Forced Labour

According to the Dehkhoda Dictionary, bigari (forced labour or unfree labour) refers to "unpaid compulsory work or work without remuneration." Such labour may be imposed through threats, intimidation, violence, or other forms of coercion. Under the definition adopted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in the 1930 Forced Labour Convention (No. 29), however, labour performed as part of compulsory military service or during lawful detention or imprisonment does not constitute forced labour. Similarly, Article 89(3) of the Third Geneva Convention, which regulates the employment of prisoners of war (POW), permits compulsory labour provided that it does not exceed two hours per day. During captivity, prisoners' work generally fell into two categories: compulsory and voluntary. Among these, compulsory labour had the greatest impact on prisoners' psychological well-being.

During the Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988), the Iraqi Ba'athist military compelled Iranian prisoners of war to perform fatigue duties for the following purposes:

1. To deprive prisoners of their capacity for independent thought and creativity, thereby limiting their ability to engage in constructive or meaningful activities.
2. To facilitate control over the prisoners by subjecting them to physically and mentally exhausting work, leaving them fatigued, demoralized, and more easily managed.
3. To erode their morale by fostering feelings of humiliation, suffering, anxiety, defeat, and other forms of psychological distress.
4. To exploit their labour for construction and infrastructure projects, including the erection of buildings, the excavation of wells, the expansion of prison camps, and the installation of barbed-wire fences.
5. To keep the prisoners continuously occupied.

Forms of Forced Labour During Captivity

1. Labour Outside the Camp

Labour assignments outside the camp typically involved groups of ten to twenty prisoners. Early each morning, these groups were escorted from the camp and assigned a variety of tasks, including manufacturing mud bricks, producing concrete blocks, constructing buildings, operating the concrete-block factory near Salahuddin Camp, performing technical work, and engaging in agricultural activities. The crops cultivated by prisoners on these lands were primarily used by the Iraqi authorities.

2. Labour Inside the Camp

Most forced labour assignments were transferred from areas outside the camps to locations within the camp boundaries after two prisoners escaped. Thereafter, prisoners were required to perform a wide range of tasks, including construction work, concrete-block production, landscaping and maintenance of camp grounds, agricultural labour, the installation of barbed-wire fences and reinforcement of perimeter defenses, stone carving, masonry, and the manufacture of handicrafts and other essential items. Construction work became a defining feature of Iraqi prisoner-of-war camps. Salahuddin Camp 17, for instance, an abandoned military barracks, was restored and expanded largely through the labour of Iranian prisoners of war. Among the most demanding and widespread forms of labour was concrete-block production. Block-making machines operated continuously from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., producing approximately 1,000 to 1,200 concrete blocks per day. The blocks then were loaded onto trucks and removed from the camp each evening. Prisoners were also tasked with improving and maintaining the physical conditions of the camps. During the early stages of captivity, camp courtyards were uneven and covered with weeds. Using basic tools, including food containers repurposed for transporting soil and sand, as well as improvised rollers made from tree trunks, they gradually levelled and cleared the grounds. Other fatigue duties included collecting stones from the grounds of Tikrit Camp 12, cultivating agricultural plots, erecting barbed-wire fences, strengthening camp perimeter defenses, and carrying out stone carving and masonry. Another widespread activity was the production of handicrafts and everyday necessities. Although such work was not always classified as forced labour, as prisoners occasionally received nominal payments, the remuneration provided was minimal. Prisoners produced a variety of handmade items, including photograph albums, polished stone crafts, clay prayer tablets (mohr), prayer beads (tasbih), embroidered goods, bags, shoes, traditional giveh[2] footwear, and other handicrafts. In practice, however, these activities frequently constituted a form of forced labour for several reasons:

1. The handicrafts were traded to Iraqi guards and officers in exchange for small amounts of food or cigarettes.
2. Prisoners often felt compelled to offer the items as gifts to guards in order to avoid torture or other forms of abuse.
3. Iraqi soldiers frequently obtained the handicrafts through coercion, intimidation, and extortion.
4. Guards also confiscated many of the prisoners' handmade products under the pretext of conducting searches for prohibited items.

Benefits of Forced Labour

Despite its exploitative nature, forced labour occasionally provided prisoners with certain advantages during captivity:

1. Prisoners were sometimes paid a nominal wage for their labour, which helped them partially alleviate their material hardships.
2. Those assigned to labour details occasionally received an extra loaf of bread, providing limited but meaningful relief from food shortages.
3. Participation in labour assignments could reduce the likelihood of individual or collective punishment by camp authorities.
4. Many prisoners considered forced labour preferable to prolonged inactivity, as it imposed structure on their daily lives, occupied their time, and helped mitigate the monotony and psychological pressures of captivity.
5. Performing compulsory labour also enabled prisoners to follow the guidance of camp leaders, particularly Seyed Ali Akbar Abutorabi-Fard, who consistently encouraged patience, perseverance, compliance with camp regulations, and avoidance of confrontation with Iraqi guards. Prisoners who refused to participate in labour assignments were often subjected to severe punishment, resulting in further hardship. Numerous memoirs of former prisoners of war suggest that adherence to the guidance of Abutorabi-Fard and other camp representatives contributed to maintaining internal order, reducing tensions with Iraqi guards, and improving prisoners’ overall conditions.
6. Doing fatigue duties helped reducing psychological stress and emotional distress. As Mr. Abutorabi-Fard advised: "Everyone should keep busy. Whatever work is assigned should be done, even forced labour. If the Iraqis tell you to make concrete blocks, then do it." His emphasis on maintaining activity and engagement led camp representatives to request that Iraqi authorities allocate a plot of land for cultivation. They believed that productive work could help occupy prisoners' time and reduce the psychological burdens associated with prolonged captivity.
7. Labour assignments also provided prisoners with indirect benefits, including opportunities to gather information, access radios, obtain writing materials, and collect discarded items that could be repurposed within the camps. For example, prisoners returning from labour duties sometimes concealed empty cement sacks beneath their clothing and secretly brought them back into the camps to use as makeshift writing paper.

Adverse Effects of Forced Labour

Forced labour subjected prisoners to substantial physical and psychological hardships. Its adverse effects included the following:

1. One method used by the Iraqi authorities to pacify prisoners, or, more precisely, to keep them constantly occupied, was the assignment of unnecessary and meaningless tasks. For example, following a protest and hunger strike at one of the camps, which resulted in collective torture and severe physical abuse, Iraqi authorities ordered prisoners to construct decorative features inside the barracks. Using only basic tools and whatever limited materials were available, the prisoners were forced to carry out these tasks, even while fasting during the holy month of Ramadan.
2. The harsh working conditions and physically demanding nature of labour contributed to the spread of various in the Mosul prison camps.
3. Forced labour was also used as a means of humiliation and degradation.
4. POWs believed certain forms of labour indirectly contributed to Iraq’s military objectives. In particular, the production of concrete blocks was a source of concern, as these materials could potentially be used in the construction of defensive fortifications.
5. Prisoners were also subjected to torture and physical abuse.

See Also

• Forms of Forced Labour During Captivity
• Prison Camps
• Innovation and Creativity

Bibliography

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[1] The largest comprehensive Persian encyclopedic dictionary ever published, comprising 200 volumes.

[2] Giveh is a traditional Persian cotton footwear handwoven using cotton fibers for uppers and leather soles.