XI. Establishing Accountability for the Mass Murder

The mass executions documented in this report took place at a time when the Iraqi government was in great turmoil. Its infrastructure and its military were severely damaged from the effects of the first Gulf War and many of its local officials in the south were killed during the 1991 uprisings. In the face of these setbacks, the Iraqi government organized a coordinated campaign to defeat the uprising and to carry out the brutal arrest and execution campaigns that followed.

The similarity of the detentions and executions throughout the south is evidenced by the mass graves that are being discovered in this region in the aftermath of the collapse of the Iraqi government. Such a coordinated campaign of killing could not have taken place without direct involvement from the highest levels of the Iraqi government.

At the local level, the campaign of arrests and executions directly involved local Ba’th party officials, members of the General and Special Security divisions, the intelligence services, regular army troops (al-jaysh), and Special Republican Guard (al-Haras al-Jumhuri al-Khas), members of pro-government Arab tribes such as the Albu Alwan, andmembers of the police (al-shurta). The composition of the local officials involved in the arrest and execution campaigns varied from area to area, according to Iraqis interviewed by Human Rights Watch, with Ba’th officials playing a dominant role in one area, while army or Special Republican Guard forces took a more prominent role in other areas.

The crimes committed by Iraqi officials in al-Mahawil, al-Hilla, and many other locations throughout Iraq mayamount to crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide, and accountability for those crimes must be established. However, the U.S. and coalition forces now occupying Iraq have yet to present a plan for accountability for the crimes of the Iraqi regime, or to even affirm their commitment to upholding internationally recognized standards during trials.

During the course of its investigation, Human Rights Watch was able to obtain the names of many of the Iraqi officials directly implicated in the mass arrest and execution campaign in the al-Hilla area—most of whom have gone into hiding or have fled since the fall of the Iraqi government. Because the identification of those perpetrators by victims could not be adequately confirmed, Human Rights Watch cannot release the names of all the suspected perpetrators at this time. Identifying local officials responsible for the mass executions will take additional investigations, but it is clear that the identity of many of the perpetrators can be established. In addition, there may be crucial evidence relating to the 1991 mass executions in the files of the Iraqi state archives and its security and intelligence agencies that could help establish the identity and culpability of certain individuals for the crimes in the al-Hilla area as well as elsewhere.

The thirst for justice among the surviving relatives is great, and the international community should move quickly to put in place an international criminal tribunal for Iraq that can bring about accountability for the crimes of the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein.