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Victims of repression unearthed in Iraq
Iraqis clawed or shovelled through a mass grave on Sunday to uncover the remains of dozens of people, some with blindfolds and hands tied, who appeared to have been executed in a 1991 Shi'ite Muslim uprising. By the end of the day, 47 bundles of remains had been reburied in unmarked graves. They wore civilian clothes and shoes. Combs, coins and watches lay among them, along with bullet casings. Yellow twine coated with a coppery crust, which the diggers thought was blood, bound some of their wrists. Around the farmland area known as Khan al-Rubea were countless other mounds where Red Crescent workers and officials from a Shi'ite Muslim group, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), said they suspected more remains lay. At a second site nearby, a skull with a red and white scarf tied around the eye sockets was found. Another skull lay near it. "This is the tip of the iceberg in this country," said Captain Mike Urena, a U.S. Marines civil affairs officer who visited the second site on Sunday and then turned it over to local Red Crescent authorities. "I am sure you will find more."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2003-05-04 |
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