DATE=2/23/98 TYPE=WORLDWIDE ENGLISH FEATURE NUMBER=7- TITLE=CAPTURED IRAQI SECRET POLICE FILES BYLINE=MARTIN SECREST TELEPHONE=401-7467 DATELINE=WASHINGTON EDITOR=NANCY SMART CONTENT= [INSERTS/V-V AVAILABLE IN AUDIO SERVICES] INTRO: IN 1991, AT THE CLOSE OF THE GULF WAR, KURDISH REBEL GROUPS IN NORTHERN IRAQ SEIZED A MASSIVE COLLECTION OF PAPERS AND RECORDED TAPES FROM IRAQI SECRET POLICE AND MILITARY HEADQUARTERS IN THE REGION. WITH THE CONSENT OF KURDISH REBELS, THE MATERIALS WERE AIRLIFTED OUT OF IRAQ IN 1992 BY THE U-S MILITARY. THEY DOCUMENT A SYSTEMATIC CAMPAIGN OF VIOLENCE AGAINST THE MINORITY KURDS, INCLUDING THE USE OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS BY IRAQ. DURING THIS SO CALLED "ANFAL" CAMPAIGN, WHICH WAS AT ITS HEIGHT IN THE LATE 1980'S, OVER 100-THOUSAND KURDISH CIVILIANS DISAPPEARED, MANY OF THEM EXECUTED. THE CAPTURED SECRET FILES -- ALL FIVE AND A HALF MILLION PAGES OF THEM -- HAVE BEEN STORED IN A DIGITAL DATABASE BY THE U-S DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, AND THE ORIGINAL MATERIALS ARE NOW ARCHIVED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER. AS VOA'S MARTIN SECREST REPORTS, THE SECRET FILES MAY PROVIDE SOME ANSWERS TO KURDS WHO ARE LOOKING FOR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES WHO HAVE LONG SINCE DISAPPEARED: TEXT: ASAD GOZEH KNOWS FIRSTHAND OF THE CAMPAIGN OF TERROR AND GENOCIDE CARRIED OUT AGAINST THE KURDS IN NORTHERN IRAQ. THOUGH HE NOW LIVES IN THE UNITED STATES, MR. GOZEH OPPOSED SADDAM HUSSEIN AS A MEMBER OF THE PATRIOTIC UNION OF KURDISTAN, A REBEL GROUP. HE IS A SURVIVOR OF SEVERAL CHEMICAL WEAPONS ATTACKS BY IRAQI FORCES. HE SAYS THE FIRST ATTACKS OCCURRED DURING THE IRAN-IRAQ WAR IN THE LATE 1980'S, METED OUT IN PART AS PUNISHMENT FOR THE KURDS' REFUSAL TO JOIN THE WAR: TAPE: CUT ONE, GOZEH :47 "I WAS EXPECTING THAT SADDAM HUSSEIN WAS GOING TO USE CHEMICAL WEAPONS AGAINST THE KURDS. ONE THING THAT SADDAM WAS AFRAID (OF) WAS THAT THE POPULATION OF THE KURDS GREW DURING THE IRAN-IRAQ WAR, AND I KNEW THAT SADDAM HUSSEIN WAS GOING TO DECREASE THE POPULATION OF THE KURDS, BECAUSE HE NEVER THOUGHT THAT THE KURDS ARE PART OF IRAQ. HE THOUGHT THEY WERE 'GUESTS' ON ARABIC LAND, WHICH WE NEVER WERE -- WE WERE JOINED BY FORCE TO IRAQ." TEXT: ASAD GOZEH SAYS HIS BROTHER WAS NEARLY BLINDED BY MUSTARD GAS IN A CHEMICAL ATTACK, AND THAT ENTIRE VILLAGES OF KURDS WERE WIPED OUT BY CHEMICAL WEAPONS. HE SAYS HE SURVIVED THE ATTACKS BY LEARNING TO RECOGNIZE THE LESSER EXPLOSION OF A CHEMICAL BOMB, AND WHEN ONE WAS DEPLOYED, TO SEEK OUT HIGHER LAND, BUILD AND STAY CLOSE TO A FIRE, AND PUT A WET CLOTH OVER HIS MOUTH. TAPE: CUT TWO, HILTERMANN :0 6 "WE HAVE GONE THROUGH THEM ALL -- THERE'S MORE THAN FIVE MILLION PAGES -- WE'VE READ EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF PAPER IN THERE." TEXT: JOOST HILTERMANN IS WITH HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, AN INDEPENDENT HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION BASED IN THE UNITED STATES. IN 1992, THE GROUP WORKED WITH THE KURDS AND THE U-S MILITARY TO FLY THE SECRET FILES OUT OF IRAQ. MOST OF THE DOCUMENTS ORIGINATED IN THE GENERAL SECURITY DIRECTORATE, THE SECRET POLICE AGENCY OF IRAQ: TAPE: CUT THREE, HILTERMANN :18 "WHAT IS IN THERE, IN ADDITION TO A HUGE AMOUNT OF RATHER TEDIOUS ADMINISTRATIVE DETAIL, THERE IS VERY STARK AND TELLING EVIDENCE OF VERY SERIOUS ABUSES OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAQ DURING THE 1980'S AND EARLY 1990'S." TEXT: MR. HILTERMANN SAYS THE IRAQI "ANFAL" CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE