Iraq: The missing people

INTRODUCTION:
MARTHA KEARNEY

The disappeared is a chilling expression - whether it applies to Northern Ireland, South America or now Iraq. Family and friends can only imagine the worst. Thousands of unmarked graves have been found today in Northern Iraq.

And in the South, as some form of order is established in Basra, its people are trying to find out what happened to all of those who disappeared under Saddam. Richard Watson reports on those harrowing discoveries.

RICHARD WATSON:
This is the legacy of 30 years of dictatorship. The Kazim family learn about the fate of one of their own - a brother and son who has been missing for five years. His name, along with 144 others, is on this list of people posted for the first time at the mosque today. They were all hanged in 1998 by the regime. The family weeps at the news they always feared. And holding the photograph of the father he barely knew, eight-year-old Ahmed is in a daze.

HISHAM MOHAMMED KAZIM (Translation):
We have just discovered that my brother was hanged.

UNNAMED MAN:
(Translation):
Saddam Hussein is a criminal and this is just one of millions of crimes he's committed. The secret police put this entire family in prison. After three months, everyone but Assam was released. He never came back.

WATSON:
The list of those hanged, posted on the mosque wall, was found amongst the rubble of Saddam Hussein's secret police headquarters in Basra. The triumph of hope over reality.

Trenches have been dug, intelligence officers have filed their reports. They've all concluded there are no trapped prisoners. And still they continue to dig. They wanted to show us inside the secret police's interrogation centre, and to listen for ourselves for the noise of trapped prisoners in the cells below. I couldn't hear anything above the din of the crowd of angry people, convinced that because detainees were sent in never to emerge, it must mean they're alive underground.

The reality is likely to be even worse. Fear was everything. People would stoop down, eyes to the ground, when they crossed the street near the base for fear of being picked up on some trumped-up charge. Once inside, torture was the norm. Prisoners would be beaten against this wall, and the penalty for relatively minor crimes was brutal.

UNNAMED MAN 2:
You see, they cut his ears because he refused to go to their military service.

WATSON:
This seems to have been a common punishment. We were told about a young man who tried to flee Basra before the British took over, who had his ear cut off and was branded "Traitor" on his forehead.

This exclusive water frontage facing the navigable Shatt al Arab canal stands in stark contrast to a city dominated by dust and decay. Of course, this was Ba'ath Party territory. Non-members couldn't even walk the promenades. And looking over the water was Ba'ath Party headquarters for the entire south of Iraq.

This man, an opponent of the regime who spent three months in the security police prison, agreed to take us in. When he first came here a few days ago, he found vital evidence amongst documents in the Ba'ath Party president's office. What did you find in this room?

UNNAMED MAN 3:

This picture...

WATSON:
That's horrible.

UNNAMED MAN 3:

People killing...

WATSON:
The photograph dated 18th January 1991, just two days after the start of the last Gulf War, appears to show a man who's been cut and crushed. Opposition leaders say it was deliberate torture.

UNNAMED MAN 3
This also in Basra.

WATSON:
He also found a list of the most senior Ba'ath Party officials here, complete with dates of birth, rank and length of service. Many of these are now believed dead.

An air strike was called in on a building in Basra where many of the top officials were meeting, before the British captured the city. 200 were killed, it's not clear if some Ba'ath Party leaders escaped. It's impossible to overstate the impact of 30 years of dictatorship on the local Shia Muslim population around Basra. They've endured a regime built on torture and fear.

But this city is beginning to get back some sense of normality, though serious problems remain. Last night there were exchanges of gunfire and there are rumours that armed militia are seeking to control aid and water supplies.

Saddam Hussein's summer palace on the banks of the Shatt al Arab canal is now the headquarters of the famous Desert Rats. The symbolism is obvious. As an occupying force, some Iraqis already see shades of the country's colonial past, but the military say their message is clear.

BRIGADIER GRAHAM BINNS
(Commander in Chief, 7th Armoured Brigade):
We've got to allow the Iraqi people to take control of their own lives, we've got to avoid creating a culture of dependency which requires us to do everything. We've re-formed the police force. Yesterday, we had our first meeting of the Interim Advisory Council.

