Shafaq News- Saladin
At a ceremony commemorating the victims of the 1982 Dujail crackdown, 89-year-old Abbas Al-Dujaili stood among survivors and families, recalling the day the town was turned into a military zone after an assassination attempt on Saddam Hussein.
More than four decades later, the memories remain vivid. Watching the commemoration, Al-Dujaili recalled the arrests that swept through the district. “The arrests included men, women and children,” he said. “Families often did not know what had happened to their loved ones. Some disappeared for long periods, while their relatives waited for news amid fear and anxiety across the town.”
He also recalled raids, interrogations and torture, along with families being taken away from the town. Many residents still carry stories about relatives and friends who were detained, went missing or suffered abuse, he added.
For Al-Dujaili, remembering the victims is not only about revisiting the past. It is also a way to preserve the accounts of those who lived through the events for younger generations.
Lives Lost, Families Displaced
Figures presented by Iraq’s Martyrs Foundation during the commemoration illustrate the scale of the human toll. According to the foundation, 148 people received death sentences, while 45 others died under torture before those rulings were issued.
The foundation said 399 families were transferred and detained in the Lia desert near Samawah. Those detained included 112 men over 40, among them 30 military personnel, as well as 256 girls aged 15. It put the total number of women and children arrested at 1,023.
The Judicial Aftermath
After Saddam’s government fell in 2003, the Dujail case became one of the most prominent judicial proceedings involving crimes committed under the former Iraqi government.
Saddam and several of his aides went on trial over the Dujail case in 2005. Courts later issued death sentences against several defendants, and Saddam was executed at the end of 2006.
Keeping the Memory Alive
Near a memorial bearing the victims’ names, relatives and survivors stood alongside younger generations who know the events largely through family accounts and official records.
The Martyrs Foundation head Abdul Ilah Al-Naeli said the institution would continue protecting the rights of victims’ families, reviewing claims and preventing fraudulent attempts to obtain benefits.
The ceremony also included theatrical performances and a documentary about the events before participants lit candles in memory of the victims.
As the candles burned beside the memorial, Al-Dujaili stood silently for a few moments before speaking again about the Dujail he knew as a young man.