KURDS -- "ANFAL" IS A WORD THAT MEANS "SPOILS" -- WAS PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE WHEN IT WAS UNDERWAY. BUT IT WAS PRESENTED UNDER THE GUISE OF A COUNTERINSURGENCY CAMPAIGN, LED BY SADDAM HUSSEIN'S COUSIN, ALI HASSAN AL-MAJID: TAPE: CUT FOUR, HILTERMANN :3 6 "THEY'RE VERY OPEN ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN -- IN FACT, THE CAMPAIGN WAS OPENLY DISCUSSED IN THE IRAQI NEWSPAPERS AT THE TIME. THERE WAS NO SECRET ABOUT IT. IT WAS A MILITARY CAMPAIGN, AND IT WAS PRESENTED AS STRICTLY A MILITARY CAMPAIGN. THIS IS SIGNIFICANT, BECAUSE THE WAY IT WAS PRESENTED WAS A CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE 'SABOTEURS,' WHICH IS THEIR EUPHEMISM FOR THE REBELS, THE KURDISH REBELS. AND THE WHOLE FACT THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE WHO WERE ROUNDED UP DURING THIS CAMPAIGN, AND SENT TO THEIR DEATH, SYSTEMATICALLY, WERE CIVILIANS, IS COMPLETELY OMITTED -- IT'S NOT THERE." TEXT: IRAQI OFFICIALS, ACCORDING TO MR. HILTERMANN, HAVE LONG CLAIMED THAT THE CAPTURED FILES ARE FORGERIES. BUT HE SAYS THAT CLAIM CHALLENGES COMMON SENSE BECAUSE OF THE ENORMOUS NUMBER OF THE DOCUMENTS, AND THE VARIETY AND COMPLEXITY OF THE MATERIALS IN BOTH FORM AND CONTENT. JOOST HILTERMANN ALSO SAYS THAT THE IRAQI GOVERNMENT HAS ATTEMPTED TO KEEP FULL KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT THE ANFAL CAMPAIGN WAS REALLY ABOUT TIGHTLY CONTROLLED : TAPE: CUT FIVE, HILTERMANN :18 "PEOPLE CANNOT SPEAK OPENLY AND DISCUSS THINGS. THE PRESS IS TOTALLY CONTROLLED. THE DISTRIBUTION OF INFORMATION IS VERY LIMITED. PEOPLE SPREAD NEWS BY WORD OF MOUTH, AND THERE ARE A LOT OF KURDS LIVING IN BAGHDAD, FOR EXAMPLE, AND WHAT HAPPENED DURING ANFAL IS KNOWN THERE, GENERALLY." TEXT: THE IRAQI SECRET POLICE FILES NOW RESIDE AT AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION AT THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER. THE ACQUISITION IS THE LATEST IN THE UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES' SIX YEAR-OLD PROGRAM CALLED THE HUMAN RIGHTS INITIATIVE, AND THE IRAQI FILES WERE APPROVED FOR SHIPMENT TO COLORADO BY U-S SENATOR JESSE HELMS, CHAIRMAN OF THE SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE. BRUCE MONTGOMERY IS THE CURATOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO ARCHIVES -- HE SAYS THAT THE CACHE OF IRAQI SECRET FILES IS A MAJOR ACQUISITION: TAPE: CUT SIX, MONTGOMERY :29 "I THINK THESE MATERIALS ARE PROBABLY THE MOST SIGNIFICANT FILES TO FALL INTO OPEN HANDS SINCE PERHAPS THE NAZI FILES FELL INTO ALLIED HANDS AFTER THE FALL OF BERLIN. THEY REVEAL A GENOCIDAL CAMPAIGN OF A ROGUE GOVERNMENT IN ITS OWN WORDS, AND THEY'RE AN EXTRAORDINARY CACHE OF MATERIALS THAT WE VERY MUCH WANT TO MAKE AS WIDELY ACCESSIBLE TO THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY AS POSSIBLE." TEXT: BRUCE MONTGOMERY SAYS THAT THE UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO CURRENTLY MAKES THE IRAQI SECRET FILES DATABASE AVAILABLE TO ANYONE WHO GOES TO THE UNIVERSITY. AND HE SAYS THAT WITHIN SIX TO TWELVE MONTHS, THE UNIVERSITY HOPES TO HAVE THE FILES ON THE INTERNET, WHERE THEY WILL BE ACCESSIBLE TO VIRTUALLY ANYONE. MR. MONTGOMERY SAYS THAT THE DOCUMENTS PROVIDE A CHILLING INSIGHT INTO IRAQ'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST ITS KURDISH CITIZENS, AND WILL BE, AS HE PUTS IT, "OF TREMENDOUS IMPORTANCE TO KURDS WHO WANT TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THEIR LOVED ONES." (SIGNED) NEB/MS/NES 23-Feb-98 4:07 PM EST (2107 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .