Reports on whether Uday Hussein, son of Saddam Hussein, kidnaps and coerces young women away from their families; treatment of families who have resisted such tactics [IRQ33384.E]

According to The Washington Times of 17 February 1999, "stories of Uday Hussein's greed, brutality and sexual voraciousness have been around for years, circulated by Iraqi opposition groups eager to blacken the régime they hate." UPI cites reports regarding

Uday Hussein, son of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, has killed a young woman after a failed attempt to have sex with her. The Sunday Times of London reports Uday then paid off the woman's family with $700, an Oldsmobile and a promise of $50 a month if they remained silent about her death.
According to Iraqi opposition sources, the 33-year-old Uday saw Asil Salman Mansour walking along a Baghdad street and ordered his guards to bring her to the presidential palace. When he was unable to seduce her, he became enraged and shot her to death. The oldest son of the Middle East dictator is thought to be deeply depressed by the realization he is unlikely to recover from wounds suffered last December when gunmen fired 10 bullets into his legs and spine, leaving his left leg partially paralyzed. His recent marriage to a 15-year-old cousin has not dispelled rumors that he was also left impotent. Uday is also in a power struggle with his younger brother, Qusay Hussein, to succeed Sadaam, and this latest incident will only contribute to an image of mental instability (27 July 1997).

Most likely reporting the same incident, The Daily Telegraph stated that

Uday Hussein was also reported to have had a woman plucked off a Baghdad street to have sex with, and to have shot her in a fit of anger over his impotence caused by an assassination attempt last year (26 July 1997).

The Commercial Appeal, added that Uday has a "career of rape" because he preyed on "Baghdad's young women" (17 June 1997).

Similar information was provided by a close aide to Uday Hussein, Abbas al-Janabi, who defected to the West in 1998 (The Washington Times 17 Feb. 1999).

NZZ Online, also quoting information from Abbas al-Janabi, reported that Uday is well known for his "escapades with kidnapped young women" (29 Oct. 1998). NZZ Online added that

the assassination attempt against Uday in Baghdad in December 1996 actually helped him regain favor in his father's eyes. But he was seriously wounded, and to this day needs to walk with crutches or a cane, because his body is rejecting an implanted bone in his injured upper thigh. But former confidant Jenabi denies that there was any political aspect to the attempted murder, describing it as pure revenge for his abduction and rape of young women (29 Oct. 1998).

On Thursday nights Uday had the habit of going to the Mansur neighborhood to "pick up girls." (Iraq News 29 Oct. 1999). As reported, "Any Iraqi knows that Uday goes to that specific location every Thursday night without bodyguards." (ibid.).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References


The Commercial Appeal [Memphis, TN]. 17 June 1997. "Hussein's Sons Scrambling for Power." (NEXIS)

The Daily Telegraph. 26 July 1997. Robert Hardman. "Inquiry Into 'Whipping' of Iraq Football Failures." (NEXIS)

Iraq News. 29 October 1998. Laurie Mylroie. "Interview of Defector (Abbas al Janabi) with Al Hayat." http://www.fas.org/news/iraq/1998/10/981092-in.htm [Accessed on 31 Dec. 1999]

Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) [Zurich]. 29 October 1998. Victor Kocher. "Saddam's Son Uday: The Crown Prince." http://www.nzz.ch/online/04_english/background/


background1998/background9810/bg981029irak.htm > [Accessed on 31 Dec. 1999].

United Press International (UPI). 27 July 1997. "Saddam's Son Kills Woman." (NEXIS)

The Washington Post. 17 February 1999. Ian Black. "Saddam's Son Sets the Standard for Depravity; Ex-aide Calls Uday a 'Sadist, Monster'." (NEXIS)