AMY GOODMAN: And you are listening to Democracy Now!, as we turn now to our regular Iraq Journal report from Baghdad. On Sunday, Saddam Hussein announced he would empty all the country’s prisons. The announcement left the people of Iraq stunned. Democracy Now! correspondent Jeremy Scahill and filmmaker Jacquie Soohen filed this report from inside one of Iraq’s most notorious prisons, Abu Ghraib.

JEREMY SCAHILL: It was a scene that was unthinkable and unbelievable, and Iraq is still in a state of stunned jubilation. Thousands of people jammed the streets in front of one of Iraq’s most notorious prisons, Abu Ghraib. But they weren’t there to protest. Moments earlier, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein shocked the country and the world by announcing a general amnesty for all prisoners in Iraq, including those accused of political crimes and crimes against the state.

It all began earlier in the day as word began to spread that the Iraqi president was going to address the nation with what many people said they had heard would be good news.

Shortly after noon, regular programming on all of Iraq’s television stations was interrupted by an announcement from Iraq’s Information Minister Mohammed Sahhaf. He read a decree from the Iraqi president.

MOHAMMED AL-SAHHAF: [translated] A complete, comprehensive and final amnesty for all jailed prisoners, fugitives and military deserters. In addition to the jailed prisoners, those detained for political reasons and all other reasons, including those sentenced to death, will be set free immediately.

JEREMY SCAHILL: The government said that those people accused of spying for Israel or the United States would remain in prison.

As word spread about the announcement, caravans of cars hit the highway out of Baghdad, honking their horns and speeding toward Abu Ghraib, 20 miles west of the capital city. Outside the prison, many people abandoned their cars in the middle of the highway and joined in the celebration.

There is pure jubilation here on the grounds of Abu Ghraib prison. Many of these people have relatives. They’re waiting for them to be released. Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi president, has announced a general amnesty he said is a gift to the people for reelecting him to another seven-year term. Again, jubilation on the grounds of Abu Ghraib prison just outside of Baghdad.

It took barely an hour for the crowd outside the prison to swell so large that the guards could no longer contain the people. Eventually, the masses burst through the main gate. Once inside, people scattered everywhere throughout the compound.

We have now made it onto the grounds of the Abu Ghraib prison, where foreign cameras have never been before. Thousands of people have just burst through the gates. They are trying to find their loved ones who have been imprisoned here in the Abu Ghraib prison.

As the mayhem continued, a camouflaged Iraqi army helicopter hovered overhead. Rumors spread that Saddam was actually on board. Not likely. But moments later, prisoners began emerging from their cells, many with looks of pure disbelief on their faces. None of them had been told what was happening. They were simply informed that they were free men.

FREED PRISONER: It’s a happy new, bright new day. I want to say thanks to — for our president leader, Saddam Hussein, for his offers and presenting a new life for a new people and opening a new page of the life and future. I’m very, very happy, because I’m going home to my people, to my family, to my friends, to my beautiful wife and baby.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Though many of these men were convicted of political crimes or crimes against the state, they chanted that they would give their blood for Saddam in the fight against America.

Then came the moment of ultimate jubilation: mothers finding their sons, brothers reuniting. One young man had to be restrained by his family after learning that his mother had died while he was in prison.

This is a day that has shocked Iraq and stunned the world, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein emptying the country’s prisons, even releasing political prisoners, this at a time when George W. Bush is threatening to attack Iraq.

One of the most shocking events of the day — and this is saying a lot — did not happen at Abu Ghraib. It happened in Washington. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, in an interview on ABC’s This Week, said the amnesty was a political ploy by Saddam, saying it was, quote, “typical of this man’s use of human beings for these political purposes of his.” It almost sounded like Powell preferred that the men remain in prison.

But at the end of the day, no one at Abu Ghraib seemed concerned with any political purposes. The evidence of that could be clearly seen in the half-eaten lunches and abandoned possessions in the prison dorms.

The celebrations continue through the night here, in a jubilant, shocked country.

For Democracy Now!, this is Jeremy Scahill at Abu Ghraib prison outside of Baghdad.

AMY GOODMAN: Jeremy Scahill and Jacquie Soohen produced that report. We also want to thank Rick Rowley of Big Noise Tactical Media, Norm Stockwell of WORT and Noel Rabinowitz for their assistance in getting that report from the ground in Baghdad. If you missed any of the other Iraq [no audio] our website at democracynow.org, as well as IraqJournal.org.