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{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{infobox military conflict
{{infobox military conflict
| conflict = 1999 Shia uprising in Iraq
| conflict = 1999 Shia uprising in Iraq
| partof = the [[Gulf War (disambiguation)|Persian Gulf Conflicts]]
| image = {{Location map many | Iraq
| image =
{{Location map many | Iraq
| relief = yes
| relief = yes
| width = 300
| width = 300
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| label6 = Basra
| label6 = Basra
}}
}}

| caption = Epicenters of the uprising
| date = 18 February April 1999
| caption = Epicenters of the uprising
| place = [[Iraq]]
| date = 18 February April 1999
| coordinates =
| place = [[Iraq]]
| map_type =
| coordinates =
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| map_type =
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| longitude =
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| longitude =
| map_marksize =
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| map_caption =
| map_label =
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| territory =
| map_label =
| result = Iraqi government victory; uprising suppressed
| territory =
| result = Iraqi government victory; uprising suppressed
| status =
| status =
| combatants_header =
| combatants_header =
| combatant1 = {{flag|Iraq|1991}}
|combatant1={{flag|Iraq|1991}}
* [[Iraqi Armed Forces]]
* [[Iraqi Armed Forces]]
* [[Republican Guard (Iraq)|Republican Guard]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Religion: The curse of Saddam City |author=Alexander Smoltczyk |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/religion-the-curse-of-saddam-city-a-246717.html |newspaper=Spiegel Online |date=28 April 2003 |access-date=17 August 2013}}</ref>
* [[Republican Guard (Iraq)|Republican Guard]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Religion: The curse of Saddam City |author=Alexander Smoltczyk |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/religion-the-curse-of-saddam-city-a-246717.html |newspaper=Spiegel Online |date=28 April 2003 |access-date=17 August 2013}}</ref>
* [[Fedayeen Saddam]]
* [[Fedayeen Saddam]]
* [[Ba'ath Party (Iraqi-dominated faction)|Ba'ath Party]]
* [[Ba'ath Party (Iraqi-dominated faction)|Ba'ath Party]]
| combatant2 = {{flagicon image|Shiism arabic blue.svg}} Rebels:
|combatant2={{flagicon image|Shiism arabic blue.svg}} Rebels:
* [[Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq|SCIRI]] / [[Badr Organization|Badr]]
* [[Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq|SCIRI]] / [[Badr Organization|Badr]]
* [[Islamic Dawa Party|Dawa]]<ref>[http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,4565c22535,459bb2cb21,3ae6a9cd10,0,,,IRQ.html Amnesty International, Iraq: Victims of Systematic Repression, 24 November 1999, MDE 14/010/1999]</ref>
* [[Islamic Dawa Party|Dawa]]<ref>[http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/topic,4565c22535,459bb2cb21,3ae6a9cd10,0,,,IRQ.html Amnesty International, Iraq: Victims of Systematic Repression, 24 November 1999, MDE 14/010/1999]</ref>
| combatant3 =
| combatant3 =
| commander1 = {{flagicon|Iraq|1991}} [[Saddam Hussein]]'''<br />'''[[President of Iraq]]'''<br/>
|commander1 = {{flagicon|Iraq|1991}} [[Saddam Hussein]]'''<br />'''[[President of Iraq]]'''<br/>
{{flagicon|Iraq|1991}} [[Ali Hassan al-Majid]]<br />Iraqi Intelligence Director<br/>
{{flagicon|Iraq|1991}} [[Ali Hassan al-Majid]]<br />Iraqi Intelligence Director<br/>
{{flagicon|Iraq|1991}} [[Taha Yassin Ramadan|Taha Yasin]]<br />Vice President of Iraq<br/>
{{flagicon|Iraq|1991}} [[Taha Yassin Ramadan|Taha Yasin]]<br />Vice President of Iraq<br/>
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{{flagicon|Iraq|1991}} [[Tariq Aziz]]<br />Member of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council<br/>
{{flagicon|Iraq|1991}} [[Tariq Aziz]]<br />Member of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council<br/>
{{flagicon|Iraq|1991}} [[Qusay Hussein]]<br />Son of Saddam Hussein
{{flagicon|Iraq|1991}} [[Qusay Hussein]]<br />Son of Saddam Hussein
| commander2 = {{flagicon image|Shiism arabic blue.svg}} [[Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim]]<br />Leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq<br/>
|commander2={{flagicon image|Shiism arabic blue.svg}} [[Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim]]<br />Leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq<br/>
{{flagicon image|}} [[Abdul Aziz al-Hakim]]<br />Leader of the Badr Corps<br/>
{{flagicon image|}} [[Abdul Aziz al-Hakim]]<br />Leader of the Badr Corps<br/>
{{flagicon image|}} [[Hadi al-Amiri]]<br />Badr Corps commander
{{flagicon image|}} [[Hadi al-Amiri]]<br />Badr Corps commander
| commander3 =
| commander3 =
| units1 =
| units1 =
| units2 =
| units2 =
| units3 =
| units3 =
| strength1 =
| strength1 =
| strength2 =
| strength2 =
| strength3 =
| casualties1 = 180+ dead <ref name="tareekh_al-iraq">Tareekh al-Iraq- By Shaikh Nouman al-Khaz'Ali, Pages 67–72</ref>
| strength3 =
| casualties1 = 7,600+ dead <ref name="tareekh_al-iraq">Tareekh al-Iraq- By Shaikh Nouman al-Khaz'Ali, Pages 67–72</ref>
| casualties2 = Dozens dead, wounded and arrested <ref name="tareekh_al-iraq" />
| casualties3 = 200+ dead<ref name="CSM">{{cite news |title=Sadr the agitator: like father, like son |author=Dan Murphy |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0427/p01s03-woiq.html/(page)/3 |newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor |date=27 April 2004 |access-date=1 February 2013}}</ref><ref name="tareekh_al-iraq" />
| casualties2 = thousands dead, wounded and arrested <ref name="tareekh_al-iraq" />
| notes =
| casualties3 = 200+ dead<ref name="CSM">{{cite news |title=Sadr the agitator: like father, like son |author=Dan Murphy |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0427/p01s03-woiq.html/(page)/3 |newspaper=The Christian Science Monitor |date=27 April 2004 |access-date=1 February 2013}}</ref><ref name="tareekh_al-iraq" />
| campaignbox =
| notes =
| campaignbox = {{Campaignbox Persian Gulf Wars}}
}}
}}
{{Campaignbox Persian Gulf Wars}}


