Dujail massacre
| Dujail massacre | |
|---|---|
| Location | Dujail, Iraq |
| Date | July 8, 1982 |
|
Attack type
|
Judicial reprisals |
| Deaths | 142 - 148 Shiite civilians |
| Perpetrators | Baath Regime |
| Motive | An unsuccessful assassination attempt against then Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein |
The Dujail Massacre refers to the events following an assassination attempt against the Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, on 8 July 1982 in Dujail. Dujail, a town with a large Shiite population and up to 75,000 residents at the time of the incident is located 53 km (33 mi) from Baghdad in the predominantly Sunni Salaheddin province of Iraq.
Hundreds of men, women and children were detained after the failed assassination attempt on Hussein. More than 140 people were sentenced and executed for their alleged involvement in the plot including four people who were mistakenly killed during the executions. Hundreds more were sent into exile and their houses, farms and properties were demolished. Saddam Hussein was hanged on 30 December 2006 for crimes against humanity in connection with his involvement in the massacre. Many others, including Hussein's brother, were also sentenced and executed for crimes against humanity.
Dujail was a stronghold of the Shiite Dawa Party, an organization involved in the Iranian backed insurgency against Saddam Hussein's Baathist dictatorship in Iraq during the Iran–Iraq War. Widely viewed in the West as a terrorist organization at the time, the Dawa party was banned in 1980 and its members sentenced to death in absentia by the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council.
On 8 July 1982, Saddam Hussein visited Dujail to make a speech praising local conscripts who had served Iraq in the fight against Iran. Hussein visited several households and after finishing his speech prepared for his return to Baghdad. As his motorcade proceeded down the main road, up to a dozen gunmen, using the cover of the date palm orchards which lined both sides of the road, opened fire killing two of Hussein’s bodyguards before fleeing on foot. In the ensuing four-hour fire-fight most of the attackers were killed and several were captured.
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