Iraq: Information on a large-scale escape from prison in Basra in March 1991
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 September 1996 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | IRQ25074.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Iraq: Information on a large-scale escape from prison in Basra in March 1991, 1 September 1996, IRQ25074.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6abb90.html [accessed 30 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
A 10 March 1991 article which appeared in The Sunday Telegraph contains a report on the escape from Basra's al-Haritha jail of a Palestinian who had been arrested in Kuwait and then imprisoned in Basra. The Palestinian escaped from the prison when Iraqi demonstrators overtook the jail and set the prisoners free (The Sunday Telegraph 10 Mar. 1991). Human Rights Watch World Report for 1992 indicates that the 1991 uprising in Iraq began in Basra in March, and kept the following general pattern: "on the day of a city's uprising, rebels and masses of civilians ousted government forces from their headquarters, prisons and barracks, killing or capturing them or forcing them to flee" (HRW 1991, 659).
For further information on the 1991 uprising in Basra, please consult the attached excerpt from the June 1992 Human Rights Watch/Middle East report Endless Torment: The 1991 Uprising in Iraq And Its Aftermath.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below a list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Human Rights Watch. 1991. Human Rights Watch World Report 1992: Events of 1991. New York: Human Rights Watch.
The Sunday Telegraph [London]. 10 March 1991. Con Couglin. "The Gulf: Halt at Checkpoint Freedom" (NEXIS).
Attachments
Human Rights Watch. 1991. Human Rights Watch World Report 1992: Events of 1991. New York: Human Rights Watch, pp. 659-60.
Human Rights Watch/Middle East. June 1992. Endless Torment: The 1991 Uprising in Iraq And Its Aftermath. New York: Human Rights Watch, pp. 45-49.
The Sunday Telegraph [London]. 10 March 1991. Con Couglin. "The Gulf: Halt at Checkpoint Freedom" (NEXIS).
Additional Sources Consulted
Amnesty International. Amnesty International Report 1991.
DIRB and UNHCR databases.
Indexed Media Review (IMR). March-May 1991.
The Middle East [London]. March-May 1991.
Middle East Focus [North York, Ont.]. March-May 1991.
Middle East International [London]. March-May 1991.
Middle East Report [Washington]. March-May 1991.
NEXIS on-line search.
United States Department of State. 1992. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1991.