The '''1999 Shia uprising in Iraq''' ({{Lang-ar|انتفاضة العراق 1999|[[intifāḍa]] al-ʿIrāq 1999}}) or '''Second Sadr Uprising''' (انتفاضة الصدر ''intifāḍa ṣadara''<ref>Esomba, Steve, ''Wall Streets Infected By Arab Spring'', p. 5</ref>) refers to a short period of unrest in Iraq in early 1999 following the killing of [[Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr]] by the then [[Ba'athist Iraq|Ba'athist government of Iraq]].<ref name="CSM"/> The protests and ensuing violence were strongest in the heavily Shia neighborhoods of [[Baghdad]], as well as southern majority [[Shiite]] cities such as [[Karbala]], [[Nasiriyah]], [[Kufa]], [[Najaf]], and [[Basra]].<ref name="III. The al-Sadr Intifada of 1999"/>
The '''1999 Shia uprising in Iraq''' ({{Lang-ar|انتفاضة العراق 1999|[[intifāḍa]] al-ʿIrāq 1999}}) or '''Second Sadr Uprising''' (انتفاضة الصدر ''intifāḍa ṣadara''<ref>Esomba, Steve, ''Wall Streets Infected By Arab Spring'', p. 5</ref>) refers to a short period of unrest in Iraq in early 1999 following the killing of [[Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr]] by the then [[Ba'athist Iraq|Ba'athist government of Iraq]].<ref name="CSM"/> The protests and ensuing violence were strongest in the heavily Shia neighborhoods of [[Baghdad]], as well as southern majority [[Shiite]] cities such as [[Karbala]], [[Nasiriyah]], [[Kufa]], [[Najaf]], and [[Basra]].<ref name="III. The al-Sadr Intifada of 1999"/>
Line 107: Line 111:
On 3 March [[Ammar al-Hakim]], the leader of SCIRI, announced that it had attacked several government buildings in [[Karbala]] as part of the revenge operations for the killing of al-Sadr.<ref name="MAR"/>
On 3 March [[Ammar al-Hakim]], the leader of SCIRI, announced that it had attacked several government buildings in [[Karbala]] as part of the revenge operations for the killing of al-Sadr.<ref name="MAR"/>


