The Observer
April 24, 2002

On 26 April - two days before Saddam's birthday - the President's son Qusay visited the prison as Special Security Forces men surrounded the compound and provided protection. Qusay, accompanied by the prison governor, Hassan al-Amiri, entered a section of the jail containing five barracks around a large hall and inquired about the inmates.

According to Janabi, most had been sentenced to long jail terms,while a few were expecting to be released. 'Most of them were from the south, accused of joining parties and taking part in (anti-government) activities,' said Janabi. 'There was, of course, no foundation for such accusations, but accusing people of such activity is standard procedure. Most seemed quite helpless to me and didn't appear likely to threaten Saddam Hussein. They had just been dragged in from the Marshes and thrown into Abu Ghraib.'

Qusay gave the governor orders to execute the inmates in those barracks the next day. Although the governor protested it was impossible to execute that many people in a single day, Qusay insisted on the killings. According to Janabi, the killing began in earnest at 6am the following day. Firing squads, assembled under the supervision of the governor and Janabi's 'committee',
brought the prisoners in groups to be shot in several indoor chambers. Other inmates were hanged in a special 'hanging hall'. Janabi says the usual method for execution by firing squad is two bullets in the chest followed by a shot to the head. However, the pressure of killing so many meant that they were only shot in the head.

'Abu Ghraib prison has five gallows,' explains Janabi. 'Some were hanged. Others were shot. Each victim was shot once in the head. Even worse, the bodies of many of those who were executed were not handed over to their families. There is a cemetery nearby, the Al-Karkh Cemetery. If you go there you will see a sign pointing to a "special path". Many of the victims were buried there with only numerical identification.'

By 9pm, 2,000 inmates had been killed. Janabi defends his role in the murders as being under institutional duress.'The executions themselves were carried out by prison specialists, but what was the governor to do? How could he argue when the place was surrounded by Qusay's armed men? One has to accept such a situation. We were, after all, under orders...'

Janabi also provided a chilling view of the sexual blackmail used by Saddam's secret services.

'One of our directorates,' Janabi said, 'known as the Directorate of Technical Operations, specialises in moral matters.' What Janabi describes next is the systematic corruption and threatening of whole families, often by women operating for the Mukhabarat.

He continues: 'Take a military commander. Let's assume that this officer has a daughter and that she is talking on the phone... The Mukhabarat has been monitoring this senior official's phone. Let's now assume that she is talking to a lover. The recording is in their hands and they exploit it.

'They choose a day when the officer is on duty. They go to the house and talk to his wife. They tell her... they have been monitoring her husband's affairs. They tell her that they have a cassette recording of her daughter talking to a young man about love and such matters, "and we intend to have your husband listen to it".

'They then say to the mother: "We need something from you, and we want you to carry it out whether you like it or not. We will give you a copy of the cassette and keep the original, but we won't tell your husband about it. If you choose to resist us, we have special houses everywhere... your daughter can be kidnapped, sexually assaulted and filmed".

'Such a film is not shown immediately. The tape is then kept at the Mukhabarat until the day when Saddam Hussein suspects the officer of working against him. He summons the officer and says to him: "See how we have preserved your honour by keeping this under wraps, while you choose to work against us".'

About 90 women officers are involved in blackmail operations under the supervision of Qusay.

Asked why he had decided to speak out now, Janabi says: 'We are the ones who protect Saddam, and it is we who have brought Saddam to where he is now. We cannot remain silent while Saddam dishonours us, in exchange for our positions and our interests.'

Foreign Office Minister Peter Hain said: 'Nobody should forget Saddam's evil bestiality. Those who want the United Nations to abandon sanctions and walk away are inviting him to terrorise Iraqi Kurds in the north, his neighbours and the region with horrendous violence