Human Rights in Pre-Saddam Iraq - Between The Monarchy and Saddam Hussein (1958-1969)

Between The Monarchy and Saddam Hussein (1958-1969)

In the decade following the overthrow of the Iraqi monarchy in 1958, various regimes ruled the country, each responsible for the government's treatment of its citizens and for protecting citizens, until the 1968 coup that brought the Ba'ath Party to power with Saddam Hussein as one of the coup leaders:

• Military government of Abd al-Karim Qasem and the "Free Officers" (1958–1963);

• First regime of the Ba'ath Arab Socialist Party (February–November 1963);

• Governments of the Arif brothers and Abd al-Rahman al-Bazzaz (1963–1968).

The second regime of the Ba'ath Arab Socialist Party began with a coup in July 1968, with Saddam Hussein, one of the leaders of the coup, growing in power and eventually assuming the presidency of the country in 1979. He was overthrown in the United States-led invasion of 2003.

In the 1950s and 1960s, Iraqis and many other Arabs often supported the idea of a strong leader "along the lines of Stalin or Mao, Ho Chi Minh or Castro" who would act as "a political savior", acting with great power, a sense of mission and ruling with justice. Saladin, the eleventh-century Islamic hero who defeated the Crusaders, was looked on as a model and even Atatürk, the founder of modern Turkey, was viewed as a leader from whom an example could be drawn. In Iraq, many felt a strong leader was needed to hold the country together despite its ethnic divisions and other problems.