DATE=2/23/98
TYPE=WORLDWIDE ENGLISH FEATURE
NUMBER=7-
TITLE=CAPTURED IRAQI SECRET POLICE FILES
BYLINE=MARTIN SECREST
TELEPHONE=401-7467
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=NANCY SMART
CONTENT=
[INSERTS/V-V AVAILABLE IN AUDIO SERVICES]
INTRO: IN 1991, AT THE CLOSE OF THE GULF WAR, KURDISH REBEL
GROUPS IN NORTHERN IRAQ SEIZED A MASSIVE COLLECTION OF
PAPERS AND RECORDED TAPES FROM IRAQI SECRET POLICE AND
MILITARY HEADQUARTERS IN THE REGION. WITH THE CONSENT
OF KURDISH REBELS, THE MATERIALS WERE AIRLIFTED OUT OF
IRAQ IN 1992 BY THE U-S MILITARY. THEY DOCUMENT A
SYSTEMATIC CAMPAIGN OF VIOLENCE AGAINST THE MINORITY
KURDS, INCLUDING THE USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS BY IRAQ.
DURING THIS SO CALLED "ANFAL" CAMPAIGN, WHICH WAS AT ITS
HEIGHT IN THE LATE 1980'S, OVER 100-THOUSAND KURDISH
CIVILIANS DISAPPEARED, MANY OF THEM EXECUTED. THE
CAPTURED SECRET FILES -- ALL FIVE AND A HALF MILLION
PAGES OF THEM -- HAVE BEEN STORED IN A DIGITAL DATABASE
BY THE U-S DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, AND THE ORIGINAL
MATERIALS ARE NOW ARCHIVED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
AT BOULDER. AS VOA'S MARTIN SECREST REPORTS, THE SECRET
FILES MAY PROVIDE SOME ANSWERS TO KURDS WHO ARE LOOKING
FOR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES WHO HAVE LONG SINCE
DISAPPEARED:
TEXT: ASAD GOZEH KNOWS FIRSTHAND OF THE CAMPAIGN OF TERROR AND
GENOCIDE CARRIED OUT AGAINST THE KURDS IN NORTHERN IRAQ.
THOUGH HE NOW LIVES IN THE UNITED STATES, MR. GOZEH
OPPOSED SADDAM HUSSEIN AS A MEMBER OF THE PATRIOTIC
UNION OF KURDISTAN, A REBEL GROUP. HE IS A SURVIVOR OF
SEVERAL CHEMICAL WEAPONS ATTACKS BY IRAQI FORCES. HE
SAYS THE FIRST ATTACKS OCCURRED DURING THE IRAN-IRAQ WAR
IN THE LATE 1980'S, METED OUT IN PART AS PUNISHMENT FOR
THE KURDS' REFUSAL TO JOIN THE WAR:
TAPE: CUT ONE, GOZEH
:47
"I WAS EXPECTING THAT SADDAM HUSSEIN WAS GOING TO USE
CHEMICAL WEAPONS AGAINST THE KURDS. ONE THING THAT
SADDAM WAS AFRAID (OF) WAS THAT THE POPULATION OF THE
KURDS GREW DURING THE IRAN-IRAQ WAR, AND I KNEW THAT
SADDAM HUSSEIN WAS GOING TO DECREASE THE POPULATION OF
THE KURDS, BECAUSE HE NEVER THOUGHT THAT THE KURDS ARE
PART OF IRAQ. HE THOUGHT THEY WERE 'GUESTS' ON ARABIC
LAND, WHICH WE NEVER WERE -- WE WERE JOINED BY FORCE TO
IRAQ."
TEXT: ASAD GOZEH SAYS HIS BROTHER WAS NEARLY BLINDED BY
MUSTARD GAS IN A CHEMICAL ATTACK, AND THAT ENTIRE
VILLAGES OF KURDS WERE WIPED OUT BY CHEMICAL WEAPONS.
HE SAYS HE SURVIVED THE ATTACKS BY LEARNING TO RECOGNIZE
THE LESSER EXPLOSION OF A CHEMICAL BOMB, AND WHEN ONE
WAS DEPLOYED, TO SEEK OUT HIGHER LAND, BUILD AND STAY
CLOSE TO A FIRE, AND PUT A WET CLOTH OVER HIS MOUTH.
TAPE: CUT TWO, HILTERMANN
:0
6
"WE HAVE GONE THROUGH THEM ALL -- THERE'S MORE THAN FIVE
MILLION PAGES -- WE'VE READ EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF PAPER
IN THERE."
TEXT: JOOST HILTERMANN IS WITH HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, AN
INDEPENDENT HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION BASED IN THE
UNITED STATES. IN 1992, THE GROUP WORKED WITH THE
KURDS AND THE U-S MILITARY TO FLY THE SECRET FILES OUT
OF IRAQ. MOST OF THE DOCUMENTS ORIGINATED IN THE
GENERAL SECURITY DIRECTORATE, THE SECRET POLICE AGENCY
OF IRAQ:
TAPE: CUT THREE, HILTERMANN
:18
"WHAT IS IN THERE, IN ADDITION TO A HUGE AMOUNT OF
RATHER TEDIOUS ADMINISTRATIVE DETAIL, THERE IS VERY
STARK AND TELLING EVIDENCE OF VERY SERIOUS ABUSES OF
HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAQ DURING THE 1980'S AND EARLY
1990'S."