The ninth and tenth of March saw further clashes between Iraqi security forces and fighters from SCIRI in two southern Iraqi provinces, Maysan and Basra, with SCIRI reporting that over 1000 people had been killed in the clashes and 82 government tanks destroyed.<ref name="MAR"/>
The ninth and tenth of March saw further clashes between Iraqi security forces and fighters from SCIRI in two southern Iraqi provinces, with SCIRI reporting that over 100 people had been killed in the clashes and 8 government tanks destroyed.<ref name="MAR"/>


====Basra 17–18====
====Basra 17–18====
Some of the worst violence of the uprising took place on the evening of 17 March in Basra, when large armed groups of members of the Shiite opposition attacked several police stations and offices of the Iraqi Ba'ath party.<ref name="Canada"/> Contemporary press reports indicated that the clashes between protesters and security forces were in some cases particularly heavy, involving both armoured units and artillery.<ref name="III. The al-Sadr Intifada of 1999"/> The opposition groups were even able to seize and occupy several of the police stations and Ba'ath party offices, which they held until the morning of 18 March, at which point they withdrew.<ref name="Canada"/> Eyewitnesses talking to Human Rights Watch claimed that in some Basra neighbourhoods the firefight continued for more than an hour, whilst in others gunfire was heard throughout the night.<ref name="III. The al-Sadr Intifada of 1999">[https://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/iraq0205/3.htm Human Rights Watch, ''III. The al-Sadr Intifada of 1999'', February 2005]</ref> The violence resulted in the deaths of several members of the Fedayeen Saddam, the Ba'ath party, and other security services.<ref name="Canada">[http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,IRBC,,IRQ,,3f7d4db1a,0.html Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, ''Iraq: March 1999 Shi'a demonstration in Basra concerning the assassination of Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq-al-Sadr'', 7 August 2002, IRQ39404.E]</ref> In total around 2000 were estimated to have died in the Basra clashes.<ref name="GuardianICP">{{cite news |title=Mass execution claim after Iraq revolt |author=Ian Black |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/sep/28/ianblack |newspaper=The Guardian |date=28 September 1999 |access-date=2 February 2013}}</ref> Several witnesses told Human Rights Watch that protesters had attacked and killed at least 400 Ba'ath party members.<ref name="III. The al-Sadr Intifada of 1999"/>
Some of the worst violence of the uprising took place on the evening of 17 March in Basra, when large armed groups of members of the Shiite opposition attacked several police stations and offices of the Iraqi Ba'ath party.<ref name="Canada"/> Contemporary press reports indicated that the clashes between protesters and security forces were in some cases particularly heavy, involving both armoured units and artillery.<ref name="III. The al-Sadr Intifada of 1999"/> The opposition groups were even able to seize and occupy several of the police stations and Ba'ath party offices, which they held until the morning of 18 March, at which point they withdrew.<ref name="Canada"/> Eyewitnesses talking to Human Rights Watch claimed that in some Basra neighbourhoods the firefight continued for more than an hour, whilst in others gunfire was heard throughout the night.<ref name="III. The al-Sadr Intifada of 1999">[https://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/iraq0205/3.htm Human Rights Watch, ''III. The al-Sadr Intifada of 1999'', February 2005]</ref> The violence resulted in the deaths of several members of the Fedayeen Saddam, the Ba'ath party, and other security services.<ref name="Canada">[http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/country,,IRBC,,IRQ,,3f7d4db1a,0.html Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, ''Iraq: March 1999 Shi'a demonstration in Basra concerning the assassination of Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq-al-Sadr'', 7 August 2002, IRQ39404.E]</ref> In total around 100 were estimated to have died in the Basra clashes.<ref name="GuardianICP">{{cite news |title=Mass execution claim after Iraq revolt |author=Ian Black |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/1999/sep/28/ianblack |newspaper=The Guardian |date=28 September 1999 |access-date=2 February 2013}}</ref> Several witnesses told Human Rights Watch that protesters had attacked and killed at least 40 Ba'ath party members.<ref name="III. The al-Sadr Intifada of 1999"/>


===April===
===April===

Revision as of 11:06, 24 August 2023

1999 Shia uprising in Iraq
Part of the Persian Gulf Conflicts
1999 Shia uprising in Iraq is located in Iraq
Baghdad
Baghdad
Karbala
Karbala
Nasiriyah
Nasiriyah
Najaf
Najaf
Basra
Basra

Epicenters of the uprising
Date18 February – April 1999
Location
Result Iraqi government victory; uprising suppressed
Belligerents

