A mother who was tortured under Saddam Hussein's tyrannical reign in Iraq will tell her story in Bermuda later this month.

Freshta Raper, an Iraqi Kurd, has been invited to the Island by Amnesty International Bermuda to deliver the group's annual Colin Horsfield Memorial Lecture at 7 p.m. on Thursday, October 25, at Bermuda Chamber of Commerce in Hamilton.

Mrs. Raper was arrested and tortured in an Iraqi jail in the mid-1980s for hiding two 16-year-olds in the Halabja school where she was a mathematics teacher.

The students had taken part in an anti-government protest and were fleeing Iraqi intelligence officers. They managed to escape but Mrs. Raper was arrested the following day, held for three days and tortured.

She joined the Peshmergas — the anti-Saddam Kurdish guerrillas — and was later badly injured by a chemical bomb after losing 21 members of her family in an attack on her town launched by Saddam's regime. Mrs. Raper now lives in London and campaigns against torture.

Lucy Attride-Stirling, executive director of Amnesty International Bermuda, said: "On an annual basis, we strive to bring to Bermuda a former prisoner of conscience, a former victim of human rights violations or a relative of a disappeared person, to give us an account of their own experiences and how at Amnesty we can help.

"Mrs. Raper was a victim of torture under Saddam Hussein's regime. She has now undertaken the mission to campaign against this practice and speaks out on the lasting emotional effects of torture on former victims and their families."

Mrs. Raper, who will be in Bermuda from October 22 to 26, will meet with the Premier, Opposition Leader and Acting Governor while here, as well as speaking to students at five schools and giving presentations to the Kiwanis Club and Pembroke Rotary Club. Bermudian Colin Horsfield was the founder of Amnesty International on the Island. To find out more about the October 25 lecture and open forum call 296-3249 or email aibda[AT]logic.bm. Admission is free and light refreshments will be served.