Mezhar Abdullah Rouaid was, like his co-accused father Abdullah Kadhem Ruaid, a local Baath-party official for the region around the village of Dujail, some 60 km north of Baghdad.
The events in Dujail started to unroll on 8 July 1982 when Saddam Hussein visited the Shiite town to meet with tribal leaders. Dujail was a stronghold of the Shiite Dawa Party which carried out terrorist attacks in Iraq to protest against the war with Shiite Iran. The Dawa Party wanted to assassinate Saddam Hussein to avenge the death of one of its founders.
When Hussein’s motorcade entered the city, members of the Dawa party opened fire. A four hour battle ensued. Saddam Hussein was saved by his soldiers and army helicopters. He is said to have given assurances that there would be no retaliation. However, the secret service soon went into action: nearly 150 people killed. Hundreds of women and children were held in camps in the desert and the date plantations which formed the basis of the local economy and the livelihood of the families living there were destroyed. Some of the younger victims were only 13 years old.
Mezhar Abdullah Ruaid and seven other former officials were put on trial before the Iraqi Special Tribunal on 19 October 2005.
