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Memories of the Days I Spent in Prison Under the Rule of the Godless Ba’ath Party

Haydari Nazar

55

Peace be upon you.

This prison is somewhat luxurious by comparison (one of the brothers posted a picture of a prison on WhatsApp and commented on it, which stirred my sadness, so I wrote this.)

I was imprisoned in the old Ministry of Defense.

At night, the room might contain as many as 70 prisoners, and during the day around 30.

There was half a barrel in the middle of the room serving as a toilet.

There were many different kinds of insects.

The bedding was scarce and extremely dirty.

We slept in three shifts because the room was so small.

There was an air-exhaust fan in the wall that brought air from the kitchen into the prison, carrying the smells of food into the prison.

This was done to torment the prisoners, because everyone was hungry.

They took away my clothes and left me wearing only pajamas and underwear.

Those who did not wear pajamas under their trousers were left in their underwear.

And anyone who did not wear underwear had to remain naked.

Then they shaved our hair completely, down to the skin.

Drinking water was restricted to one cup and no more.

Anyone who was in pain would be left outside in the cold at night, naked.

Outside the prison, in the yard, there was a wooden beam, and at all times one of the prisoners was hanging from it.

A small fire was lit beneath his feet. He would lift his feet, then become exhausted and lower them, only to have them burned, so he would lift them again.

Everyone suffered from severe skin itching.

One of the guards, a Sunni man from Samawah, would bring a radio and secretly tune it to Tehran Radio at night, keeping the volume very low.

Everyone could hear the news from Iran.

The Sunni prisoners treated us well.

The Shi’a were afraid.

The use of salt was forbidden in the prison.

The prisoners ate at three o’clock in the afternoon, and there was only lunch—no breakfast and no dinner.

Most meals consisted of rice and broth containing a large amount of fine gravel mixed in with the rice.

Crawling insects would be moving through the broth.

Anyone who refused to eat was beaten.

Every day, the prisoners were taken out at ten in the morning and kept outside until two-thirty in the afternoon.

A human beast from Tikrit or Ramadi, belonging to the ruling party, would come and take pleasure in torturing the prisoners.

He would ask a question, and you had to answer.

If the answer was wrong, you would receive 30 lashes with a military belt—a beating with a heavy belt.

And if the answer was correct, the beast would strike you once on the head with his stick.

The toilet barrel would be brought out and emptied in the middle of the yard in the morning.

Then one of the guards would order the prisoners to run or walk through the filth.

Sometimes you would fall into the mud, and the whip would quickly come down on you, while they ordered you to continue walking.

The strangest thing I witnessed in that prison was seeing young men from northern Iraq who were Shi’a, and others from southern Iraq—from Basra and Samawah—who were Sunni.

And the handsome young men were subjected to abuse openly in front of the other prisoners.

I was the only one who prayed.

They would tell me, ‘Don’t pray, for fear for your life.’

And I would say, ‘I was imprisoned because of prayer.’

Because I was in a military session of the party, and there was little time left before the afternoon prayer.

So I prayed, and the political guidance officer saw me praying. He called me, but I did not answer him.

Then he called me again, but I did not answer him.

The next day he said, ‘I called you during the meeting, but you did not answer me.’

I said, ‘I had a superior officer who ordered me, so I answered him.’

He said, ‘Who was he?’ I said, ‘God Almighty.’ He then insulted God and insulted me and ordered that I be sent to prison.

By God, there is no god but Him.

The best days of my life were the days I spent in prison, because of the reward they brought me and the closeness to God I experienced.

I felt that God was with me, with me—He heard me in my fear and my silence.

He encouraged me and motivated me to

answer. And to challenge them.

It is not like now, when I have become distant.

Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and may blessings and peace be upon Muhammad and his purified family.