Iraqi Communist Party alleges killing of hundreds in upheaval

An Iraqi opposition group in exile said yesterday that the Iraqi security forces have executed 500 citizens and buried them in a collective grave after an upheaval witnessed by Basra city in southern Iraq.

The human rights office affiliated to the Iraqi Communist Party said in a statement today that the victims, most of whom were youths and were executed without trials, in most cases for the mere suspicion of their participation in the actions against the government that broke out in Basra on March 17.

The human right office, which takes Shaklawa in a Kurdish area of northern Iraq as its headquarters, said that a group including 100 detainees was driven to El-Bergisia area near El-Zobair city, 20 kilometers southwest of Basra, where they were tortured, shot dead and buried in a collective grave under the auspices of Ali Hassan El-Magid, from the family of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

The statement said a names list of 21 dead, whom it said were arrested on suspicion of their participation in the upheaval in protest against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's rule on March 17.