Visiting Amna Suraka, the former HQ of Saddam Hussein’s Intelligence Agency in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan.
After my traditional Kurdish breakfast at the Jan Coffee, I headed off to visit the Amna Suraka Museum.
Warning: This post contains disturbing text and images
Photo of the main building at Amna Suraka with the damage clearly visible:
What was Amna Suraka:
Amna Suraka, also known as the Red Prison, was the headquarters of the Mukhabarat, Saddam Hussein’s intelligence agency.
When Saddam came to power in Iraq in July 1979, one of his first initiatives was to establish a general security directorate in every province, a total of 19. The first one was in Sulaymaniyah. They told everyone that it was just another government office. But actually, it was a prison, known for its brutality during the Baath regime.
Amna Suraka, a place where the regime’s rivals and critics – mostly students, Kurdish patriots, and other dissidents – were imprisoned, tortured, and raped by Saddam and his henchmen, including Chemical Ali
Vice referred to Amna Suraka as The World’s Most Depressing Museum.
There are many other disturbing places around the world.
S-21, Tuol Sleng
S-21, Tuol Sleng, was an interrogation centre in Phnom Penh where few people came out alive.
The House of Terror
The House of Terror in Budapest was the headquarters of the pro-Nazi Hungarian Arrow Cross Party, a far-right Hungarian ultranationalist party led by Ferenc Szálasi, who were responsible for the murder of ten to fifteen thousand civilians, mostly Jews and Romani. And when the Nazis left and the Russians arrived it became the headquarters of the Soviet Political Police (the AVH) whose role it was to hunt down anyone who opposed the rule that Moscow had over Hungary, ie, political criminals.
The concentration camps across Europe. They were Nazi Death Camps. Period.
The Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex
The Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex in Yerevan is dedicated to the victims of the Armenian genocide:
I visited them all. They are places of extreme sadness, and it just makes you wonder.
My visits to these places remain unblogged. They were just too sombre, too upsetting.
But here I felt compelled to bring you a reminder of the past.
And it really makes you wonder how a human could inflict such terror on the next person, that such hate could exist.
The Belgian Memorial Camp in Kigali:
The Liberation of Amna Suraka
During the 1991 Battle of Sulaymaniah Iraqi, the people of Kurdistan together with the Kurdish fighters known as Peshmerga, launched a full on assault on all government buildings and detention centres. After 2 hours of heavy fighting, they stormed Amna Suraka, killing the 800 secret police and Iraqi soldiers stationed there.
By March 8, the entire city of Sulaymaniyah was under Peshmerga control.
Amna Suraka opens as a museum
Following the liberation of Kurdistan from Saddam’s regime, and with the support of veteran Kurdish female peshmerga Hero Ibrahim Ahmed, Amna Suraka was transformed into a museum.
Visiting Amna Suraka
There is a site map. The museum is not just about the goings-on at Amna Suraka. It details the fight for freedom for the Kurdish people, including the Anfal campaign and those who perished at the Nugra Salman prison.
In the Heavy Weaponry Square, you can find tanks, armoured personnel carriers, and anti-aircraft guns:
There is also a statue of Saddam Hussein, which was located at the gate of the military base in Kirkuk. Destroyed by the people of Kirkuk during the Iraqi liberation, restored and presented to Amna Sukora.
And compare these two photos. The one on the left shows the countries that manufactured mines found in Kurdistan, and the right shows countries that participated in demining Kurdistan.
Can you spot the flag that appears in BOTH images?
Building No.7 – Jails and Torture Section
The cells are as found. The mock-ups using mannequins show the torture methods used by Saddam’s security officers at Amna Suraka:
Solitary Cell Number 2:
Many teenage boys were kept here. A medical committee had been set up, whereby the ages of the boys were changed to 18 and thus eligible for execution:
A message found inscribed on the cell wall in Amna Suraka:
Cage Prison Cell 1:
They used this cell as the holding area for the detainees, who had already been tortured and before being sent to the revolutionary court to face execution. Conditions were inhumane to the extreme.
Torture Room 1:
This is where detainees were tortured at the will of the security officers. The techniques used included the use of electrical cables to hit the prisoner, especially on the soles of their feet.
Torture Room 2:
This room was specifically for the hanging of detainees, whilst subjecting them to electricity or having heated irons held on their bodies.
Mirrors Museum
This room was designed to be like a cave, which was where the Peshmerga used to hide. The walls are covered with 182,000 mirrors, symbolising the number of victims in the Kurdistan Region during the Anfal campaign, with 5,000 lamps signifying the number of villages destroyed.
Museum Opening Hours – Amna Suraka
The Amna Suraka Red Prison Museum is open Saturday to Thursday from 9 am to 4 pm, BUT these times are subject to change. I was there at 10 am and told to return at 1 pm. Closed on public holidays and Fridays.
It’s free to enter.