Personal Stories

Old History, Current Punishment

Professor Husan joined the Ba'ath Party in 1958 at the age of fifteen. “The party,” Husan said, “was the only organization capable of confronting the expansion of the Communist Party, which nearly controlled Iraq after the coup in 1958.” [Editor’s note: Iraq’s 1958 coup was staged against leaders installed by the colonial British powers.]

In those days, long before Saddam Hussein, the party slogan called for “unity, freedom, and socialism.” According to Husan, after 1979, the Ba'ath Party surrendered to the “iron fist of Saddam and his clique, and it became impossible to leave the party as long as you were employed by the government, unless you chose to flee the country. There was an indirect obligation to join and most people did. ”

Husan saw many of his friends and associates leave Iraq. However, he made a conscious decision to stay with his extended family and teach in the country of his birth. Since 1978, Husan has been an Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Baghdad’s Department of Architecture in the College of Engineering.

The de-Ba'athification of Iraq

On April 16, 2003, by order of Paul Bremer, Administrator of the Coalition Provision Authority (CPA), Husan was summarily dismissed, as were nearly 2,000 professors and technical staff from Iraq’s institutions of higher education.

CPA Order Number 1, the De-Ba'athification of Iraqi Society, “disestablished” the Ba'ath Party of Iraq and commanded that “full members” of the party be “removed from their positions and banned from future employment in the public sector.” The Order applies to:

• every national government ministry (education, industry, agriculture, trade, health, etc.),
• affiliated corporations,
• other institutions (e.g., universities and hospitals).

An estimated two million party members are associated with national ministries and other institutions such as hospitals and universities.

Punishment that undermines society

Article 33, Geneva Convention IV. No protected person (i.e. civilian) may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.

“We are fighting illiteracy and they (the CPA) have thrown out the most literate,” Husan observes. “I don’t know how they are going to run this country or our civil service. We are highly trained people and our country needs us. You can’t ignore our contributions or the fact that we have lives and families.”

He adds: “We were persecuted under Saddam but hoped the future would be different. Our dismissal is collective punishment without a trial, and it contravenes the Geneva Convention. We were given $50 and our April salary of 300,000 dinars ($150), paid in notes that are not accepted at face value and are subsequently worth only 180,000 dinars ($90). We are suspected of being criminals. Many of us sit at home and don’t know what is in our future.”

Waiting for reinstatement

Paul Bremer, or his designees, may grant exceptions to the CPA Order Number 1 on a case-by-case basis. According to Husan, there are no timelines or structures for individual investigations.

In an appeal to Bremer, Husan submitted a petition from faculty and students asking for his reinstatement. As required by the CPA, he declared, in writing, his denouncement of party affiliation: “I, Professor Husan, declare my condemnation of all parties responsible for committing atrocities against human rights in Iraq, preventing the people of Iraq from enjoying freedom and democracy for the past 35 years.”

Husan and many of his dismissed colleagues have refused to abandon their students as they prepare for final exams. These dedicated professionals continue to teach on a volunteer basis.

- Rick McDowell

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