On April 5th, along with the commemoration of the memory of the victims of 1991 Shia massacre in Iraq, Shia Rights Watch department of research on Anti Shiism begins its operation to gather data on history of violations, abuse and discrimination against Shia Muslims around the world.
End of dictatorship in Iraq was a happy news but revealed many sad stories that were hidden until then. After the fall of Saddam regime in 2003, the post war investigation of Iraqi and U.S. experts revealed at least 270 mass graves to exist across Iraq. According to a Congressional Research Service report most of the bodies found in the mass graves belonged to Shia Muslims, whom were killed after the 1991 uprising (Katzman, 2009). Bodies of many children and women were found at al-Mahawil mass grave near the Shia populated city of Hilla, 56 miles south of Baghdad. Matching the bodies to the names is a difficult task as the relatives of the victims have to identify their loved ones from their accessories like glasses and personal effects, according to Daily Mail 15,000 bodies found in four mass graves around Hilla alone, the total number bodies found in all mass graves can rise to at least 300,000.
In months following the 1991 uprising, about 17,000 people including Shia clerics and students were reported as disappeared, and thousands displaced, detained, tortured and killed. Many of the families still don’t know the fate of their relatives. Following the event, the Ba’ath regime began massive attacks on Shia faith and rituals, by destroying mosques, Islamic Centers, burning down libraries, desecration of holy sites, closing religious schools, censoring publications and forcing the Shia clerical establishment to endorse and praise the regime.
AntiShiism.org is a new hope to shed lights on the oppression that Shia have been through and welcome every humanitarian effort to demand a change that stops these tragic targeted violations from happening again.
Shia Rights Watch commemorates the victims of April 1991 Shia Massacre in Iraq and simultaneously launches AntiShiism.org in order to establish a well-documented informative network about the Shia rights violation. This organization welcomes every individual to take action and pledge to make the world free of prejudice, hatred and discrimination against minorities.
Please join us at www.AntiShiism.org.
