Nearly half of all Iraqis living in the southern part of the nation suffered killings, torture and other human-rights abuses at the hands of Saddam Hussein's regime in the 12 years prior to his ouster, a survey of residents has found.

Boston-based Physicians for Human Rights conducted the research, which included questioning 1,991 Iraqi men and women in three southern cities. The respondents were nearly all Shiite Muslims, a group of people who were routinely abused by Hussein's Baathist regime.

"Overall, 47 percent of those interviewed reported one or more of the following abuses among themselves and household members since 1991: torture, killings, disappearance, forced [military service], beating, gunshot wounds, kidnappings, being held hostage, and ear amputation, among others," lead researcher Dr. Lynn Amowitz wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"Seventy percent of abuses were reputed to have occurred in homes. Baath Party regime-affiliated groups were identified most often (95 percent) as the perpetrators of the abuses."

The survey found more than half of the abuse happened between 1991 and 1993, the time of a Shiite uprising. Another 30 percent took place between the 2000 and the first six months of 2003.

The survey also delved into the area of medical abuse and fraud. It found almost half of all Iraqi physicians in the surveyed cities said they knew of other doctors who were involved in amputating ears as punishment and falsifying medical documents and death certificates to cover up torture and abuse.

"The mental health burden will be huge," wrote Amomwitz. "Almost every other household was subjected to some type of horror. The fact that many of the events happened inside the household means that the rest of the family was victimized as well."

The research suggested many doctors involved in abuse were coerced into participating by Saddam's regime.

"This is something that is not uncommon," Amowitz said. "Physicians are often co-opted and coerced by regimes into doing something against their ethics."

The study found the domestic violence rate was almost seven times that of the U.S. rate. Half of the men and women surveyed felt a man has the right to beat his wife if she disobeys him.

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