Situation of prisoners of war in Iran, Iraq investigated by mission.

The three-member United Nations mission inquiring into the situation of prisoners of war (POWs) and civilian detainees in the Iran-Iraq conflict has visited the two countries to conduct its on-the-spot investigation and is preparing its report in Vienna for submission to Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar.

The mission visited Iraq from 11 to 17 January. Originally, it was scheduled to visit the two countries in November, but the visit did not take place because agreement could not be reached on the itinerary and modalities of its work.

The members of the mission were Professor Wolfram Karl (Austria), Professor Torkel Opsahl (Norway) and Major-General Rafael Vale-Huerta (Venezuela). The mission, which itself was to decide the scope and method of its work, was accompanied by Benon Sevan, a Director in the United Nations Secretariat, and Francesc Vendrell, Senior Political Officer, both temporarily assigned to the office of Diego Cordovez, Under-Secretary-General for Special Political Affairs.

The report of the mission will be made available to the two Governments and will be transmitted to the Security Council as well as to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The Iraqi Government had requested on 25 October the dispatch of a mission to inquire into the killing or injuring on 10 October of a number of Iraqi POWs at the camp for them at Gorghan, Iran. Iran agreed to cooperate with the mission, provided it also visited Iraq to inquire into certain concerns of the Iranian Government regarding Iranian POWs in Iraq.

In a statement on 17 December, a spokesman for the Secretary-General said an understanding had been reached with the Iraqi and Iranian Governments on the dispatch of a mission on POWs in both the countries. The mission's task would be to "inquire into certain aspecs regarding the situation of prisoners of war and civilian detainees" in the two countries. In carrying out that task, it would "seek to determine, as far as feasible, the factual basis for the concerns" expressed by the two Governments. The mission would conduct "independent inquiries" in order to report to the Secretary-General, and would visit prisoner-of-war camps in Iran and Iraq designated by the respective Governments or by the mission itself.

The mission assembled on 8 January in Geneva, where it held separate meetings with the ICRC and with the representatives of the Iraqi and Iranian Governments.

During its stay in Iraq, mission members met with that country's Foreign Minister, Tareq Aziz, and visited five camps holding Iranian POWs. A spokesman for the Secretary-General said the mission had carried out its work in Iraq without difficulties. Iraqi authorities had been "extremely co-operative". Members of the mission had visited the camps unescorted, and had conducted private interviews with POWs, in conformity with the Geneva Convention on the question.

During its stay in Iran, mission members met with that country's Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Velayati, and visited most of the camps known to the ICRC, holding about 30,000 Iraqi POWs. A spokesman for the Secretary-General said on 23 January that Mr. Sevan had reported to Mr. Cordovez that the mission had continued its work in Iran "in a satisfactory way". According to Mr. Sevan, mission members felt that they had received "every co-operation from the Government and other authorities" in Iran. They had allowed mission members to visit the camps freely and to conduct interviews with POWs in private. Those modalities for visits to prisoner-of-war camps were consistent with the Geneva Convention.

The mission was expected to submit its report in February.

The Gorghan camp incident had been the subject of a letter of 25 October addressed to the Secretary-General (S/16799), in which Foreign Minister Tareq Aziz of Iraq stated that on 10 October, the Iranian military "indiscriminately opened fire" on Iraqi prisoners in the Gorghan camp, "killing or injuring a considerable number of them". He said "the crime" had taken place "notwithstanding the presence" of an ICRC mission at the camp.

He pointed out that under the relevant 1949 Geneva Convention, POWs were "in the safekeeping of the detaining Power" and were "protected by international law, which requires such States to respect the person, dignity and religious belief of the prisoner, and treat him humanely". Instead of observing its obligations under an international convention to which it was a party, he went on, "Iran has continued to perpetrate crimes and murder the inmates of prisoner-of-war camps or prisoners before they reach those camps, over and above its other violations of the rules of international humanitarian law". He concluded "In registering its protest about the perpetration of this crime by the Iranian regime, Iraq requests you to send a mission to Iran to investigate the crime."

