Iraq to turn Saddam-era torture prison into heritage site
Shafaq News- Al-Muthanna
Authorities in Iraq’s Al-Muthanna province have called for transforming Salman Castle Prison into a heritage site documenting abuses committed under Saddam Hussein’s former Baath regime against thousands of detainees, including Kurds and families of political opponents.
Nuqrat Al-Salman District Head Takleef Al-Ziyadi told Shafaq News on
Sunday that the prison held large numbers of Feyli Kurds, people detained
during the Anfal campaign, and residents of Al-Sulaymaniyah and Halabja.
Detainees, including children, women, and the elderly, endured torture at the prison, while many were relatives of Kurdish fighters who opposed the former regime. “Some were executed, and others were buried alive in mass graves,” Al-Ziyadi noted, adding that survivors still return to the site each year to commemorate their imprisonment.
He further disclosed that a representative from the Ministry of Culture recently visited the district to complete procedures for converting the prison into a memorial documenting those abuses.
Hoping that the site would attract visits from schools and universities in the Kurdistan Region and across Iraq, Al-Ziyadi urged the federal government, Al-Muthanna Provincial Council, and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to help fund its rehabilitation.
Last month, Baghdad’s Rusafa Criminal Court sentenced former prison official Ajaj Ahmed Hardan Al-Tikriti to death for crimes committed against Anfal detainees at Nuqrat Al-Salman, including torture, murder, and rape. The ruling was welcomed by Kurdish political parties, genocide researchers, and victims’ families as a significant step toward accountability.
