Takrit camp 12

One of the detention camps of Iranian prisoners in Iraq.

Takrit 12 was the second camp dedicated to unregistered prisoners, and the Red Cross did not know about the existence of such a camp inside Iraq. This camp was established in early 1988.

Geographical and architectural characteristics

From the outside, the camp looked like four rows of cement block buildings that were 20 meters apart. These newly built one-story buildings, without the necessary facilities, were constructed for short-term living and keeping prisoners.

This camp was made up of three main parts: 1- Bloc 1 2-Bloc 2, which had a similar structure.3-. The annex, which was also called the 3rd Bloc, and each bloc had 9 sanatoriums measuring 5 x 20  located in a northern-southern directions (of course, the dimensions of the blocks are also mentioned as 5 x 18-6)

The sanatoriums were located in three triple rows . The doors of two of them opened next to each other and the third door opened to the back of the building. The roof and floor of the sanatoriums were made of concrete and the prisoners covered them with blankets. The annex had 14 rooms 2 x 3 meters and solitary cells, which were used to punish prisoners, and it was  located between rooms 4 and 5. The annex also had a long wall and room 14 of the annex for a time had been allocated to scabies patients.

Camp facilities

Each sanatorium had ten windows, five of which opened towards the back of the sanatorium, which, of course, was blocked by the Iraqis. A fence had been erected in front of the five windows that opened to the courtyard of the camp. so that only one hand could pass through it. On average, there were three ceilinged fans in each sanatorium for air ventilation, and like all the camps in this area, the sanatoriums also had awnings .

The camp kitchen was located in the yard next to the guard room. This kitchen provided the entire Camp 12 with food and was managed by Iranian prisoners. There was a garden in front of it where the prisoners planted vegetables. Each camp had eight lavatories, which were located next to the bathroom, and of course there was no well. The joint toilet was located between rooms 13 and 14 next to the bathroom and had ten lavatories . Usually, there was a bucket inside every sanatorium, which was used for urination from 5 o'clock in the evening, when the whistle was blown, until the next morning at 8 o'clock. There were eight showers at the beginning of blocs, but usually the water was not hot and the prisoners put a bucket of water under the sun in hot weather and used this water for bathing. The attached bathroom was also located near the toilet and between rooms 13 and 14, and there were five showers for bathing . The water source was a tank that was placed on the roof of the bathroom. Captives took turns in order to take a bath.

At first, prisoners carried water in oil tin cans with them to the sanatorium. Some time later, water taps were placed for each sanatorium and there was a small pool in the middle of the camp which was used for drinking water. For the treatment of prisoners, a small infirmary room was located next to the back-up building inside the camp area. The captives were in dire straits in terms of health and medical treatment, and due to the bad health condition and  the ubiquitous lice, they suffered from all kinds of diseases, including scabies, dysentery, and even lung and kidney diseases. Dysentery and scabies were considered infectious diseases. dysentery in the camps claimed the most casualties among prisoners; So that three or four of the prisoners died of this disease, but Mr. Mursali, Bakhsipour and Dr. Bamdad treated the prisoners despite all the deficiencies . To protect the camp, a guard room was placed in the yard and near the infirmary. and in addition to the nine guard turrets around the camp,a line of ring-shaped barbed wire was also stretched around the camp. Some of the captives who had a closer cooperation with the Iraqis and usually handled the general affairs of the camp ,were settled in the back up building which was independent from the sanitary and was located in the proximity of the kitchen . (← Facilities of Takrit camp 12)

History and dwellers of Takrit camp 12

The first prisoners  transferred to camp 12 were 550 prisoners of the Faw operation who were captured following the sudden attack of the enemy in this area and were stationed in Bloc 1. The second round of prisoners living in this camp were 750 people who were captured on June 23^rd 1988 as a result of the enemy's attack in Shalamcheh. The third group of Takrit camp 12 prisoners were 1116 people who were captured by the enemy on June 24^th 1988 in Majnoon, Kushk, and Talaiyeh. The last group of prisoners amounted to 1500 people from Zubaidat, Sherhani and Karbala 7 areas who were settled in the annex . In one of the two main checkpoints, military forces, both rank and file, were stationed and in the other checkpoint, , the number of the Islamic militia and IRGC prisoners was more.

According to the statements of Iranian prisoners, the number of people in this camp reached about 4000 people in July 1988, and this caused a lot of congestion in the sanatoriums. In general, 160 people lived in each sanatorium, which was later reduced to 150 people following the transfer of a number of prisoners to the annex, as well as officers to other camps. Also, in the relocation that was done in the last year, the number of people in each sanatorium decreased to 140 . But the report of the International Committee of the Red Cross, at the time of registration of the prisoners living in this camp, shows that at the time of the exchange of prisoners, nearly 2950 Iranian prisoners were present in this camp. (History of Takrit camp 12)

Important events

1.   In the summer of 1988, Naqeeb Jamal along with Amer Farhan entered the sanatoriums, selected a number of Hizbullah fans, who formed about half of the sanatorium, and took them to the guard room and after beating them up, they tried to get the prisoners to whip each other using cables. In response to this action" Ali Amiri started yelling ‘down with Saddam”. The officers beat him terribly. Then they lined up all the prisoners, tore off their clothes and set them on fire. The prisoners had only one underwear for about 15 days. Following the mourning for Imam Hossein on Ashura 1990 and beating of captives by the Iraqis, they imprisoned three people who were treating sick captives in the hospital. The prisoners reacted to this action and went on a hunger strike on August 4^th 1990. At first, this move was not considered serious, but after three days of the prisoners' hunger strike, the camp commander promised to release the three. The hunger strike discontinued in the camp, but the commander did not keep his promise and released them one day after this incident.

2.   Haj Morteza Haj Bagheri was one of the commanders of the 41st  Brigade of Tharullah among the captives of this camp. One of Haj Morteza's hands was amputated in some operation. The Iraqis had heard that an important person among the commanders was among the prisoners. For identification, 14 people were lined up and one of them was taken for identification. Naqib Jamal beat up this prisoner to give away Haj Morteza. In addition to Haj Morteza, that person also gave away several commanders and ordinary guards to the Baathists. The Baathists took the identified people and severely tortured them. After the disclosure of  those guys, a group of prisoners was transferred to camp 16 and after a while to Baghuba camp. (← Important events of Takrit camp 12)

End of the camp

The first group of prisoners of camp 12 was registered in the Red Cross list on October 27^th 1990 and returned to their homeland, and Takrit camp 12 was evacuated and shut down.

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Masoumeh Jafarzadeh