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KURDISTAN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT (KRG)
NORDIC REPRESENTATION
PRESS RELEASE
the 18th anniversary of Halabja
The Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG) Nordic Representation remembers the brutal
massacre of 5 000 Kurdish civilians in the town of Halabja,
16 March 1988.
The KRG Nordic remembers
this day 18 years ago, when the civilian inhabitants of the
Kurdish city Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan, suffered a grotesquely
horrific fate under severe chemical attacks by the Iraqi regime
led by Saddam Hussein. The attacks on Halabja were the first
in the large scaled genocidal Anfal campaign systematically
designed to achieve, at very least, the partial extinction
of the Kurdish population in Iraq.
The attacks, which consisted of a cocktail of chemical and biological nerve
and mustard agents, caused its victims DNA mutations, physical
malformations, cancer, paralysis, immediate and long-term
neuropsychiatric damage, or, as was the case with 5 000 victims,
merciless and immediate death. The images of the people of
Halabja, frozen in the position where they were struck by
the poisonous gas, continue to be a brutal reminder of the
innocence of the victims of the Ba'ath regime.
Despite an abundance of
evidence of the crimes of Saddam Hussein's regime against
the Kurdish population in Iraqi Kurdistan the successive Governments
of Federal Republic of Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein
have failed to show due commemoration and recognition of the
deceased and living victims of the Anfal campaign. The Kurds
have yet to receive an official apology from the Federal Government
of Iraq for Halabja. If it does materialise, this apology
could effectively contribute towards proving to the Kurds,
and indeed the observing international community, that the
new Iraq will be one in which Kurds can enjoy a sense of security
and protection against further atrocities. The hitherto
lack of effective steps in this direction by Iraqi administrations
is proving a revealing display of the Federal Government of
Iraq's approach to the devastating fate that the Kurds suffered
under the Ba'ath regime.
Halabja and the future of Iraq
The reconstruction of Halabja can become a strong symbol for the commitment
of the Federal Government of Iraq to federalism and democracy.
In a public statement the KRG Nordic Representative Mr Taha
Barwary expresses his concern for the situation in Halabja,
"I sincerely hope that we do not have to witness yet
another anniversary of Halabja without at the same time experiencing
the rightful reconstruction and rehabilitation of the town
and a fair compensation to the victims and the victims' families."
Mr Barwary continued "There is no doubt that the attacks against Halabja
and other areas were a crime against humanity, but to ignore
these areas and not reconstruct and compensate them to the
fullest is an unacceptable sign, this could, and should, have
been rectified for some time now."
Today on the 18th anniversary of Halabja the KRG Nordic Representation
calls on the forthcoming Federal Government of Iraq to set
the tone for the reconciliation of the peoples within Iraq
by taking a set of crucial steps to this end.
The trial and conviction
of Dutch businessman Franz van Anraat for complicity in war
crimes for supplying the Saddam Hussein regime with chemicals
used in the attacks on Halabja is of immense importance for
all Kurds as this was the first trial to deal with crimes
against Kurds. The KRG Nordic demands that all accomplices
involved in the attacks on Halabja and other areas are brought
to justice through an exhaustive investigation into Halabja,
with the purpose of uncovering the details of the attack and
the identities of all involved parties.
The question of compensation is one which needs be addressed sooner rather than
later by the Federal Government of Iraq. This is not a question
unique to Halabja and the Iraqi Government. Even to this day
Holocaust survivors received reparations from the various
governments for the suffering inflicted upon them during the
Holocaust. The KRG Nordic demands the immediate reconstruction
and rehabilitation of Halabja and other areas that suffered
a similar fate through the designation of earmarked federal funds for
the implementation of reconstruction and rehabilitation in
the relevant areas.
raq must inevitably face up to the reality of its modern history. The
KRG Nordic urges that the modern history in Iraq must be rewritten
to reflect the true history of Iraq; to reflect the genocidal
campaign and other atrocities committed, among others, against
the Kurds.
The KRG Nordic stresses once again that it is the responsibility of the political
leadership of Iraq to ensure that Halabja does not become
the symbol of Iraqi political cant. The attacks on Halabja
were real; the Ba'ath regime's programme of annihilation was
real; it is therefore now time that the retribution and compensations
for these crimes become a reality for the victims who were
attacked 18 years ago and are left suffering to this day.
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Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)
Nordic Representation
P.O. Box 7127
SE-170 07 SOLNA
Phone: +46 8 4420505
Fax: +46 8 4420905
E-mail: nordic@rp.krg.org
Website: www.krg.org
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