Memory
The English-language newsletter of the Iraq Memory Foundation
Documentation
project
Towards a Mitigated, Reasoned Release
of Saddam-era Documents
By Hassan Mneimneh, MF Vice-President
Issue I - June 2006
Since 1968, the Ba’th have been
destroying the only idea that can
hold the great social diversity of Iraq
together: the idea of Iraq. Their answer
to the question “Who am I?” was “You
are one of us, or you are dead.”
The recent decision taken by the United States Government to release
Today, Iraqis have whole new identidocuments captured in the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan is a bold move
ties to create in the wake of the fall of
to engage the public in the foundations of the foreign policy decision-making
Saddam’s regime. The mission of the
process. Accessible through the internet to anyone with interest, the docuIraq Memory Foundation is to ensure
ments that helped shape the US’s action in Iraq are laid bare to be read, interthat the past transgressions are docupreted, scrutinized, and speculated upon. However, some cautionary observamented in a historically accurate and
tions are due. While the documents are being released with care to avoid an
socially cathartic way.
inadvertent disclosure of intelligence procedures, further consideration should
be made to insure that no harm is done to Iraqi society, polity, and culture.
Iraq is a society trying to establish
Through a thorough analysis of documents seized during the 1991 Gulf
democracy against formidable odds.
War, the Iraq Memory Foundation was able to discern the overall patterns of
At the Memory Foundation, we wish
oppression that the Saddam Hussein regime applied on the captive populato examine how the recent past can
tion of Iraq. The documents show the systematic
positively shape the evolution of conNavigating this newsletter implication of ordinary citizens in the crimes of
temporary Iraqi society. We hope that
the regime. A young woman seeking employMemory will convey to you the depth
This symbol is followed by
ment
in
a
small
factory
had
thus
to
commit
and urgency of our
a hyperlink that will open
herself to disclosing to regime operatives the
in your default browser.
work.
Click to follow the link.
actions and thoughts of her colleagues. In a regime where speaking ill of the President earned
Kanan Makiya
you the death penalty, her collaboration surely led to tragedies. A decade and
MF President
a half later, this woman may be a wife, mother, and an active member of her
June ‘06
community. The unmitigated disclosure of her cooperation with the regime
may end up ruining her life. Is she guilty of collaboration? Isn’t the revelation
of her involvement part of the justice that Iraq needs for closure in the postClick here to read Putting Cruelty
Saddam era? Perhaps. But perhaps not. These questions must be resolved in an
First: An Interview with Kanan Makiya
atmosphere of understanding, accountability, and responsibility by Iraqi sociin Democratiya
ety itself. No action taken by any outside party should prejudice or jeopardize
Part I |
Part II
this process.
The release of documents needs to be informed by an appreciation of the
complexity of the truth and reconciliation task in the Iraq of tomorrow, when
the dust settles and the guns are silent. Freedom of information has also to be balanced with the respect
of the privacy of Saddam’s victims, lest they end up being victimized twice, once by Saddam and once by
hurtful exposure. The United States Government is advised to seek the input of Iraqi civil society organizations in this intricate and important subject.
As to its impact on the current war effort and on the global confrontation between free
societies and totalitarianism, attention should be paid not to provide indirect support to the
enemy’spropaganda effort. Saddam appears on some released video rehearsing speeches.
Continued on page 3 u
The human face of the dictator practicing utterances full of
1
ORDINARY ATROCITIES:
Oral History in Iraq
Iraq Memory Foundation
in the news
Since its first interview in 2003, the Oral History on Film Project has
Iraqi Foundation Preserves
videotaped more than 60 testimonies by Iraqi men and women of different ethCountry’s
Recent Past
nicities, religions and classes, all of whom suffered under the regime. The Oral
All
Things
Considered
History team continues to film in Iraq, even as conditions in the country make it
National Public Radio, 3/31/06
more and more difficult to travel safely. Fuel is scarce and filming sessions are
often cut short by blackouts and gunfire.
Three Years, Few Regrets
In April, the Oral History team traveled to Southern Iraq to interview
Reason
Online, 4/6/06
victims. One of these victims was Turkiya Hanoon Saiyaah Al-Kinani. The Oral
History team met Mrs. Al-Kinani at her home in Al-Shatra City. Born in 1939, she
Documenting Baathist Abuses
is a widow, and a mother of twelve children. Sadiq, her son, was arrested by the
Institute
for War and Peace Reporting
former regime and never released; later, he was executed. Mrs. Al-Kinani’s other
By
Frman
Abdulrahman
sons, Muslim, Jawad and Qasim, were prisoners of war during the Iraq-Kuwait
war. Ali, her other son, was killed in March 1991 uprising.
Putting Cruelty First:
Mrs. Al-Kinani escaped from Al-Shatra city to Baghdad. In Baghdad, the
An Interview with Kanan Makiya
former regime imprisoned Qasim, Muslim and Jawad in Al Radwaniyah Prison
Democratiya, Issue 3 & Issue 4, ‘06
because their brother Ali had participated in uprising. Muslim lost one of his
Part I |
Part II
eyes while he was in prison; Jawad still suffers from mental illness as a result of
his torture. After the regime’s fall, a document was found detailing the execution
of Sadiq, though his body was never found.