WATSON:
The army has already recruited a police force of 300, most of them traffic police, the least controversial first. Day by day, there are signs of a city functioning again. Today, the traffic lights came back on and power has been restored to 40% of the city. Many still fear that those who repressed them for so long could be reintegrated into society, a bit like some members of the Nazi party after the fall of the Third Reich.

UNNAMED MAN 4:
At night there is danger, because there are many thieves, and we need policemen to keep our safety.

WATSON:
But do you want the old policemen to come back, or new policemen?

UNNAMED MAN 4:
We need new policemen, because the... The old ones are not good.

WATSON:
If Ba'ath Party members are excluded from all positions of, then the country will take years to get back on its feet. We caught up with the chief of police in Basra, not the secret police, who's come back to work. Were you in the Ba'ath Party?

AHMED SALIH (Basra Chief of Police)
(Translation):
Most people were in the Ba'ath Party. The police, the government, the army, they were all in the party. I was never an active member. I'm from the north, an Iraqi Kurd. I want to serve all the people of Iraq.

WATSON:
Senior military figures admit there's still a big law and order problem in Basra. At a checkpoint today, the Desert Rats intercepted vehicles which they suspect were being used for armed robberies in the city.

Much of the problem stems from the volume of weapons on the streets. Desert Rats are patrolling day and night. Here is a school building that was used by loyal Fedayeen forces.

But the biggest find was in the playground. Practice targets were painted on the walls and live shells, grenades and mortars were scattered all round, while children played. 400 cubic metres of weapons have been recovered and buried by the army so far but others remain undiscovered and are getting into the wrong hands. This man agreed to speak to us on condition of anonymity.

UNNAMED MAN 5:
(Translation):
I saw many people in the poor areas of Basra buying all kinds of light weapons. RPGs, AKs, pistols and grenades. They're doing it to protect themselves, and in case the British and the US want to colonise Iraq. If they are thinking of staying, we'll fight them and force them out.

WATSON:
In spite of British claims to have full control of the city, Newsnight has learned that local people are systematically arming themselves in two areas.

LIEUTENANT COLONEL MIKE RIDDELL-WEBSTER (CO, l Black Watch):
There's one area, which I know the clerics have put together some form of, I don't know if vigilante force is the right word, but guard force. We've just let them get on with it.

WATSON:
Why have you let them get on with it? It's quite worrying, isn't it?

RIDDELL-WEBSTER:
I don't think it is. I've had no complaints from that part of the town. It seems quiet. If we go in there, we'll end up with shooting and more bloodshed, which I'm trying to avoid. I meet the religious leader involved frequently, so I have at least got a handle on the area.

WATSON:
Understanding the complexities of the Shia groups in southern Iraq will be the key to winning peace. Here the congregation share the pain of a holy story from the Koran. Long years of persecution and strong faith have invested the Imams with huge power and influence that the coalition would be unwise to underplay.

There are four strong Shia groups in Basra, each with views on the practice and teaching of Islam, and George Bush and Tony Blair. This is the world-wide leader of one such movement. He's gravely ill, so we spoke to his son. What do you want to see happen in Iraq? What sort of government do you want to see?

IMAM SHAIKHAL:
Of course, I would like to see real representation for any groups inside Iraq. For all of them.

WATSON:
Contrary to some prejudice, members of this Shia group are democrats. Not all share this view, though. Two groups exchanged fatwas in recent years leading to killings.

SHAIKHAL:
I am sorry to say it, but it is the truth. I think any Muslim Shia, when he hears it, he will be ashamed.

WATSON:
Those arguments that you talk about, do they still exist today?

SHAIKHAL:
Yes, they still exist. And I hope, and I beg them not to retain the same story again and again. A few days ago, the same story happened in Najaf. Saddam Hussein wasn't present.

WATSON:
What happened in Najaf?

SHAIKHAL:
One of the big leaders was killed. Mr Al-Khoei.

WATSON:
Even with the Ba'athists out of the way, there's scope for unrest, even war unless it's contained. The question remains how such disparate elements, such as religious divides, democracy, security and crime, will play out over the next months and years. For the coalition and people, it won't be an easy circle to square.