Karkuk camp
One of the detention camps of Iranian prisoners in Iraq.
This camp was located in Karkuk province near the city of Kirkuk - with moderate weather conditions. The administration of the camp was in the hands of the Mojahedin Khalq forces(Monafeghin). With the financial and military support of the Iraqi Baath regime, the Monafeghin had created and equipped military units and bases for their organization. By equipping the Monafeghin, the Iraqi regime enjoyed their outstanding cooperation in every field against Iran. This faction in the last years of the imposed war effected (→ the imposed war of Iraq on Iran), operations such as Khursheed Taban (=Blazin Sun) (March 20th,1988), Chehelcheragh(=chandelier) (June 17th,1988), Forough Javidan(=eternal light) (Mersad) (just six days after the acceptance of the Resolution that was concluded on July 29th,1988) with the support of the Iraqi regime. The Mojahedin forces captured a number of Iranian forces in Khursheed Taban and Chehelcheragh operations. These prisoners were kept in Karkuk camp. A camp whose prisoners` names had not been included in the Red Cross list and their documents were still missing in the Red Crescent list.
The life of prisoners in this camp is divided into two periods: the period before the Mersad operation and the period after that. Shortly after the arrival of prisoners at this camp, the Monafeghin tried to deceive and allure captives. Sometimes they would try to intimidate them. Their behavior changed in different situations. The conditions governing this camp were different from other camps in Iraq.
The date of establishment of the camp had been announced almost six months before the Chehelcheragh operation; Because when the prisoners of this operation entered the camp, they saw Iranian fighters there already imprisoned. These prisoners state that they had built this camp six months ago. The first 300 prisoners of this camp were from the 64th division of Orumiye, as well as fighters from the IRGC and the Islamic militia.
Geographical and architectural characteristics
According to the POWs' description of the architecture and buildings of the Karkuk camp, it seems that this camp was looked like a castle with a rectangular maze-like base. The inner courtyard had three or four separate sanatoriums of varying sizes. Each of these sanatoriums had a rectangular base and was connected to each other through doors at the end of large halls. These sanatoriums had a central courtyard and around this courtyard there were two-story buildings made of prefabricated blocks or lined bricks and had a main entrance. The floors of the sanatoriums were covered with tiles. The two sanatoriums of this camp had a large area with a central courtyard (the size of the two courtyards of the old public school). These yards were paved. Large sanatoriums had many rooms of different sizes, for example: 6 meters, 12 meters and a dining hall on the first floor.
The small abandoned sanatorium had a grimy small yard and had 6-7 rooms on the ground level. The windows of sanatoriums were fenced towards the central courtyard and were considered the only means of ventilation of the rooms. The entrance doors of the first floor opened to the courtyard. The entrance to the kitchen, bathroom and toilet was from the yard. A staircase led from the courtyard to the upper floor.
The upper floor of the sanatoriums was at the disposal of the Monafeghin. The prisoners were not allowed to move on that floor except when they wanted to use the library. Of course, according to Ismail Dehghanpour, one of the prisoners present in this camp, the Mojahedin used the prisoners to build a part of this camp.
The only sight that some prisoners remember from the façade of the camp was a window in some rooms fenced with iron bars on a scale of 70 x 50 cm (vertical rectangle). Behind the barbed wire walls, a road could be seen in the distance, through which rarely any cars passed, and also nearby there was a plaster factory.
The inner area of the camp was surrounded by a barbed wire-clad wall and was under the control of the Iraqi Baath regime.
Administration of the camp
The Mojahedin-e-Khalgh forces controlled the inner area. They wore their own uniforms and moved unarmed inside the camp except when they came there with more people to do a program or work. But the watchmen of the Monafeghin, who were on the roof of the buildings and controlled the prisoners from above in any situation, were always armed.
The outer area was under the control of the Baath regime forces. The prisoners did not have much connection with the Iraqi forces. They only saw the Iraqi red helmets in the camp infirmary. Even the interrogations were carried out by the Mojahedin themselves. The captives were blindfolded, taken to another place and interrogated there.
This camp did not have an Iraqi commander, and nobody acted as functionary of the Iranian camp or sanatoriums. All affairs were under the control of Monafeghin. They also had nicknames like Hassan, Kazem, Muhammad and Ali.
Facilities
In this camp, 300 prisoners captured sometime before Chehelcheragh operation and 1800 people captured in Chehelcheragh operation were kept in different sanatoriums. Prisoners were accommodated in groups of 10 in one room, and sometimes the number of prisoners in some rooms reached more than 15 people. The sanatoriums were not numbered. Large sanatoriums had 5-6 bathrooms and toilets. The kitchen of these sanatoriums was almost fully equipped. At first, the prisoners' food was prepared outside the camp and then distributed among the prisoners in the kitchen, but later it was cooked inside the camp under the supervision of the Monafeghin themselves. But the kitchen of the small abandoned sanatorium had no facilities.
In large sanatoriums, the prisoners were provided with brooms and hoses to clean the toilets and bathrooms. Drinking water and water needed in the kitchen, bathroom and toilets were supplied from tap water. There was hot water in the bathroom. Each of the prisoners was given a responsibility; For example, some people were responsible for cleaning, some for the kitchen, and some people were responsible for the bathroom.
Prisoners did not have any rights. There was no store there. Washing powder and soap were among the sanitary items that were given to the prisoners, as well as razors for shaving the head and face. Each person shaved his own head. There was no barbershop. Large sanatoriums had tailoring and yet the prisoners themselves sewed when needed. Each prisoner was given a blanket and a pillow. The floors of the rooms were carpeted. Every room was given a heater. During the captivity, the prisoners were given clothes Like underwear and casual clothes only once. When they washed their clothes, they spread them on the stones in the yard to dry. Each prisoner was given a pair of slippers. These prisoners were not given uniforms.