TEXT: MR. HILTERMANN SAYS THE IRAQI "ANFAL" CAMPAIGN AGAINST
THE KURDS -- "ANFAL" IS A WORD THAT MEANS "SPOILS" --
WAS PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE WHEN IT WAS UNDERWAY. BUT IT WAS
PRESENTED UNDER THE GUISE OF A COUNTERINSURGENCY
CAMPAIGN, LED BY SADDAM HUSSEIN'S COUSIN, ALI HASSAN
AL-MAJID:
TAPE: CUT FOUR, HILTERMANN
:3
6
"THEY'RE VERY OPEN ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN -- IN FACT, THE
CAMPAIGN WAS OPENLY DISCUSSED IN THE IRAQI NEWSPAPERS AT
THE TIME. THERE WAS NO SECRET ABOUT IT. IT WAS A
MILITARY CAMPAIGN, AND IT WAS PRESENTED AS STRICTLY A
MILITARY CAMPAIGN. THIS IS SIGNIFICANT, BECAUSE THE WAY
IT WAS PRESENTED WAS A CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE 'SABOTEURS,'
WHICH IS THEIR EUPHEMISM FOR THE REBELS, THE KURDISH
REBELS. AND THE WHOLE FACT THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE
PEOPLE WHO WERE ROUNDED UP DURING THIS CAMPAIGN, AND
SENT TO THEIR DEATH, SYSTEMATICALLY, WERE CIVILIANS, IS
COMPLETELY OMITTED -- IT'S NOT THERE."
TEXT: IRAQI OFFICIALS, ACCORDING TO MR. HILTERMANN, HAVE LONG
CLAIMED THAT THE CAPTURED FILES ARE FORGERIES. BUT HE
SAYS THAT CLAIM CHALLENGES COMMON SENSE BECAUSE OF THE
ENORMOUS NUMBER OF THE DOCUMENTS, AND THE VARIETY AND
COMPLEXITY OF THE MATERIALS IN BOTH FORM AND CONTENT.
JOOST HILTERMANN ALSO SAYS THAT THE IRAQI GOVERNMENT HAS
ATTEMPTED TO KEEP FULL KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT THE ANFAL
CAMPAIGN WAS REALLY ABOUT TIGHTLY CONTROLLED :
TAPE: CUT FIVE, HILTERMANN
:18
"PEOPLE CANNOT SPEAK OPENLY AND DISCUSS THINGS. THE
PRESS IS TOTALLY CONTROLLED. THE DISTRIBUTION OF
INFORMATION IS VERY LIMITED. PEOPLE SPREAD NEWS BY WORD
OF MOUTH, AND THERE ARE A LOT OF KURDS LIVING IN
BAGHDAD, FOR EXAMPLE, AND WHAT HAPPENED DURING ANFAL IS
KNOWN THERE, GENERALLY."
TEXT: THE IRAQI SECRET POLICE FILES NOW RESIDE AT AN
UNDISCLOSED LOCATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT
BOULDER. THE ACQUISITION IS THE LATEST IN THE
UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES' SIX YEAR-OLD PROGRAM CALLED THE
HUMAN RIGHTS INITIATIVE, AND THE IRAQI FILES WERE
APPROVED FOR SHIPMENT TO COLORADO BY U-S SENATOR JESSE
HELMS, CHAIRMAN OF THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS
COMMITTEE. BRUCE MONTGOMERY IS THE CURATOR OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO ARCHIVES -- HE SAYS THAT THE
CACHE OF IRAQI SECRET FILES IS A MAJOR ACQUISITION:
TAPE: CUT SIX, MONTGOMERY :29
"I THINK THESE MATERIALS ARE PROBABLY THE MOST
SIGNIFICANT FILES TO FALL INTO OPEN HANDS SINCE PERHAPS
THE NAZI FILES FELL INTO ALLIED HANDS AFTER THE FALL OF
BERLIN. THEY REVEAL A GENOCIDAL CAMPAIGN OF A ROGUE
GOVERNMENT IN ITS OWN WORDS, AND THEY'RE AN
EXTRAORDINARY CACHE OF MATERIALS THAT WE VERY MUCH WANT
TO MAKE AS WIDELY ACCESSIBLE TO THE NATIONAL AND
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY AS POSSIBLE."
TEXT: BRUCE MONTGOMERY SAYS THAT THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
CURRENTLY MAKES THE IRAQI SECRET FILES DATABASE
AVAILABLE TO ANYONE WHO GOES TO THE UNIVERSITY. AND HE
SAYS THAT WITHIN SIX TO TWELVE MONTHS, THE UNIVERSITY
HOPES TO HAVE THE FILES ON THE INTERNET, WHERE THEY WILL
BE ACCESSIBLE TO VIRTUALLY ANYONE. MR. MONTGOMERY SAYS
THAT THE DOCUMENTS PROVIDE A CHILLING INSIGHT INTO
IRAQ'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST ITS KURDISH CITIZENS, AND WILL
BE, AS HE PUTS IT, "OF TREMENDOUS IMPORTANCE TO KURDS
WHO WANT TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THEIR LOVED ONES."
(SIGNED)
NEB/MS/NES
23-Feb-98 4:07 PM EST (2107 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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