Camp 17 Nahrawan
Camp Nahrawan, also known as Camp 17 Nahrawan, was a military barracks located in an area of the same name, about 25 kilometers northeast of Baghdad.[1] From July 1988 to May 1989, it held more than 3,000 Iranian prisoners of war (POW). The camp sat between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, surrounded by tall reeds and marshland.[2] It belonged to the Jaish al-Shaabi (Baathist People’s Militia)[3] and was the largest military facility in the region.[4]
The camp covered roughly 4,000 square meters and was divided into two main sections. The first had five large sheds, each containing two identical 180-square-meter barracks (10 × 18 meters), separated by a thin wall. At the end of each barracks were the restrooms. Barracks No. 7 was set aside for prisoners with scabies.
The second, larger section contained ten 120-square-meter barracks (10 × 12 meters). Most were connected in pairs with a corridor running between them; only barracks No. 13 and 16 stood apart.
On the western side of the second section were the soldiers’ administrative room, the command office, a small canteen, a quarantine room, solitary confinement cells, and the kitchen. The entire compound had a dirt surface,[5] with a football field in the middle.[6]
A 5–6-meter-wide street ran between the two sections,[7] and the main gate was on the western side.[8] In the southern corner, there was a 7,000-liter water tank and a small green area the POWs nicknamed “Mellat Park” (after the famous park in Tehran).[9] To the north stood ten tiny 1 × 1 meter toilet cubicles and ten shower cubicles (also 1 × 1 meter)[10] with ten shower heads. During their stay in the camp, the POWs used them only two or three times.[11]
The whole perimeter was ringed by 3 × 3-meter coils of barbed wire,[12] followed by 1 × 1-meter guard posts manned around the clock by armed sentries.[13]
The camp was run by two commanders, three intelligence officers, one non-commissioned officer, and twenty-six soldiers.[14] Among the guards, the Shia soldiers generally treated the POWs better and sometimes helped meet their basic needs.[15]
The roughly 3,000 Iranian war prisoners in the camp had been captured during the final Iraqi offensive after Iran accepted UN Resolution 598. They were taken on July 12 and 22, 1988,[16] then transferred from Basra prison to Camp Nahrwan on July 24.[17] As was customary in Iraqi camps, new arrivals were made to walk between two lines of soldiers who beat them with batons (the so-called “tunnel of death”).[18] About 2,000 were housed in the first section of the camp and 1,000 in the second.[19] All were men, aged between 14 and 80. Roughly 95 percent were Shia, and the rest were Sunni, with 3–7 Christians and 40–50 Ahl-e Haqq.[20] The POWs came from every part of Iran and every ethnic background.[21]
Before the Iranians arrived, the camp had held Iraqi soldiers who had committed disciplinary offences; they were moved to a new site 300 meters away.[22] After protests by the Iranian POWs, those Iraqis were eventually relocated elsewhere, and some Iranians were moved into their former buildings.[23]
None of the prisoners of war in this camp were ever registered with the Red Cross during their stay, so they remained classified as missing and were not allowed to write to their families.[24]
The first days were extremely harsh. After the tunnel beating,[25] the POWs were left without water for three days.[26] It took 40 days before they were allowed any fresh air, by which time their clothes were infested with lice.[27] Bathing was forbidden for the first two months,[28] and medical and sanitary conditions were minimal.[29] Things improved somewhat whenever a senior Baathist officer came to the camp[30] and issued orders.[31]
Over the nine months the camp operated, five prisoners of war were martyred from wounds, blast shock, severe diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, or cancer,[32] and one from thirst.[33]
At first, the POWs expected a quick release and made no long-term plans.[34] Gradually, however, handwritten copies of the Quran and hadiths[35] began to circulate. They set up working groups for education,[36] services,[37] news,[38] medical care,[39] cultural activities,[40] and sports.[41] They treated the sick,[42] held mourning ceremonies,[43] performed Dua Tawassul,[44] celebrated Nowruz,[45] formed a football team,[46] and organized matches between the barracks[47]—making life more bearable.
