Musel camp 4
One of the detention camps of Iranian prisoners in Iraq.
Geographical and architectural characteristics
The musel camp 4 had been built in the shape of a castle and there were four towers in its four corners, where the Iraqi sentries were stationed to keep guard. The sanatoriums were located next to and between the towers and there was a courtyard in the middle. Like other camps in the musel region, this camp also had two floors. In this camp, there were fourteen sanatoriums on each floor. In front of each sanatorium, there was a lawn. There were two toilets at the end of the camp, each with 16 toilet cistern flush siphon springs. Due to the broken and clogged sewer pipes, the toilets were not in a good condition, but over time, with the efforts of the prisoners, the toilets were cleansed and made tidy. The radio speaker was installed inside the sanatoriums and was controlled by Iraqis themselves. The Iraqi Radio program or music from this speaker was played about 14 hours a day; So that it started in the morning, before the counting process started and continued until the late hours of the night.
History and dwellers of musel camp 4
After the clashes that happened in the musel camp 2, on 6th of September 1982, about 700 prisoners of this camp were transferred to musel camp 4. The prisoners of this group were the first to set foot in the musel camp 4, and with their arrival, this camp was set up. A few days later, Hojjat -ol-Islam Seyyed Ali Akbar Abu Torabi Fard entered this camp. For the first ten days, all the people inside the sanatoriums were prisoners, and the sanatorium doors were opened only once a day, and people were allowed to go to the toilets which had no water. On the whole, it would take the captives of one sanatorium less than half an hour per day to go to the toilet and get back again, and during this short time, Iraqi soldiers beat them up with cables and batons. After that, prisoners were given one hour each day to take fresh air; Of course, the length of break time varied from one sanatorium to another..gradually, this time increased until it reached about 7 hours a day[1].
Not even a month had passed since the prisoners arrived in this camp when representatives of the Red Cross came to visit. On February 10th 1982, about 500 prisoners of the old musel camp 2, who had been captured in the Ramadan and Muharram operations, were transferred to the musel camp 3. At the beginning of March 1983, about 150 prisoners of this camp were sent to Ramadi region, and after that, 600 prisoners of the old musel camp 2, who had been captured by the Iraqis in the preliminary Wal-Fajr operation, were transferred to this camp. On the same day, the Iraqi soldiers punished the new prisoners with cables and batons, as a result of which one of the prisoners named Habibullah Barghaman lost one of his eyes. After that, they accommodated 150 to 160 prisoners in each asylum, which was more than the capacity of the asylums and caused trouble for the prisoners. The last transfer of this camp took place on May 16th 1984, during which about 500 prisoners were transferred to musel camp 3[1]. (→History of musel camp 4).
Important events
1. The prisoners were always seeking to get new news about the circumstances in Iran and to learn about the developments of the imposed war. One of the ways bound to grant this wish was accessing a radio. For this reason, they spent a lot of efforts on the procurement of a radio at any cost. But more important than the procurement of the radio was its maintenance and care, which was considered one of the most difficult tasks and involved many risks. If the Iraqi soldiers suspected the existence of a radio in the camp, they would try to find it in any possible way and would not hesitate to kill the prisoners. Because according to the Iraqis, it was forbidden for prisoners to have a radio.
Prisoners in the musel camp 4 were able to get a radio and use it to get news from Iran and the war fronts. This radio fell into the hands of Iraqi soldiers during one of the daily inspections. After some time, the prisoners obtained another radio through their intermediaries among the Iraqi guards and kept it until the end of the captivity and brought it back with them when they returned to Iran. In the meeting they had with the Supreme Leader, they presented him with the above-mentioned radio, which is currently kept in the Astan Quds Razavi Museum[2].
2. One of the other events of the musel camp 4 was the arrival of Sheikh Ali Tehrani at this camp. He came to this camp at the beginning of July 1984 and persuaded the prisoners to seek refuge in Iraq with a speech, but the prisoners booed him and chanted slogans against him; In the end, he was forced to leave the camp speechless and downcast[3].
3. In 1984, Iraq did not allow the representatives of the Red Cross to visit the camp in retaliation for Iran's action of not allowing them to visit. In this way, prisoners were subjected to harder times because the food ration was halved, the monthly allowance was not paid, and some other restrictions. The prisoners' decision to decline food rations finally forced the Ba'athists to distribute the whole ration[4].
4. After the acceptance of Resolution 598 and the establishment of a ceasefire, the Ba'athist leaders decided to send Iranian prisoners to visit the Holy Shrines for their propagandizing manouvers. To thwart this plan of Iraqis, prisoners of the musel camp 4 announced : We are going on the pilgrimage on the condition that there will be no political propaganda along the way, and they were so persistent on this issue that the Iraqi commander of the camp had to write an affidavit letter. When the prisoners got on the buses and saw Saddam's picture on the window of one of the buses, they tore it off, and the torn picture made the prisoners laugh. During the pilgrimage, some incidents happened, and consequently, an Iraqi officer from Baghdad came to the camp to investigate the issues. When the camp commander refused to give the pledge to the prisoners, they showed the affidavit letter to the Iraqi officer[1].
5. In 1984, following the complaints of Iran and Iraq to the United Nations regarding the maltreatment of their prisoners, a group of experts from this organization visited the camps of Iran and Iraq to make out a report. When this news reached the musel camp 4 , those of the captives skilled in writing and with a good knowledge of foreign languages, got to work and wrote a detailed report on the situation of the anonymous Iranian prisoners in Iraq. This report had Farsi, English, Arabic and French versions and was more than a hundred pages long. During the visitation of the UN delegation, they handed it over to the senior official heading the delegation.
. How this report was made out, is a detailed story recounted in the diaries of prisoners, particularly in the diary of Mohammad Baqer Alii. The access of the UN representatives to the materials prepared by the prisoners of the musel camp 4 had a great impact on the condemnation of Iraq regarding the care and responsibility for the Iranian prisoners[1].
See also
Bibliography
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Khaji, Ali (1391). Description of cages, prisoners of war camps. Tehran: Payam Azadegan.
- ↑ Dai, Ali (2007). Violation of the rights of Iranian prisoners of war and the international responsibility of the Iraqi government. Tehran: Payam Azadegan.
- ↑ Kamvar Bakshaish, Javad (2014). Musel prison Tehran: Surah Mehr.
- ↑ Hashemi, Ali Akbar (1398). Interview. Dated 13 September 2018.
To read more
Ashrafi, Morteza (2014). War, prisoners of humanitarian law, Geneva Convention, peace, political science. Tehran: Bagheral Uloom Research Institute (AS), paper.
Zikriai, Maryam Sadat (1390). LCs ` memories at the turn of the year. Mazandaran: Editing and Publishing Committee of the Congress of Generals and Ten Thousand Martyrs of Mazandaran Province.
Rahmanian, Abdul Majid (2011). Protocol of purity and service. Tehran: Payam Azadegan.
Maryam Sadat Zekriyayee