 Iraq

Rebels:

Commanders and leaders

Iraq Saddam Hussein
President of Iraq
Iraq Ali Hassan al-Majid
Iraqi Intelligence Director
Iraq Taha Yasin
Vice President of Iraq
Iraq Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri
Deputy Chairman of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council
Iraq Tariq Aziz
Member of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council

Iraq Qusay Hussein
Son of Saddam Hussein

Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim
Leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq
Abdul Aziz al-Hakim
Leader of the Badr Corps

Hadi al-Amiri
Badr Corps commander
Casualties and losses
180+ dead [3] Dozens dead, wounded and arrested [3]
200+ dead[4][3]

The 1999 Shia uprising in Iraq (Arabic: انتفاضة العراق 1999, romanizedintifāḍa al-ʿIrāq 1999) or Second Sadr Uprising (انتفاضة الصدر intifāḍa ṣadara[5]) refers to a short period of unrest in Iraq in early 1999 following the killing of Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr by the then Ba'athist government of Iraq.[4] The protests and ensuing violence were strongest in the heavily Shia neighborhoods of Baghdad, as well as southern majority Shiite cities such as Karbala, Nasiriyah, Kufa, Najaf, and Basra.[6]

Background

As his power grew, al-Sadr became more and more involved in politics following the Gulf War and throughout the 1990s he openly defied Saddam. He organized the poor Shi'ites of Sadr City, yet another nickname for the Shi'ite neighbourhood in Baghdad, against Saddam and the Baath Party. Sadr gained the support of Shi'ites by reaching out to tribal villages and offering services to them that they would otherwise not have been afforded by Hussein's regime. Saddam began to crack down on the Shi'ite leadership in the late 1990s in an attempt to regain control of Iraq.

Sometime before his death, al-Sadr was informed of Saddam's limited patience with him. In defiance, al-Sadr wore his death shroud to his final Friday sermon to show that Shi'ites would not be intimidated by Saddam's oppression and that Sadr would preach the truth even if it meant his own death. He was later killed leaving the mosque in the Iraqi city of Najaf along with two of his sons as they drove through the town. Their car was ambushed by men, and both his sons were killed by gunfire while he was severely injured. He died an hour later in the hospital. Iraqi Shias, as well as most international observers, suspected the Iraqi Baathist government of being involved in, if not directly responsible, for their murders. The Iraqi government denied involvement in the killing, and quickly tried and executed three alleged killers, although one of the suspects had apparently been in prison at the time of the attack on al-Sadr.[7]

Uprising

February

Saddam City 18–21

Following the killing of al-Sadr the Iraqi government withheld news of al-Sadr's death for 24 hours as it tried to pressure the family to not hold witnessed a period of unrest and protests. The Iraqi government in this period also executed al-Sadr's deputy, and confiscated his writings and videos of his sermons.[8] Unaware of al-Sadr's death, Shiite worshipers arrived at the Rassoul mosque in Saddam City to pray for al-Sadr's recovery. Iraqi soldiers then arrived and ordered the worshipers to leave. The soldiers later opened fire when the worshipers refused to leave, and instead began chanting anti-Saddam slogans and throw stones, leaving some 80 dead.[9] Following this news spread throughout Saddam City that al-Sadr had been murdered, resulting in mass anti-government demonstrations.[10]

The Iraqi government then sealed off Saddam City and deployed the Republican Guard to put down the growing demonstrations. After 24 hours the demonstrations had been largely suppressed, leaving between 27 and 100 dead.[10] Iraqi security forces proceeded to arrest representatives of al-Sadr in Baghdad and throughout the south.[9]

Unrest spreads 20–21

Officials of the Shiite opposition group, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, began accusing the Iraqi government of responsibility for the death of al-Sadr on 20 February, which they saw as part of a government effort to destroy all Shiite opposition groups.[11]

Although the protests in Saddam City had been put down, new protests began to flare across Shiite majority Southern Iraq, with 20 protesters being killed by security forces on the 21, with another 250 arrested across Iraq. Iraqi forces also shelled Nasiriyah after local protesters attacked a government building.[11] Iraqi security forces also opened fire on demonstrators at a Shiite shrine 20 miles from Nasiriyah, killing at least 5, including two 14-year-olds.[9]

March

Early March

On 3 March Ammar al-Hakim, the leader of SCIRI, announced that it had attacked several government buildings in Karbala as part of the revenge operations for the killing of al-Sadr.[11]