Any display of joy when Iran would carry out a successful military operation,[48] refusal to shave,[49] openly expressing affection for Imam Khomeini (ra) (without insulting him),[50] taking soap from the shower room,[51] holding congregational prayers,[52] showing happiness,[53] insulting Saddam,[54] not saluting the guards,[55] tearing the mattresses,[56] mocking Baathist soldiers,[57] using a newspaper with Saddam’s photo as a tablecloth,[58] refusing to give the unit name,[59] or complaining about food shortages[60] usually brought beatings and torture. Punishments included having faces shaved with broken glass[61] or having detergent powder mixed into their food[62] to poison them.[63]
Camp Nahrawan authorities were always trying to recruit informers among the POWs to identify commanders,[64] Revolutionary Guards,[65] and clerics.[66] The POWs usually identified these spies and punished them, which in turn provoked harsher responses from the guards.[67] In one instance, a group planned to kill an informer, but the camp’s religious elders persuaded them not to.[68]
There were several unsuccessful escape attempts at Camp 17 Nahrawan. Whenever someone was caught, both the escapee(s) and the barrack leaders were tortured.[69] In another incident, a large group planned a mass breakout, but the plan leaked; they were locked up for 72 hours without food and water.[70]
The POWs at Camp Nahrawan actively resisted Baathist propaganda. They blocked members of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization (Munafiqeen) from entering to recruit,[71] stopped some POWs from filling out asylum forms,[72] boycotted Iraqi TV programs,[73] and refused media interviews.[74]
Among the notable events that happened at Camp Nahrawan were the distribution of several copies of the Quran after a teenage POW asked the Baathist officers for one,[75] and a Ramazan iftar hosted by the Baathists for selected POWs, during which they were given Qurans as gifts.[76]
Nine months after the Iranians arrived at Camp Nahrawan, the Iraqis, fearing Red Cross discovery, shut the camp down on April 25, 1989. Then, 800 POWs were transferred to Tikrit Camp 20, 1,200 to Tikrit Camp 16, and 1,000 to Baquba Camp 18,[77] and therefore Camp 17 Nahrawan was officially closed.[78]
Books about Camp 17 Nahrawan include Mehman-e Feshanghaye Jangi (Guest of War Bullets) by Sureh Mehr Publications, Inja Baraye az tu Neveshtan Hava Kam Ast (Here the Air is too Thin to Write about You) by Khat-e Hasht Publications, Beshno az Del (Listen from the Heart) by Southeastern Forward Headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Ordougah-e Nahrawan (Camp Nahrawan) by Shahed Publications, and Bachehaye Haj Qasem (The Comrades of Haj Qasem) by Fatehan Publications.
References:
- [1] Dehnamaki, Masoud, Farhangname-ye Esarat va Azadegan (Ordougah 17 Nahrawan “Mafqudin”) (Encyclopedia of Captivity and Freed Prisoners of War), Vol. 69, Tehran: Nashr-e Ketab-e Nashr, p. 140.
- [2] Ibid., Pp. 140, 147.
- [3] Ibid., p. 23.
- [4] Ibid., p. 140.
- [5] Ibid., p. 147.
- [6] Ibid., p. 170.
- [7] Ibid., p. 156.
- [8] Ibid., p. 157.
- [9] Ibid., p. 162.
- [10] Ibid., p. 170.
- [11] Ibid., p. 163.
- [12] Ibid., p. 156.
- [13] Ibid., p. 162.
- [14] Ibid., Pp. 188-286.
- [15] Ibid., Pp. 324, 326, 333-334, 341-343.
- [16] Ibid., p. 24.
- [17] Ibid., p. 63.
- [18] Ibid., p. 24.
- [19] Ibid., p. 71.
- [20] Ibid., Pp. 71, 75.
- [21] Ibid., Pp. 67-70.
- [22] Ibid., p. 23.
- [23] Ruzname-ye Keyhan, Nagofteha-ye Janbaz 70 Darsad az Nokhostin Azhir-e Qermez ta Shekanjeha-ye Qorun-e Vostai-ye Baathiha (Untold Stories of a 70% Disabled Veteran; From the First Red Dawn to the Tortures), No. .22516, 22 Tir 1399, p. 8.
- [24] Dehnamaki, Masoud, Farhangname-ye Esarat va Azadegan (Encyclopedia of Captivity and Freed Prisoners of War), p. 281.
- [25] Ibid., p. 813.
- [26] Ibid., p. 823.
- [27] Ibid., p. 837.
- [28] Ibid., p. 847.
- [29] Ibid., Pp. 824, 826.
- [30] Ibid., p. 828.
- [31] Ibid., p. 871.
- [32] Ibid., Pp. 789-790.
- [33] Ibid., p. 913.
- [34] Ibid., p. 351.
- [35] Ibid., p. 930.
- [36] Ibid., p. 410.
- [37] Ibid., p. 413.
- [38] Ibid., p. 415.
- [39] Ibid., p. 417.
- [40] Ibid., p. 421.
- [41] Ibid., p. 428.
- [42] Ibid., p. 865.
- [43] Ibid., p. 830.
- [44] Ibid., p. 908.
- [45] Ibid., p. 937.
- [46] Ibid., p. 914.
- [47] Ibid., p. 939.
- [48] Ibid., p. 819.
- [49] Ibid., p. 821.
- [50] Ibid., Pp. 839, 841, 916, 929.
- [51] Ibid., p. 844.
- [52] Ibid., p. 903.
- [53] Ibid., p. 911.
- [54] Ibid., p. 912.
- [55] Ibid., p. 943.
- [56] Ibid., p. 924.
- [57] Ibid., p. 923.
- [58] Ibid., p. 921.
- [59] Ibid., p. 901.
- [60] Ibid., p. 920.
- [61] Ibid., p. 926.
- [62] Ibid., p. 869.
- [63] Ibid., p. 918.
- [64] Ibid., p. 860.
- [65] Ibid., p. 884.
- [66] Ibid., p. 919.
- [67] Ibid., Pp. 362, 383-384, 849, 900.
- [68] Ibid., p. 861.
- [69] Ibid., Pp. 358, 886, 894.
- [70] Ibid., p. 895.
- [71] Ibid., p. 925.
- [72] Ibid., Pp. 375-376.
- [73] Ibid., p. 898.
- [74] Ibid., p. 836.
- [75] Ibid., p. 868.
- [76] Ibid., p. 944.
- [77] Ibid., p. 950.
- [78] Ibid., p. 948.
