Camp Speicher massacre
The Camp Speicher massacre was an act of terrorism perpetrated by ISIS on 12 June 2014, against unarmed Shia Iraqi cadets near Tikrit Air Academy, also known as Camp Speicher. As a result of ISIS seizing key provinces in northern Iraq in a large-scale offensive and the Iraqi army suffering a major collapse, unarmed and ununiformed cadets vacated Camp Speicher en masse.[3][4] A large number of them were subsequently captured by ISIS and summarily executed. In total, between 1,095 and 1,700[2] cadets were killed. At the time of the massacre, there were between 5,000 and 10,000 unarmed cadets in the vicinity of Camp Speicher,[5] and ISIS militants selected the Shia Muslims for execution. As of 2024, it remains the deadliest act of terrorism in Iraq and the second-deadliest act of terrorism in the world, surpassed only by the September 11 attacks, which were carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001.[6]
Camp Speicher massacre
Events[edit]
Alleged dishonesty of the Iraqi government[edit]
Several survivors later testified that their senior officers in the camp had forced them to leave the camp.[5][7] Hassan Khalil, one survivor, who managed to escape by pretending to be dead under another corpse and fleeing at night, said: "Our chief officers are the reason behind the killings. They forced us to leave Speicher. They assured us there was a safe passage, that it was guarded by the tribes, and told us not to wear uniforms." "They sold us to ISIS", he added. The Iraqi government and national television denied that story. They said the cadets forced their way out even after the government had already dispatched special forces to secure the camp, and that they had been warned against leaving.[8]
400 cadets ordered to leave Camp Speicher before the attack were arrested by government forces and are missing.[9]
Massacre and ISIL propaganda footage[edit]
Peter Bouckaert, the emergencies director for Human Rights Watch (HRW), stated: "The photos and satellite images from Tikrit provide strong evidence of a horrible war crime that needs further investigation. [ISIS] and other abusive forces should know that the eyes of Iraqis and the world are watching".[10]
The photos show masked ISIL fighters tying up the cadets and loading them up on trucks, with other photographs showing ISIL fighters killing dozens of the cadets with assault rifles while they are lying down.[11] ISIL propaganda videos show them shooting at hundreds of men lined up in mass graves in the desert.[12] Some cadets faked their death, covering themselves with blood and escaping at night.[11] Survivor Ali Hussein Kadhim told his story to The New York Times following his escape from the massacre.[11]
ISIL released footage of the massacre as part of their propaganda video Upon the Prophetic Methodology. The cadets are seen being crammed into trucks, some of them wearing civilian clothes to hide their military uniforms. Most of them are lying on the ground, with their jeans stripped to reveal camouflage uniforms underneath. Some of the prisoners were forced to defame Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, while others were forced to shout "long live the Islamic State". Some of them were beaten to death with a rifle. The killing methods varied, from shooting the cadets one by one to shooting them while lying down many times to ensure death. Some cadets were shot and dumped into the Tigris river.[13]
Memorial visitors.
