Death of Imam Khomeini

Imam Khomeini's departure, how the prisoners were informed about it and the reaction of the prisoners and Iraqis to it.

In the war imposed by Iraq on Iran, the Iranian prisoners who were kept in more than three  cities of Iraq (including Baghdad, Ramadi, Mosul, Baghube and Tikrit) in various camps, not only had to endure torture and physical injuries, but also the traumas and psychological tortures of Iraqis . In such a situation, the captives always enshrined a gleam of hope in their hearts and tried to look on the bright side as if they knew by instinct that only positive thinking could empower their souls enough to put up with hardships of captivity.

Seeing one's wife and children or parents again, or seeing one's homeland and home again, etc., are positive thoughts. Most of the Iranian prisoners living in Iraqi camps had a great hope in their hearts, and that was to meet their leader, Imam Khomeini. The vision of Imam Khomeini's visit to the Iranian prisoners was like a tonic soothing their sufferings ,repelling their depression and reviving their  spirits.,. Therefore, the death of Imam Khomeini on June 14^th, 1989 can be regarded as the most devastating psychological damage inflicted on Iranian prisoners during the years of captivity, to which of course certain reactions were shown by the prisoners and Iraqis.

How the news reached the captives

Imam Khomeini's departure day - Mosque of Tehran (information below the photo)

Iranian prisoners in Iraqi camps could learn about the surrounding world in several ways.

1. Newspapers.

The Iraqis provided a number of newspapers, Al-Thurah, the media platform of the ruling Baath Party of Iraq, Al-Jomhuriyah, the media platform of the Iraqi government, Al-Qadisiyah, the media platform of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, and Baghdad Observer ( which was printed in English),they all reached the captives with a one-day delay. Beforehand, Iraqi newspapers published the news of the Imam's illness and caused a great deal of anxiety  among the prisoners. Of course, the news of the Iraqi newspapers was mostly related to the analysis of the situation in Iran and the prediction of the country's conditions after the death of the Iranian leader. The news of the Imam's illness had a profound effect on the morale of the prisoners, which of course benefited the Iraqis. Because it weakened the morale of the prisoners and practically prevented them from any activities such as holding classes and taking part in religious activities. On the 3^rd of June, Iraqi newspapers published the news of Imam's death and spread the bad news amidst  Iranian prisoners of war camps.

2. Television.

There was no television in any of  the camps; Of course, the Iraqis were very willing to introduce television into the camps in any way (for example, under the pretext of the World Cup football matches), the reason behind which was to broadcast programs with the purpose of propagandizing for the Mojahedin-e-Khalgh Organization  and recruitment of prisoners. (Barname-ye-Simay-e-Azady). Another reason for the Iraqis to enter the television into the camps was to engage the prisoners in its programs in order to prevent the formation of educational classes and cultural programs by the prisoners. Anyway, in some camps, television had been introduced and had turned into a means of informing the prisoners about the world events.

Before the Imam's Departure and during his illness, the camp television showed him at the hospital bed, which demoralized the captives alot. The Iraqis benefited from this for the reason mentioned. Isolation of prisoners in any camp is in the interest of the host country; Therefore, after broadcasting the news of Imam's death on television, Iraq regularly repeated parts of his will on television channels to intensify the sorrow of  the captives.

3. Iraqi officers

Of course, they rarely and just in special cases informed the prisoners about the news. In no camp, the country's security forces provided prisoners with news and information about the outside world through any means other than the press and media; In fact, the officers and guards did not have the right to communicate closely with the prisoners and bring them news. But in the case of the news of Imam's departure, this issue was so important that they could not force it to comply with the mentioned rule.

On the day of Imam's death, the Iraqi guards broke this news to the Iranian prisoners. In some cases, the commanders of the camps personally broke this news to the functionaries of the camp, of course, because the Iraqis had previously tortured the prisoners by breaking the news of the Imam's death when actually he had not passed away yet, this news was not taken very seriously until it was covered by reliable sources.

4. Radio

The radio in the camps was under the control of the Iraqis and they turned it on for the prisoners whenever they wanted. Of course, this radio was also used for spreading propagandas, and it was usually turned on at the same time as the propagandizing programs of the Mojahedin-e- Khalq organization (the hypocrites), which were meant  to recruit new members from among Iranian prisoners, or to play music, which of course was meant to annoy the religious prisoners, who made up the majority of the camp. At the time of Imam Khomeini's illness and death, in many camps, the radio regularly broadcast relevant news from Iraqi news channels such as Voice of Jamahir which, of course, was not well received by the Iranian prisoners. Of course, it is noteworthy that literally radio was also in the hands of Iranian prisoners and that referred to all those times when the captives had succeeded in snatching radios from Iraqi guards and sentinels.