The ninth and tenth of March saw further clashes between Iraqi security forces and fighters from SCIRI in two southern Iraqi provinces, with SCIRI reporting that over 100 people had been killed in the clashes and 8 government tanks destroyed.[11]

Basra 17–18

Some of the worst violence of the uprising took place on the evening of 17 March in Basra, when large armed groups of members of the Shiite opposition attacked several police stations and offices of the Iraqi Ba'ath party.[12] Contemporary press reports indicated that the clashes between protesters and security forces were in some cases particularly heavy, involving both armoured units and artillery.[6] The opposition groups were even able to seize and occupy several of the police stations and Ba'ath party offices, which they held until the morning of 18 March, at which point they withdrew.[12] Eyewitnesses talking to Human Rights Watch claimed that in some Basra neighbourhoods the firefight continued for more than an hour, whilst in others gunfire was heard throughout the night.[6] The violence resulted in the deaths of several members of the Fedayeen Saddam, the Ba'ath party, and other security services.[12] In total around 100 were estimated to have died in the Basra clashes.[13] Several witnesses told Human Rights Watch that protesters had attacked and killed at least 40 Ba'ath party members.[6]

April

In possibly some of the last violence of the uprising, there were several clashes between Iraqi security forces and members of the Iraqi opposition across southern Iraq on 24 April.[11]

Aftermath

Following the stifled uprising the Iraqi government organised a strict crackdown against potential opponents.[14] The Iraqi government never acknowledged the scale and extent of the uprising and barely reported any news about it.[6]

In a rare acknowledgement of domestic unrest, the Iraqi government admitted on 15 May 1999 that there had been anti-government disturbances in Basra in mid March. The Iraqi government however denied reports of widespread killing, and blamed the unrest on Iranian infiltrators.[15]

Prosecution

Following the 2003 Invasion of Iraq and the toppling of the Ba'athist government the suppression of the events of 1999 were investigated by the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal.[16] The ensuing trials had 14 defendants,[17] and ultimately saw Ali Hassan al-Majid, then Director of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, along with former senior Ba'athist officials Aziz Saleh Hassan al-Noman and Mahmood Faizi Mohammed al-Haza sentenced to death. Seven others received prison sentences ranging from six years to life imprisonment for their criminal roles during the uprising.[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ Alexander Smoltczyk (28 April 2003). "Religion: The curse of Saddam City". Spiegel Online. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  2. ^ Amnesty International, Iraq: Victims of Systematic Repression, 24 November 1999, MDE 14/010/1999
  3. ^ a b c Tareekh al-Iraq- By Shaikh Nouman al-Khaz'Ali, Pages 67–72
  4. ^ a b Dan Murphy (27 April 2004). "Sadr the agitator: like father, like son". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  5. ^ Esomba, Steve, Wall Streets Infected By Arab Spring, p. 5
  6. ^ a b c d e Human Rights Watch, III. The al-Sadr Intifada of 1999, February 2005
  7. ^ Nimrod Raphaeli (Fall 2004). "Understanding Muqtada al-Sadr". Middle East Quarterly. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
  8. ^ Report on International Religious Freedom Iraq (1999) Section I. Freedom of Religion
  9. ^ a b c Dave Jones. "The Crimes of Saddam Hussein: 1999 Al–Sadr Killings". PBS. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  10. ^ a b David Blair (17 December 2002). "Attack could be spark for Shia Muslim uprising". The Telegraph. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  11. ^ a b c d e "Chronology for Shi'is in Iraq – Minorities at Risk Project". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  12. ^ a b c Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Iraq: March 1999 Shi'a demonstration in Basra concerning the assassination of Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Sadiq-al-Sadr, 7 August 2002, IRQ39404.E
  13. ^ Ian Black (28 September 1999). "Mass execution claim after Iraq revolt". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  14. ^ Tareekh al-Iraq – Sheikh Nouman al-Khaz'Ali
  15. ^ "Iraq Concedes That Rioting Occurred in March and Blames Iran". The New York Times. 15 May 1999.
  16. ^ "HCC resumes 1999 uprising trial sessions". Aswat al-Iraq. 3 August 2008. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
  17. ^ "Fourteen defendants in '99 Sadr City uprising appear in court next month". Kuwait News Agency. 11 June 2008. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  18. ^ "'Chemical Ali' sentenced to death a third time". CNN. 2 March 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2013.