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Troops keep distance at mass graveHuman rights groups cite communication breakdown
MAHAWIL, Iraq (CNN) -- Human rights groups have criticized the lack of security at a mass grave in Iraq which experts say could contain up to 15,000 bodies. The U.S. military said Wednesday it hoped to present evidence gathered from the site, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Baghdad, to a future Iraqi judiciary, but campaigners said this was being destroyed by crude methods of uncovering the victims. Iraqi villagers have so far dug up about 1,500 bodies at Mahawil, near the city of Hillah, according to initial estimates by an Iraqi forensics team. About 65 of those bodies had been identified as of Wednesday. The victims were mostly Shiites who died in an uprising against Saddam Hussein's regime following the 1991 Gulf War, according to local officials and Lt. Gen. David McKiernan, coalition forces land component commander in Iraq. (Images from Mahawil; On the Scene: Jane Arraf) Coalition officials and international human rights workers have received reports of hundreds of mass graves across Iraq, including one near Samawa in southern Iraq and a shallow mass grave near the Shiite Muslim holy city of Najaf. Peter Bouckaert, senior emergencies researcher for Human Rights Watch, said the United States must not leave any doubts about its role in finding the graves. "The U.S.-led coalition must take the lead, not only in securing grave sites, but quickly communicating its commitment to exhume and identify the remains," Bouckaert said. People who live near Mahawil knew where the graves were and recently started excavating them, McKiernan said. Citing sensitivity issues, McKiernan said U.S. troops have kept a respectful distance, providing security, food, tents and medical assistance, but giving the Iraqis room to search and grieve. But Bouckaert said U.S. troops should have done a better job preserving evidence of what appears to be a site of mass executions. Some of the bodies bore evidence of gunshots to the head, other skulls were fractured, and some had been buried with their hands tied behind their backs.
One member of a human rights groups blamed a lack of communication between coalition military officials on the scene and their commanders for the lack of security at the grave sites. When U.S. military units "finally get the permission" to protect the sites, local people have already dug them up, said Lynn Amowitz, a senior medical researcher from Physicians for Human Rights. A man who lives in the area, Jaber Massen, said the Mahawil executions lasted six weeks in March and April of 1991, and between 10,000 and 15,000 people were killed. Another resident, a sheepherder, said he used to come to the site at midday with his sheep and stay until sundown. He saw cars driven by members of Saddam's regime arrive with 40 or 50 people. "We never got close to them, we would just watch from a distance," said Abbas Mohammed. "They came here and then we heard the sound of bullets being fired and that would last for a while. The digger would start digging and that was all we could see from where we were." It is the first time Iraqis have been able to openly mourn their loved ones, let alone search for their bodies. Busloads of Iraqis have arrived at the site in recent days.
They dug with bulldozers and their bare hands. But in their haste to determine the fate of their relatives likely destroyed evidence and separated bodies from the pale pink, laminated Iraqi identification cards many were buried with. "I've talked to dozens of relatives at these mass graves who haven't had a single shred of news about their missing relatives since 1991, and at other mass sites since the 1980s," Bouckaert said. "It's unfortunate that people will walk away still not knowing what happened to their relatives from these mass grave sites in the end." On Wednesday, Iraqis walked along rows of opaque plastic bags holding remains of the dead, searching for clues that would help identify their loved ones. A man wearing pink plastic gloves, like those used to wash dishes, held a skull, with hair still attached, for another person to examine. A man holding bags that he said held the remains of his relatives said, "This is what was given to us by Saddam Hussein, who was helped by America, helped by France, helped by Russia. This is the gift which he has given us." CNN Baghdad Bureau Chief Jane Arraf and Producer Alina Gracheva contributed to this report Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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