Hundreds of Iraqis whose loved ones vanished during the 1991 Shia Muslim uprising watched on Tuesday as workers dug into the mass grave, a backhoe pulling up eight or nine bodies at a time, and perhaps as many as 3,000 over the past four days. Villagers clutched the remains to their chests, trying to keep them intact as they fell from the big shovel. Then they searched for personal papers, remnants of a watch or other items that might reveal their identities. Local people say they have long known the existence of several mass graves in this area about 50 miles south of Baghdad. Some believe the graves could hold the bodies of 10,000 to 15,000 people executed amid a purge of rebel Shiite factions after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The dead men, women and children, both Shia and Sunni, were executed between early March and mid-April, 1991, said Jabar Arjawi, the farmer who first led villagers to the several-acre site last week. Arjawi lives in the only home within sight of the killing field. He watched the executions, he said, using binoculars from home and also from close range, as he tilled his fields. The executions took place two or three times on most days, Arjawi said. Each time, between 100 and 150 blindfolded people, their hands and sometimes feet bound, were led into pits about 10 feet deep. Gunmen then fired into the pit, often for several minutes, Arjawi said. By his estimate, nearly 6,000 people died here. Hillah residents say the victims were rounded up by private security forces employed by local families. The families, who have since fled, earned the equivalent of a dollar or two for everyone who was detained. Some in the crowd criticised former President Bush, whose administration encouraged Iraqis to rise up against Saddam during the Gulf War but did not support them when they did. The group Human Rights Watch joined their criticism on Tuesday, saying the US government has not done enough to protect the grave sites.(LAT-WP)
