Within a few weeks of formally taking power, having been de facto ruler of Iraq since 1968 during the nominal presidency of Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, Saddam Hussein instituted a brutal purge of the Ba'ath Party hierarchy.

Approximately one-third of the members of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), the Regional Command and the National Command of the Ba'ath Party were forced to publicly confess to invented crimes, before being arbitrarily executed. Their families were held hostage to ensure compliance.

The firing squads were composed of other Ba'ath Party members, creating loyalty to Saddam Hussein through complicity in his crimes.