During the same trip, the Oral History team intereviewed Mohammed Abdul-Hussein Jaze’ Abid Al-Hijami. Mohammed was born in 1966 and is married with four kids. Mohammed left school at a young age after his father and uncle
were stricken ill and the family suffered economic hardship. In 1985, he was called for military duty but he fled from Iraq
and never returned till the pardon of 1988. During the invasion of Kuwait, he was called again for duty but he escaped and
participated in March 1991 uprising, during which his brother was killed. In 1997, Ba’athists imprisoned him and sent him to
the Security Department where he was tortured. He was imprisoned in a cell large enough for one man only. He was released
after the interrogations and torture due to the issuance of a general pardon for the entire prison by the former regime.
Faces at the
foundation
In each issue of Memory, we will introduce you to members of the Iraq Memory Foundation’s staff. This month,
we profile Mustafa Al-Kadhimiy, Director of the Oral
History Project.
as among the best work by a
refugee writer. In addition, he is
an accomplished journalist who
has produced documentaries
on Iraq for the BBC and Channel 4, and written numerous
articles for leading Arabic journals and newspapers, including Al-Hayat. His long experience in broadcasting includes time as a director of a radio
station in Greece between 1995 and 1997, Director of Programming for Radio Free Europe between 1999 and 2003,
and co-founder and Director of Planning and Programming
for the Iraqi media network Al-Iraqiyya, which he helped
establish immediately following the fall of Saddam.
Based at the Baghdad MF headquarters in the heart of the
“Green Zone”, Mustafa is a well-known and respected
Iraqi activist in the fields of democracy and human rights.
Working under extraordinairly tense and often dangerous
circumstances, he travels around the country with the Oral
History team filming testimonies of survivors of the regime.
He has worked with Iraqi and international nongovernmental organizations to promote these values, and has
acquired expertise in the area of human rights documentation and witness testimony. He has written three books in
Arabic, including Human Concerns, published in London
in 2000 and officially recognized by the European Union
Listen to Mustafa on National Public Radio’s All Things
Considered, which aired March 31, 2006.
2
COMMUNITY foundations
and the Secretary of Iraqi Society of Engineers. The seminar discussed the future vision of the MF’s museum project
and the expectations of the professors and the students.
A monthly round-up of past MF events
Sulaymaniyyah Conference on Documentation and
Memorialization
On May 3-8, 2006, the MF held a conference in Sulaymaniyyah to place the Iraqi experience in a global context
and to discuss methodologies for documenting the atrocities of the previous regime. Within the conference, the
MF hosted the fourth meeting of the Affinity Group on
Documents and Confronting the Past, a peer-to-peer initiative of local-action organizations from around the globe,
including members from Burma, Cambodia, Guatemala,
Iraq, Serbia, and the US. The conference resulted in the
launching of the Iraqi Network for Documentation and
Memorialization, formed from many of the 60 Iraqi NGOs
participating in the conference.
Iraqi Art Exhibition
On April 9, 2006, the MF held an Iraqi Art Exhibition. In
attendence were representatives of the President and the
Prime Minister, the Ministers of Planning, Defense and the
Interior, and the US Ambassador. The exhibit featured video testimonies, personal belongings of victims, and sample
documents. The President’s representative described the
MF’s achievements under such abnormal conditions as
“extraordinary achievements.”
Museum Development Seminar
On April 27, 2006, a seminar was held in the Architecture
Department/College of Engineering/ University of Baghdad
for four hours, attended by students, graduates, professors
Continued from page 1 u promises is thus brought to the forefront. Nowhere in the vicinity is the face of his victims or
the record of his crimes. We at the Iraq Memory Foundation have endeavored to keep this record from being forgotten or
dismissed. We will further strive to place the released documents in the context that explains them to the world.
But more discretion may be needed. In the case of documents generated by al-Qa‘ida and captured in Afghanistan,
we are presented with an odd situation. While American and other international authorities are engaged in an effort to shut
down terrorist websites, the newly released documents amount to a well-stocked website for global Jihadism. Again, what
is missing is context.
Many readers of these documents have readily engaged in attempts at translation and analysis. Some offer fresh
insights, other promote unjustified theories. As an exercise in social participation and collaborative work, the release of
documents may yield interesting and stimulating results. However, after the initial euphoria of the newly granted access,
much of these documents will be orphaned. We need to insure that it is not the case. A sustained and reasoned approach
to receiving, contextualizing, and deriving value from these documents needs to be established.
Deciding to release the documents was a powerful and controversial move. Now that the floodgates are open, we
need to do it responsibly. All stakeholders, governments and societies, should be engaged. Most importantly, the right of
the victims not to be victimized again needs to be guaranteed.
r
e
ett
l
s
w
e
n
e
th
MEMORY
The Iraq Memory Foundation
Washington DC Office
1701 K Street, NW
Suite 550
Washington, DC 20006
Baghdad Office
Mujama’ Hay al-Tashria
Karadat Mariam
Baghdad, Iraq
Phone: 202-293-5910 | Fax: 202-293-5911 |
www.iraqmemory.org
Memory is an electronic newsletter produced by the Iraq Memory Foundation (MF). The MF is a 501 (c)3 organization, registered
in the US and Iraq. The people of Iraq are forging new identities in a very different society. Iraq Memory Foundation’s mission is to
encourage and inform that development free from half-truths and distortions, to use the Iraqi experience to advance understanding of
traumatized people throughout the world, and to honor the victims and survivors of this dark era in the country’s history.
3