Reza Sharifi Rad`s loss of sight in Musel camp 1
One of the common experiences of all Iranian prisoners in the camps of the Baathist regime in Iraq was passing through a tunnel called the "tunnel of death" or "tunnel of horror" or "tunnel of flesh" or "alley of death". [1]
Prisoners were forced to go through this tunnel upon entering the camp or while being transferred to another camp. Iraqi soldiers, wielding tools such as clubs, cables, corners, sticks, thick ropes, belts, and the like, stood in two columns, facing each other, with a distance of one to two meters from each other, and opened the corridor or tunnel, through which the prisoners had to pass . As each prisoner passed , the debris showered them with blows on the head, face, arms, legs, and back, which sometimes caused serious physical injuries or limb disabilities.
In the last days of 1983, in the camp of Musel 1 (old Musel 2 or the bigger Musel), the cable of an Iraqi soldier severely injured Reza Sharify Rad`s eye while he was being pushed forward through the tunnel of death, and as the Iraqi doctor put it, he had completely lost his sight.
Rad`s Biography
Reza Sharifi Rad was born in 1961 in Hamadan. In 1978, he succeeded in obtaining a high school diploma. After the widespread invasion of the Iraqi Baath regime on Iran, he became a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Hamedan in December 1980. On the 22nd of July 1981, along with 29 IRGC members, he departed for the Sarpol Zahab region and replaced the previous forces. The operation that was planned was postponed due to it being leaked by the infiltrating forces, causing discomfort and indecision for the forces. On the morning of the 30th of August, a great deal of grief came over the Abuzar barracks, because the verified news of the explosion of the prime minister's office and the martyrdom of Rajaei and Bahonar had been broadcast by the national channel: "Thunderstruck, mourning and quite spontaneously, we rushed out through the streets of the garrison. We lamented and beat our chests. There and then, the decision was made to operate. The IRGC and the Islamic militia forces merged with the army forces and formed operational groups, and on the evening of September 10th, we moved from Al-Mahdi town in Sarpol Zahab to the designated axes.
How Sharify Rad was taken into captivity
With the enemy's heavy counterattack, a number of soldiers were injured, and our signaler was martyred and communication with Aghabeh was disrupted, and Sharifi Rad was captured by the Baathist forces along with his comrades. They were transferred from the heights of Gharaviz to Ghasreshirin, which was being occupied by Iraqis at that time. After the initial interrogation, they were transferred to Naftshahr and Lane Kaftari , and then to intelligence headquarters.
Sharifi Rad entered Anbar camp on 14th of September and after registering his name in the Red Cross list, he got the captivity number 2494. After about seven months, along with 150 prisoners, he was transferred to the old Musel camp 1 and after about 23 months on March 18th, 1984, he was transferred to the old Musel camp 2 (New Musel camp 1 or the bigger Musel): "At the gate of the camp we arrived . We were on the first bus. They ordered us to get off the bus. We left the first row of seats one by one. We entered the corridor through the front door, where two commanders were standing on the top of the stairs and were apparently handing over the prisoners to each other by counting them. There was no beating in this corridor where Iraqi soldiers were stationed on both sides! Until we entered the front courtyard of the camp, which was the place where the Iraqis themselves came and went. And there the big action awaiting us, burst out!
The area was half dark. At a distance of two meters, Iraqi soldiers were standing in two rows, facing each other, equipped with cables, whips, clubs, sticks, and sometimes iron corners, ready to let us have it.
"From this moment, we were bombarded with blows and cutting words. Whichever direction you took, you would be sure to receive a blow. The first people had left and their bags had fallen on the ground. I also ran wearing my slippers to catch up with them. I put my bag over my head as a shield so that my head would be protected against the abrupt blows and strokes. A cable hit my hand and the claw of my right hand went numb. I dropped the bag and increased my speed. That unknown soldier, who was behind me, attacked me more. I was thinking of running away and saving myself when I tripped over my friend's belongings that had been left on the floor of the yard and fell to the ground.
"The guard hit me several times with the cable he was brandishing and said in Arabic: 'Get up, get up, so that we can count you'" They feared lest a prisoner might hide somewhere and give them the slip later.
I understood what he meant. When I put my hands on the ground to get on my feet, a cable hit me from behind and ricocheted on my face. At that moment, my left eye appeared to have sparked. I realized that my face was scarred. I did not think that my eye had sustained an injury. Immediately, I threw myself on the ground and placed my right hand to shield my head and face then I touched my face with my left hand. I felt that my hand was warm and moist. In the meantime the soldier had not given up on me and was still hitting me as vehemently as before.
With a loud cry I addressed Abolfazl or Abbas(RIP) (I had heard that Iraqis held Hazrat Abbas in great awe and had a lot of respect for him) and I showed my bloody hand and said to him in broken Arabic: 'Ana Mo Shuf' [I don't see]. On seeing my bloody hand and hearing the name of (Hazrat) Abbas, he stopped beating me and walked away.
With the arrival of each new bus at the camp and the repletion of the same scenario, Sharify Rad tried very hard to rise, but was too weak and sprawled on the ground again. Until the chief of the soldiers spotted Sharify Rad and noticed his injury in the eye: "He yelled loudly at the guards and said: 'Beware and be careful not to hit anyone in the head. Hit anywhere from head downwards. A prisoner has been injured in the eye.'" and then most gingerly he raised Sharifi Rad by holding his armpit and led him to the foot of the wall.
After the last bus entered the camp and its prisoners were put off and massaged in the Iraqi manner, the commander of the camp was informed about the injury of Sharifi Rad`s eye. He ordered them to call the hospital and had the operating room prepared for tomorrow. At midnight, Sharifi was sent to the camp infirmary where the Iranian manager and his assistant washed his blood-stained face with minimal facilities and bandaged his left eye using a sterile gauze.
Tomorrow early in the morning, Sharifi Rad was sent to the hospital and immediately taken to the surgery department and finally to the operating room: "When I regained consciousness, I was on the bed in a room and a soldier at the front door was guarding and watching over me. . On the third day, a middle-aged doctor came into the room with the rank of a major and grey hair. He came straight to my bed and checked my eye bandage and asked:
'Does your eye hurt?'
I pointed and said: 'No. '
He pointed to the dressing and asked: 'When did they change it?'
"I said: 'Yum al-Qabal' (the day before)
He flew off the handle and turning round on the guard soldier he said to him: “ his injured eye has been stitched “ and then prescribed imperatively that a liquid medicament be dropped and an ointment be applied three times a day and also the dressing be renewed. Pointing his hand and showing me drops and ointment, he emphasized strongly that it should be repeated three times a day." Sharifi Rad was returned to the camp after being hospitalized for about two weeks:
"When I entered the camp, friends surrounded me and asked about the condition of the hospital, surgery and my eye. When the Iraqi doctor examined my eye , he said: 'Ali al-Abd, mu shouf' (you won`t be able to see again) I replied calmly and with a smile: 'Allah Kareem( God is generous).'"
After about a week to ten days, Sharifi Rad was sent back to the hospital to have the stitches removed from the enucleated eye. He was hospitalized for a week and was returned to the camp again.
See also
Bibliography
- ↑ This article is the outcome of the author's interview with distinguished LC Reza Sharifi Rad.
Massoud Amirkhani