Iraq to turn Saddam-era torture prison into heritage site – Shafaq News
2026-07-12T22:38:35+00:00
Shafaq News- Al-Muthanna
Authorities in Iraq’s Al-Muthanna province have called for transforming
Salman Castle Prison into a heritage site documenting abuses committed under
Saddam Hussein’s former Baath regime against thousands of detainees, including
Kurds and families of political opponents.
Nuqrat Al-Salman District Head Takleef Al-Ziyadi told Shafaq News on
Sunday that the prison held large numbers of Feyli Kurds, people detained
during the Anfal campaign, and residents of Al-Sulaymaniyah and Halabja.
Detainees, including children, women, and the elderly, endured torture
at the prison, while many were relatives of Kurdish fighters who opposed the
former regime. “Some were executed, and others were buried alive in mass
graves,” Al-Ziyadi noted, adding that survivors still return to the site each
year to commemorate their imprisonment.
He further disclosed that a representative from the Ministry of Culture
recently visited the district to complete procedures for converting the prison
into a memorial documenting those abuses.
Hoping that the site would attract visits from schools and universities
in the Kurdistan Region and across Iraq, Al-Ziyadi urged the federal
government, Al-Muthanna Provincial Council, and the Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG) to help fund its rehabilitation.
Last month, Baghdad’s Rusafa Criminal Court sentenced former prison
official Ajaj Ahmed Hardan Al-Tikriti to death for crimes committed against
Anfal detainees at Nuqrat Al-Salman, including torture, murder, and rape. The
ruling was welcomed by Kurdish political parties, genocide researchers, and
victims’ families as a significant step toward accountability.