIngtoD
Post
BAGHDAD: President Saddam Hus-
'sein announced Sunday an amnesty for
most of the country's prisoners, setting
, free tens of thousands of convicts, including
political dissidents, in an effort
to bolster domestic and international
support in his confrontation with the
United States.
Moments after the amnesty decree
was read on state television Sunday
morning, the authorities threw open
the gates of the country's most notori-
'ous prison, the high-security"Abu
, Gharib complex on the outskirts of
Baghdad, allowing several thousand
dazed and scruffy men to walk out of
their cramped cells and into a throng of
cheering and wailing relatives who had
surrounded the vast penitentiary.
Among those released from Abu
G~rib were scores of young Shiite
Muslim men, several ofwhom said they',
had been imprisoned on charges of opposing
Saddam's government. "We
were political prisoners," whispered a
man who gave his name as Walid and
said he was a carpenter from the Shiitedominated
southern' city of Najaf.
"There were many like us in there -
people who talked bad about the government."
,
More than a dozen other Shiites interviewed
outside the presence of
government officials on the dusty
road leading away from Abu Gharib ,
also said t!J.~y had been held on what
they called "political" ch8rges.
Saddam's government. which is
dominated by Sunni Muslims, has long
been concerned about dissent among
Shiites, who comprise more than SS
percent of the country's population but
enjoy comparatively little political
clout. Thouslmds'of Shiites participated
in a 1991 revolt against Saddam in
southern 1raq, a rebellion which Iraq
claims was instigated by neighboring
Iran.
Iraqi political observers said Sunday
that the government's decision to include
Shiite dissidents in the amnesty ,
might reflect confidence in security
measures installed o"er the past decade
to lirevent another insurrection.
They said it also quite likely wes an
overture to Iran, whose government is '
dominated by Shiites and has long been
critical of Iraq's treatment of its Shiite
population.
Iraqi officials have been trying to ensur~
that Iran, a country with which
Baghdad fought an eight-year war in
the 1980s,will crack down on Shiité opposition
groups that operate along the
border and' will refuse to provide assistanceto
the United ~tates in the
event of a military attaCk.
"Saddam seems to be trying to send
an olive branch to the lrànians," a diplomat
here said. ' ,
Iraq also took a s!ep S~day tow~rd
: trying to mend relations W1~ Kuwatt~a
country that Iraq's army Invaded l~
1990,sparking the GulfWar. Fulfilling a
promise it made earlier in the year. Iraq
began handing over 2 tons of official
, documents it had seized from ~wait's
, national archives. during the invasiotL
The transfer of the documents took
place at a demilitarized border zone and
was supervised by the United Nations.
Iraqi officials said the amnesty applied
to every person in the country's
prisons except those convicted of spying
for the United States or Israel. It
judge supervising the events at Abu
Gharib said the amnesty also applied
"without exception"to foreigners being
held in Iraqi prisons.
Officials did not mention whether
Kuwaitis allegedly imprisoned in Iraq
were among those released. The U.S.
and Kuwaiti governments accuse Iraq
,of failing to account for more than 600
people, most of them Kuwaitis, who disappeared
after Iraq's 1990 invasion of
, Kuwait. Iraq maintains that it bas released
all its prisoners of war.
"Just handing over documents will
, not be sufficient," a senior Kuwaiti official
said in an interview this month.
, "For us, the prisoners of war are the
most important thing." ,
Although Kuwait has, said it opposes
any unilateral U.S. milita"ry action
against Iraq, the Kuwaiti government
has allowed the U.S. military to build '
up its forces in preparation for a possi~
ble attack. Privately, Kuwaiti officials
said they support Saddam's ouster and
would not interfere with a U.S. invasion,
which they said they cannot prevent
, under the terms of their defense treaty
'with the United States. '
,' Iraqi officials did not reveal the number
of prisoners freed under the decree,
hut theflow of people out of Abu Gharib
witnessed by this correspondent
and television footage of other releases
suggested that the total figure was in
the tens of thousands.
Officials said all pardOIied prisoners
would be released within two days.
Secretary of State Colin Powell dismissed
the amnesty as a political ploy.
"This is typical of this man's use of
human beings for these political purposes
of his," Powell said on ABC Tele~
vision. "This is the kind of manipulation
he uses to try and paint himself as
something other than what he is: a brutal
dictator."
, International human-rights groups
~cuse Iraa ofholdin~ tens (>fthousands
of political prisoners. Many are tortured
and executed, the groups contend.
The British government last week accused
'Jraq of having "probably the
worst human-rights situation anywhere
in the world."
The Iraqi government invited journalists
to cover the release at Abu Gharib,
which usually is off-limits to foreigners.
The event initially was cloaked in
secrecy, with officials telling journalists
to assemble at the Information
Ministry building for a news conference.
Then they told the journalists to
get in their vehicles and follow a gov-
;ernment ~r, which resulted in a high-
,speed chliïe through the streets of
Baghdad add on two highways leading
out of the city.
The first wave of prisoners to leave
Abu Gharib appeared to bave been well
scrubbed - and well rehearsed. Carrying
their belongings inmetal trunks '
and plastic sacks. they shouted: "We
sacrifice our souls for' Saddam. " Others
; said they were ready to "defend our
great leader." ,
Saddam said the amnesty was a ges- ,
ture of thanks for the support he re- '
ceived in a referendum last week giving
, him another seven-year term as presi-
, dent.
In light of the result, he said in a state- '
ment read on television by Information
" Minister Mohammed Saeed Saha£, "we
show merq rather than punishment."
As news of the release spread, thousands
of people descended on the lowslung
Abu Gharib complex. Family
members. many of them crying, rushed
, to the front gates, some waving photos
of their incarcerated relatives. ,
International Herald Tribune
Monday, October 21, 2002
82