On the second floor of this camp, there was a library where only the newspapers and books published by the Mojahedin were kept and the prisoners could go to the library. The content of these books was about their ideologies, actions and betrayals against Iran. Apart from these books, no other book was found in their library . For this reason, most of the prisoners avoided this library.
Cultural classes or even sports were forbidden for prisoners. The prisoners walked in the yard or played football every now and then. Prisoners were not given paper or pen. The camp infirmary was somewhat equipped with medicine and basic supplies, but there was no doctor or nurse. Injections and dressings when necessary were the responsibility of one of the Monafeghin forces. In emergency involving acute and fatal cases, the prisoners were taken to the hospital or to specialist doctors' consulting offices in Karkuk. The Mojahedin took some of the prisoners who had kidney stones to Karkuk city for treatment. Of course, no special medicine was prescribed.
Watching TV was mandatory for prisoners and if they refused, they were threatened. The television was located in the hall where the Monafeghin would gather the prisoners and choose Arabic channels to watch. But most of the time, they broadcast movies of their fronts and conflicts and what was related to their organization for the prisoners. The Mojahedin held meetings and talked about their ideologies and goals. They tried to brainwash the prisoners, especially the conscripts, young and old members of the Islamic militia and rank and file. The captives consisted of officers, , conscripts, guards and Islamic militia members. Of course, most of the prisoners were in the army.
Before the Mersad operation that is, at the beginning of captivity, good quality food was given to the prisoners . Two captives ate from one plate. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were served. Eggs and milk were also given to prisoners. The Iraqis provided the Mojahedin with raw materials in healthy and appropriate packages. Rarely, they gave each prisoner a piece of fruit. During the day, the prisoners could walk in the yard and talk to each other. Whenever they needed a bath or toilet, it was not forbidden, but they were always under the control of the guards. Of course, the bathing was timed; Each person had a quarter of an hour to take a bath. If someone lingered too long in the bathroom or toilet, the guard would kick the door open. During the night, the doors of the rooms were locked at a certain time. Inside the rooms, there were no toilets or buckets for emergencies.
According to the captives, the Monafeghin pursued political goals in their good service. All work was for recruitment. As at the beginning of the captivity, they were able to deceive a number of captives by promising to provide life facilities such as a house and other requirements of marriage, education and migration to foreign countries. After some time, they started to threaten and terrorize the prisoners. In this way, some of the prisoners surrendered in order to survive. The hypocrites were planning to turn prisoners into soldiers to fight against Iran. Of course, the deceived prisoners were killed in the Mersad operation.
Out of a total of 2100 prisoners in this camp, 300 of the wounded were released after the Resolution was accepted and 867 were released at the end of 1988, and only this group resisted the Mojahedin and did not surrender in any way. The LC Rahim Bayani says: "300 of the wounded who were not in good physical conditions were released before us, and when we were released and came to Tehran, they gathered us in a covered-in stadium where it was announced that 867 captives from the Monafeghin camp had returned home."
After this incident and the defeat of the Mojahedin in the Mersad operation, these resistant prisoners were subjected to psychological torture to such an extent that they became thoroughly depressed. When the prisoners were resting in the yard, the guards would shoot from the roof and shell the ground. 29 officers who never failed in front of the Monafeghin and prevented the soldiers from joining them, were separated from the other prisoners and imprisoned in a small abandoned sanatorium. This sanatorium was located in the neighborhood of the main sanatoriums and included 5 rooms, into which the 29 officers were divided. The Mojahedin tried to spread discord among the prisoners and started a psychological war.
Since the beginning of January 1988, the quality of food had decreased. They boiled some refused bones and mixed it with pieces of some moldy bread called Samun and fed it to the captives. The hot water was stopped. While the prisoners were taking a bath with cold water or were in the toilet, the water was suddenly cut off. The guards would rush in and kick the captives out like a herd of cows.
Important events
One of the special events that happened in this camp was Hosseini's mourning ceremony in the month of Muharram. In the yard, the captives had a ritual of breast-beating (they beat their chests with a cluster of chains to express depths of their sorrow) and chanting. On the first night, one of the officers who cooperated with the Monafeghin, joined the mourners and lamented with others. In the ceremony of the second night, the Mojahedin wanted to do it again when they faced the protest of the prisoners, for that night the Monafeghin had insulted the Imam (RIP) while chanting. When the captives clashed with the traitorous forces, the guards opened a volley of shots above their heads.
After the Mersad operation, the prisoners were released in several groups. The first group consisted of 300 people who were released at the Khosravi border without coordination with the Iranian border forces. The second group consisted of 867 people who were released at the Mehran border with the coordination of the border forces and under the supervision of the Red Cross. After the prisoners were transferred to a stadium in Tehran, the officials asked the spies and informants of the Mojahedin to introduce themselves. The official in question declares the number of these people to be 22 , and after being threatened, all 22 people introduced themselves and were isolated from the group of liberated captives.
There is no exact information about the fate of the rest of the prisoners, but according to the fighters present in the Mersad operation and the Karkuk camp prisoners, some of the prisoners were deceived by the Monafeghin and joined them,and even participated in the Mersad operation and were killed. Some of those victims believed that by joining the Mojahedin, they could either lead a great life in European countries or participate in the operation and use this opportunity to get rid of the Mojahedin and return to the country. At this moment, their fate is unknown and they are missing[1].
See also
Bibliography
- ↑ Interview with two LCs present in this camp, Rahim Bayani (11/27/2015) and Jafar Aghazadeh (11/23/2015). Rahim Bayani was captured with the rank of third lieutenant of the second brigade of the 16th division.
Vahid Agha Karmi