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Doctor Speaks of Mass Slaughters In Iraqi Jails
LONDON, August 3 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - President Saddam Hussein's younger son, Qusai, personally supervised the mass execution of political detainees in Abu Ghraib, Iraq's largest and most notorious prison, the head physician of the prison hospital told news agencies Friday.
In a joint interview with the Iraq Press, an Iraqi news agency that claims government independence, and the London-based Azzaman newspaper, Maher Fakher Khashan gave details of summary executions and barbaric tortures he witnessed.
Khashan, who recently fled fom Iraq to Jordan, was also a witness to the 1998 massacre in which 2,000 inmates were executed in a single day as part of Saddam's so-called "prison cleansing campaign", Iraq Press reported.
''Executions occur periodically at Abu Ghraib," said Khashan, quoted by Azzaman. "Every Wednesday some inmates are killed. A prisoner who is to be executed carries a number on his chest without a name. The majority of those executed are political detainees."
The entrance of special vehicles with iron boxes into Abu Ghraib's grounds are a sign that executions were imminent.
"These vehicles entered execution chambers and carried the corpses away. They bore the sign of 'mobile workshop' as a disguise," Khashan said.
The last executions seen by Khashan were carried out as recently as July 8, 2001, only days before his flight to Jordan. "They included 34 inmates, among them a middle-aged women," he said.
Khashan said Abu Ghraib was overcrowded with approximately 10,000 inmates crammed into wards originally designed to accommodate 1,250 prisoners, Azzaman reported.
However, executions were not confined to Wednesdays. Khashan said they could occur any time.
Security forces used to bring their detainees to Abu Ghraib hospital; a prison governor accompanied them and "forced one of the doctors to inject them with a syringe which he carried."
"The prisoners passed away instantly, but the doctors were compelled to issue death certificates telling that they had died of natural causes," Khashan said.
Khashan denied that he ever signed such certificates. He said he preferred to flee the country rather than be part of such barbaric practices.
Khashan said he had seen Qusai Saddam Hussein ordering Abu Ghraib's governor to kill 50 inmates in 1998. "They were executed in one hour and a half," he said.
Saddam has apparently chosen Qusai to succeed him in case of an emergency or his sudden death. Recently, Saddam has given Qusai even greater responsibilities that now cover the armed forces, the military branch of the ruling Baath party and the country's intelligence, in addition to the Special Security forces and the presidential guard.
In addition to overcrowding, Khashan said, health conditions in Abu Ghraib are appalling and "diseases are rampant due to malnutrition," he said.
Torture is routine in Abu Ghraib. Khashan said a special team of eye doctors is charged by Saddam to gouge out eyes of those executed inside the prison hospital.
Iraq Press further reported that a special court sentenced two prominent lawyers to death on July 30th on charges of masterminding a covert anti-regime network.
Information on the death penalty sentence was contained in a confidential leaflet circulated recently in Baghdad, sources inside the country told Iraq Press.
The lawyers, Mohammed Abdulrazzaq al-Hadithi and Kareem al-Shammari, were captured a few months ago and their fate remained undisclosed until the special court condemned them to death.
According to the leaflet, the network al-Hadithi and al-Shammari ran attempted to ''polarize'' political and military opposition to the regime.
The sources said the 70-year-old lawyers were among the most outstanding solicitors in Baghdad. The special court's death sentence also accused them of illegal possession of arms.
The two were apparently among a group of lawyers the authorities put behind bars early last month following the distribution of leaflets signed by an unspecified bar association.
The leaflets exposed the illegal and unconstitutional practices of the regime in violating human rights, interfering in court proceedings and issuing decrees without recourse to the constitution.
The sources said eight more people were implicated along with al-Hadithi and al-Shammari and were sentenced to 10-15 years in prison.
The harsh sentences came in the aftermath of a campaign that Saddam Hussein's elder son, Udai, mounted through his own media outlet against Iraqi lawyers, accusing them of attempts to defend "criminals" and striking deals with judges to win their cases, said Iraq Press.
Judges in Iraq fare no better. Last month, the Justice Ministry fired 20 judges after they had issued an appeal for the halting of extra-judicial measures the country's special courts are known to carry out, reported Iraq Press.
The special courts belong to Iraq's numerous security services, which have jurisdiction in all cases involving espionage and treason, peaceful political dissent, smuggling, currency transfer violations, forgery and drug trafficking.
Meanwhile in Belgium, where the state has taken it upon itself to try global cases of human rights violations, including that of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the Belgian prosecutor's office has ruled that civil cases charging president Saddam Hussein with crimes against humanity fall within the jurisdiction of the Belgian legal system, court officials said Wednesday, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Belgian prosecutors found that both cases against the lawyers contained sufficient evidence to start investigations, a spokesman said.
In June, five Iraqi refugees living in Belgium and the Netherlands filed complaints against Saddam Hussein, alleging crimes against ethnic Kurds in northern Iraq.
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