In some camps, the prisoners stole these small two-wave radios from the Iraqis and hid them in sanatoriums away from the eyes of spies, and a group of radio operators was responsible for receiving news and spreading it among the prisoners. Of the important news that was spread among the prisoners by these radio operators, one was the acceptance of the resolution and the other one the death of Imam Khomeini.

The reaction of the Iraqis

It should be noted that the situation of Iranian prisoners in Iraqi camps might have similarities and differences depending on the characteristics of Baathist officers and Iraqi forces stationed in one particular camp . Sometimes these differences were also observed in the sanatoriums of a camp. For this reason, in holding the commemoration ceremony  of Imam Khomeini (RIP),  sometimes drastic differences were discernible. In some parts, the prisoners enjoyed relative freedom and the cooperation of Iraqis in holding the ceremony, whereas in the neighboring sanatoriums or other camps, beatings and harshness continued.

Iraqis were always against the group activities of Iranian prisoners and always stubbornly prevented them . However, all Iranian prisoners, sometimes secretly and sometimes openly, organized classrooms (The Quran,Nahjolbalaghe, etc.) and sports classes (football, volleyball, and martial arts). In addition to teaching the above-mentioned subjects, these classes created solidarity among the prisoners and deepened the empathy between them. (→ Education)

After the announcement of Imam's Departure on June 14^th, 1989 and after the news was confirmed by the media, the Iranian prisoners lost their enthusiasm. After this incident, the number of classes in the camp decreased by half, and the sad prisoners did not regain their former enthusiasm almost until the last day of captivity.

Apart from the fact that this incident was considered an advantage for the Iraqis, it also sounded a serious alarm. After the news of Imam's death was given to the prisoners, the guards were on the alert and waited for the prisoners' reaction. In many camps, for several days, no guards went to the windows of the sanatoriums for inspection, and even the prisoners were nearly free to perform mourning ceremonies and rituals. The reason for this tactic on the part of the Iraqis was that they knew that the prisoners were grieved and practically mourning for their leader, and it would be quite unwise and rather dangerous to harass them any more unnecessarily. Because their great hope, which made captivity bearable for them, was gone, and this made them unpredictable for a while. But after a few days, when the grief of the captives subsided, the behavior of the Iraqis returned to their original state and their pressure  commenced to end the mourning ceremony . So that in some camps, the guards kicked the prisoners out of the asylum and beat them up; When they encountered the prisoners' resistance, they used harsh torture tools; In the meantime, some prisoners were martyred, but the mourning of the prisoners did not stop.

The reaction of the prisoners

In some camps, the news of the Imam's death reached the prisoners one day late, and in some camps, the radio operators, who had heard the news, could not spread the news due to the preservation of information.Otherwise it would cause commotion among the prisoners and probably the Iraqis or spies (→ espionage) would notice the existence and use of (→ radio) among the prisoners. In some cases, such news were spread among the prisoners in joint places of prisons, such as the kitchen, clinic, bathroom, etc. But until the next day when this news was confirmed by the media, no one believed it. From the day the prisoners found out about Imam's illness, religious ceremonies ,  especially the Ziyarat Ashura , were always held in sanatoriums where they prayed for his speedy recovery. Of course, this ceremony was held away from the eyes of the Iraqis. The commanders of most of the camps in Iraq allowed the prisoners to mourn for a few days. Of course, on conditions such as no disturbance and large crowds, etc.. The prisoners covered the walls of the asylums with their dark blankets and wore their dark clothes. In some camps, blue clothes were used; In other camps, they used dark colored winter clothes, and in areas where these clothes were not available to the prisoners, they made mourning clothes by sewing and patching pieces of black cloth to their regular clothes.

Mourning ceremonies included the recital of the Quranic verses (in some camps, parts of the Quran were recited 40 times during the 40th night), speeches, sending salutations, Ziyarat, Ashura  and  Tavassol prayer sessions. On the other hand, in some camps, with the consent of the Iraqis, no music was played for several days; Classes were called off so that everyone could mourn.

After a few days, the Iraqis prevented them from wearing dark clothes and performing mourning ceremonies, which, of course, met the stubborn resistance of the prisoners. Meanwhile, many prisoners were sent to solitary confinement. Each time after getting beaten up, the prisoners would go back to the sanatoriums and resume the mourning ceremony. In general, the time of mourning varied from three days to forty days and from one camp to another.

Even though the prisoners got a little spirited and relieved about the future of the country after the news of the succession of Ayatollah Khamenei, but one of the factors deterring the captives from feeling relieved so far as the loss of Imam was concerned with, was that they had never met their imam in person and now that he had passed away, their hope to do so after liberation, alas had faded out once and for all.

See also

• Prisoners
• Prisoners' reaction to Imam Khomeini's death
• The reaction of Iraqis to the death of Imam Khomeini
• Finding out about the death of Imam Khomeini

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Saeed Najjar