Survival of Abu-Ghraib Jail

This entry is part 7 of 10 in the series Survival of Abu-Ghraib Jail

Dr. Ala Musa Hasan | Exclusive to iKurd.net

Liberation And Constant Terror

After being in the Abu-Ghraib Jail’s individual cell for one week, I saw a dream that my mother was wearing a black dress and she and I were crying rigorously. When I got up from that dream, I had a feeling that something will happen or some relieve is on the way.

When I got up, the time was very early in the morning and there were some guys still up playing dominos, so when I got up from my sleep, I put my runners on while I was sitting down, and those guys were looking at me funny and one of them said “don’t say anything to him, he is dreaming”.

But I wasn’t dreaming, and I didn’t say anything to them and I went back to sleep with my runners on. I was a gifted person and I used to get all the answers for my despairs and difficulties through the dreams. My mother has this God-gifted ability and I inherited this gifted ability from her.

Three days after I saw that dream, a person from the Intelligent Unit walked in the Jail’s hallway and he was screaming that this is the day that you guys will be removed from Abu-Ghraib Jail to the Department of General Security for the purpose of deportation to Iran.

Once we heard that, we were all happy and some youths shouted “God bless Abu-Oday”. The Intelligent Officer replied, “Now you guys saying God bless the president? You are forced to say this now”. I was so happy to hear that finally we are going to be liberated and be with our families. We all stood close to the jail bars listening so carefully to the speaker and his announcement.

The officer announced that he will call some names for today, and who ever was called must get ready and pack his things to leave. I got my clothing on and packed my things in case they call my name, and we all got ready to be called to leave this facility.

The Intelligent Officer called about 200 names, and my name wasn’t among them, so the Officer said “I think that’s it for today”. While he was standing in the Jail’s hallway, a police officer came to him and told him that there is one bus empty and you can call another 20 people to fill that bus.

The Officer called more names and my name was the last person that was called in this group. I was so happy to hear my name being called, so I said my buy with the guys in my cell, and I did hug them as well, and wished them well and freedom. When the guards opened the Jail gate, they lined us all in the Jail hallway in a group of five in order to check our names again.

Then, the officer called my name again and told me to run out to the bus. I got my bag over my head, and I run so fast to get out of the facility. It was like having two extra legs to run with, because I was running so fast through the Abu-Ghraib hallways so I wouldn’t miss the bus.

While I was running fast through the Jail’s hallways, I saw another Intelligent Officer walking down the hallway looking at me and he smiled and said “run run run fast”. Once I went out, I saw about 10 passenger buses lined up and I saw that there were many of Saddam’s especial soldiers with their gears and guns surrounding those buses.

When I saw that view, I had very bad feelings about it. After I got inside the bus, my suspicion kicked in and I wasn’t sure what is going too happened to us and what they are going to do with us. That feeling just came over me when I was inside the bus, and I didn’t know what to make of it.

For the time that those buses moved from Abu-Ghraib Jail to the Department of General Security, the devil was playing with my mind and I was asking myself, “Are they really taking us there for the purpose of deportation”? Or, “Is this really true that we will finally see our families”? Or, “Are they taking us there to slaughter us”? so I had a mixed feelings about that, one time I was happy to leave that facility, and the other time I was skeptical about this and not sure what to make of it.

The agony of prison life and the complete losses of our freedom, our identity, our self-esteem, our social status, and our legal rights were multiplied by the feelings of what might happen to us next, the nightmare didn’t end upon release.

When we arrived to the Department of General Security, and as I saw all those Intelligent Officers and Saddam’s especial forces surrounding our buses, my fear increased and my hart was pounding so fast that I could hear my hart pulsation in my ears.

So, I asked myself again “Are we really a huge threat to this country”? And “What kind of crime did we carry out to justify all this security and treatment”? Again, I had no answers for my questions, and my level of anger, frustration, resentment, and hopelessness increased and I didn’t know what to ask anymore.

When we got off the buses, they direct us to a very large garage or a warehouse with a cement floor with no carpets or beds. They placed us there for three days and we were sitting and sleeping on the cement floor.

We were treated worst than the animals, because the animals used to get weeds or woodchips to sit and sleep on, but the Faili Kurds youths can sit and sleep on cold cement floors. As I waited there for three days, I was very tense, apprehensive, angry, and stressed so much that I was freaking out, but I sure had some butterflies. For one thing, I didn’t know the world that I was walking into had no clarity and hope.

The second day that we were placed there, a second group of the Faili Kurds youths came to joined us at the Department of General Security, and at that time, I met a few relatives from my maternity side that I used to know and they were very astonished to see me there.

They asked me what I am doing at this place, I told them for the same reason as you guys. But, they replied you are too young to be with us. Once I saw those guys, I was so relief to know that there are some family relatives with me, but I was also a stun that I didn’t see them at Abu-Ghraib Jail all that time.

During that time that we were placed at Department of General Security, the World Football games started, and those youths used to ask those Intelligent Officers who were guarding us about the Football games and its outcomes. They were asking those Officers what teem was playing today, and what was the score.

I was very stun and frustrated with those Faili youths behaviors and attitudes. I wasn’t sure if they really know what is going on with our situation, and how come they are not frightened or concerned about what was going on.

At the third day, the Intelligent Officer who was guarding us called our name and asked each of us to go to the office for questioning. We all were called on the individual basis to attend to the office. When they called my name, I went to the office and my hart was pounding so fast and I was so frightened to go there.

I saw there were three Intelligent Officers sitting in the office and one of them was so tall and big. The Officer that was sitting behind the desk asked me “son, do you have any family members or relative remained in Baghdad”? I said no Sir; I don’t think that I have anybody left in Baghdad.

So the tall and the big Officer asked me “How old are you son”? I replied 16 years old Sir and he were looking at me with surprise. Then, he told me to go back to my place. At the same day around dusk time, one Officer came inside our location, and he had papers on his hand and called each of us by name and asked each of us about our residential property if it was rental or owned property.

Finally, around midnight, there were lots of passenger buses waiting to pick us up to deport us to Iran. Outside our facility, there was a long table set-up and there were three men dressed up with black suits sitting behind that table. They called us one by one and they gave each of us 100 Iraqi Dinar and the person who gave us that money told us this is a gift from the president Mr. Saddam.

I took the money and I got inside the bus and I was thinking, “Is this a joke”? We left behind our life time earning, our expensive and fancy homes, our bank accounts, our expensive cars, our social status, our luxurious gold, etc, for 100 Iraqi Dinar. I didn’t know what to make of it and what to say, I just took the money and went.

Finally, when all the youths got inside the buses, they departed with us from our only home land Baghdad to the Iranian Boarder. As you all see now this is what the Faili Kurds youths experienced during that time.

Only God knew the pain, the disrespect, the humiliations, the fear, and the deprivation that the Faili Kurds youths endured at that time. Like I said before, a large number of those youths remained in Jail and only God knows what happened to them. All we can do today is to remember them and pray for them, God bless their souls.

Dr. Ala Musa Hasan, a Canada-based Faili Kurd, PHD Candidates in Clinical Psychology.

The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of iKurd.net or its editors.