Mezhar Abdallah Rouaid was, like his co-accused father Abdullah Kadhem Ruaid, a local Baath-party official for the region of 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 execution of one of its founders.
When Hussein’s motorcade entered the city, the Dawa members opened fire. A four hour battle ensued. Saddam Hussein was saved by soldiers and army helicopters. He is said to have assured that there would be no retaliation. However, the secret service soon went into action: nearly 150 people killed. Hundreds of women and children were been 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. The youngest victims were 13 years of age.
