Dujail

Dujail (33°51′N 44°14′E, Arabic الدجيل) is a small Shiite town in northern Iraq. It is situated 40 miles north of Iraq's capital, Baghdad, and has approximately 10,000 inhabitants. Alternate spelling: Ad Dujayl

Massacre

Dujail is known for being the place where an unsuccessful assassination attempt was staged against then Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein, on July 8, 1982. The town was a stronghold of the Shiite Daawa party, a group strongly opposed to Saddam Hussein and his war with Iran. Saddam Hussein was visiting the town to make a speech praising those who had served Iraq in the fight against Iran. While driving through the village centre, his motorcade was attacked by one or more members of the Daawa party. The president was unharmed in the three hour firefight which ensued.

Saddam Hussein allegedly ordered his special security and military forces to carry out a reprisal attack against the town. His orders were obeyed. A total 150 of the town's men were killed in the attack or executed later, a number of which were boys 13 years of age [1].1,500 people were also incarcerated and tortured, while other residents, many of them women and children, were sent to desert camps. Saddam's regime destroyed the town and then rebuilt it shortly after. In addition to these punishments, 1,000 square kilometres (250,000 acres) of farmland was destroyed; replanting was only permitted 10 years later.

The trial for the reprisals against Dujail began on October 19, 2005. Eight people stand accused, including Saddam Hussein.

A resident of Dujail now in his thirties recalls "They blindfolded me. But I was so young, it kept falling." and at a Baghdad detention center he witnessed "a machine that looked like a grinder and had some blood and hair [on it and] I saw bodies of people from Dujail". [2]

References

• Who knew about Dujail massacre? Failed assassination attempt during tyrant's visit to Shiite town 23 years ago results in 140 deaths; Massacre survivors want Saddam 'in little pieces' (Yedioth Ahronoth/Ynetnews; October 18th, 2005)
• Saddam trial to open with village massacre A little-known massacre at a village where residents tried to assassinate Saddam Hussein in 1982 will be the focus of the first case in the trial of the former Iraqi president. (The Guardian; June 7th, 2005)
• At Hussein's Hearings, U.S. May Be on Trial The first crime of which Saddam Hussein dictator is accused in the current trial, the secret execution of 143 Shiites arrested in 1982. He is also accused of using poison gas against Iranian troops, of genocide against the Kurds and of massacring tens of thousands to end the 1991 uprising after his defeat in the Gulf War. The problem for the Bush administration with these other, far graver charges, is that the Americans are implicated in them either through acts of commission or omission. (Znet; December 1st, 2005)
• Seeking justice in Dujail It is a sight that most Iraqis never thought they would see - the man who ruled over them for more than two decades standing trial, in an Iraqi court and before Iraqi judges. (BBC; November 25th, 2005)