On 7 November, Said Rajaie-Khorassani, iran's Permanent Representative, sent a letter to the Secretary-General (A/39/639-S/16820), in which he enclosed what he said was a copy of the ICRC report on the 10 October incident. The report stated that on 9 October, eight delegates and a medical delegate from the ICRC Teheran delegation went to the Gorgan camp to see the approximately 3,400 Iraqi POWs who, according to Iranian authorities, were interned there. The delegates were able to work in accordance with the requirements of the Geneva Conventions on the first day of the visit. However, on the following day, at about 11.30 a.m., one of the delegates in the yard saw that a dispute had arisen between two POWs. That quickly spread, and soon the whole camp was in uproar. The guards at first fired warning shots into the air, and by loudspeakers ordered the POWs to return to their dormitories.

On their part, the ICRC report continued, delegates tried to calm the prisoners. Other delegates tried to separate POWs fighting each other and urged the guards to refrain from opening fire. However, the delegates' efforts were futile. A few minutes later, the POWs stormed the camp exit. After launching tear gas bombs and shooting in the air, the guards began firing into the crowd. At about 12.30 p.m., calm had been restored. The ICRC delegates were then told to leave the camp. On 11 October, one delegate and the medical delegate "were allowed to examine three corpses which had not been identified and 35 wounded POWs". The three corpses "showed wounds on the head, caused by blows".

Iran's Permanent Representative said the report, "though too succinct to accommodate some important facts of the incident", clearly showed the "baselessness of the allegations" made by the Iraqi Foreign Minister.

ICRC Statement

On 27 November, Riyadh Al-Qaysi, Iraq's Permanent Representative, sent a letter to the Secretary-General (A/39/693-S/16842), in which he said that a statement made by ICRC President Alexander Hay on 23 November to the Permanent Representatives in Geneva showed that Iraq's concern were not "baseless".

According to the statement quoted in iraq's letter, Mr. Hay said that from May to October 1984, ICRC delegates were able to visit nine camps and see some 29,000 Iraqi POWs, or about half the total number of POWs being held in Iran. Those visits, although incomplete, enabled the ICRC "to get a clear picture of the conditions of captivity" of the Iraqi POWs and "to bring to the attention of the Iranian authorities, in numerous confidential representations, the points causing it concern". The ICRC President stated that on 10 October, in the camp at Gorghan, the ICRC delegates were witness to an incident which resulted in the death of POWs. The ICRC submitted a report on the incident to the Iraqi and Iranian authorities, in which it reminded Iran of its obligation under the third Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of POWs to conduct an inquiry into the events.

Unfortunately, Mr. Hay said, what happened in Gorghan was not an isolated incident. Other violent confrontations had taken place in other camps, causing numerous deaths and injuries. Such violence was the "inevitable" result of Iran's policy throughout the past three years, a policy the ICRC had already described and denounced in a memorandum of 10 February 1984, which said "Ideological and political pressure, intimidation, systematic 're-education' and attacks on the honour and dignity of the prisoners have remained a constant feature of life in the camps". The ICRC President said that for the third time in three years, Iran had denied the ICRC its right to have access to the Iraqi prisoners. "At stake is the physical and moral survival of thousands of men and future respect for the Geneva Conventions: such a policy forces in fact prisoners of war to choose between treason or death." That policy must cease, but the ICRC feared that Iran would not consent to doing so unless it was convinved that the international community demanded it, as it would of any State signatory to the Conventions.

In making the appeal, Mr. Hay observed, the ICRC was aware that the situation of captivity of POWs in Iraq was not satisfactory, and that the ICRC was taking on their behalf all the measures which circumstances dictated. But the "repeated and systematic nature" of the Iranian violations of the third Geneva Convention was so serious that The ICRC felt that if it did not have recourse to "this exceptional measure", it would jeopardize by its silence not only the lives of tens of thousands of men, but also the very future of humanitarian law.