April 14 Marks 33 Years Since End of Anfal Campaign

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The Halabja chemical attack

A massacre against the Kurdish people that took place on March 16, 1988, during the closing days of the Iran–Iraq War in the Kurdish city of Halabja in Iraq

The attack was part of the Al-Anfal Campaign in northern Iraq, as well as part of the Iraqi attempt to repel the Iranian Operation Zafar 7. It took place 48 hours after the fall of the town to the Iranian Army. A United Nations (UN) medical investigation concluded that mustard gas was used in the attack, along with unidentified nerve agents.

The attack killed between 3,200 and 5,000 people and injured 7,000 to 10,000 more, most of them civilians.

Preliminary results from surveys of the affected region showed an increased rate of cancer incidence and birth defects in the years after the attack. The incident, which has been officially defined by Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal as a genocidal massacre against the Kurdish people in Iraq, was the largest chemical weapons attack directed against a civilian-populated area in history.

The Halabja attack has been recognized as a distinct event of the Anfal Genocide conducted against the Kurdish people by the Iraqi regime under Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi High Criminal Court recognized the Halabja massacre as an act of genocide on March 1, 2010, a decision welcomed by the Kurdistan Regional Government. The attack was also condemned as a crime against humanity by the Parliament of Canada. In 2010, high-ranking Iraqi official Ali Hassan al-Majid was found guilty of ordering the attack, sentenced to death, and executed

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Halabja chemical
attack anniversary

Kurdish leaders and foreign dignitaries in the Kurdistan Region issued their condolences in remembrance of the 32th anniversary of the Halabja chemical attack via statements on Monday

Nuxsha Nasih, the mayor of Halabja, visited the memorial site for the chemical attack in the city with a small party on Monday.

Countless Kurds were killed and thousands were wounded when Saddam Hussein’s regime bombed the city of Halabja with mustard gas and other nerve agents on March 16, 1988, during the Iran-Iraq war. Many thousands dying later from injuries they received that day.

“We must also remember the importance of the unity and solidarity that have enabled Kurdistanis to overcome so many hardships,” said KRG prime minister Masrour Barzani in a statement.

President of the Kurdistan Region Nechirvan Barzani acknowledged the continued trauma of the massacre for the community in Halabja on Monday.

“The horrors of the horrendous attack still haunt the survivors and their families, who bear the physical and emotional scars up till the present time. The chemical attack continues to have a devastating impact on the environment of the city and its neighboring areas,” his statement reads.

Mohammed Halbousi, speaker of the Iraqi parliament, described Halabja as “resistant,” and praised its people for “rebuilding [the city] 32 years after the massacre.”

Several foreign envoys and offices also sent their annual condolences.

“The #Halabja attack on this day in 1988 was a crime of monstrous proportions, made even more heinous by the use of chemical weapons,” tweeted the UK consulate general.

The US consulate said in a tweet that they “honor the memories of the husbands, wives, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters who perished in Halabja.”

German, Greek, and several other foreign offices sent condolences their as well.

Many world governments have been accused of tacitly allowing Hussein’s regime to acquire the agents used in the Halabja chemical attack.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/160320201

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The Anfal files:

You Are Kurds You Are Troublemakers

“When we were taken to Nugra Salman, they crammed five hundred people in a single room. It was dark and nobody knew who surrounded them. One of my cousin's daughters, named Kwestan, died in a stampede in that room,” said Paiyza Mahmood Mansour of her experience at a concentration camp during the Anfal campaign, a brutal Iraqi military operation launched by Saddam Hussein against the Kurdish people in the eighties.

“I heard Kwestan crying and my mother cried out saying 'Asmar, Asmar, this is Kwestan screaming.' and Kwestan's mother replied saying 'by God, I too hear her cry, but I do not know where she is. What should I do?,’” the survivor recalled.

Paiyza’s story is just one of many that continues to haunt the Kurdistan Region.

Rudaw has collected the testimonies of several survivors to be released in a seven-part series, entitled “The Anfal Files”.

Anfal' - the eighth chapter, or Surah, in the Quran - was the codename used by Baathists for the slaughter. Ceremonies are usually held each year on April 14 to mark its anniversary. Tuesday marks 32 years since the conclusion of the genocide, which killed more than 182,000 people.

President Nechirvan Barzani released a statement in remembrance of all those affected by the campaign.

“As we remember the victims and all fallen heroes of Kurdistan, it is crucial that we make all efforts to prevent the repetition of such genocidal crimes in Kurdistan or any other place in the world. It is also the Iraqi government’s moral and legal obligation to provide reparations to the families of the victims,” reads the statement.

The Anfal campaign took place over eight phases — beginning in 1986, reaching its peak in 1988 with the Halabja chemical attack that instantly killed 5,000 people and injured 10,000. The massacre intensified in the closing weeks of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88)

The KRG has provided assistance to Anfal survivors and their relatives, including housing and tuition fees for studies.

The Iraqi Supreme Court has officially recognized the Anfal Campaign as constituting genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, however, the international community is largely yet to do so.

Erbil has also made efforts to secure global recognition of the Anfal as an act of genocide, and return the remains of victims from mass graves in Iraq’s southern and central deserts for reburial in the Kurdistan Region.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/140420202

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The Anfal files: survivors
recount the genocide

Saadiya’s story is just one of many that continues to haunt the Kurdistan Region

They stripped the men...they had brought many handcuffs, but not enough. We watched them, as they took our men’s long Kurdish belts, and cut them into two or three pieces to use to bind the men. They tortured them until night fell. said Saadiya Khurshid Majid of her experience during the Anfal campaign, a brutal Iraqi military operation launched by Saddam Hussein against the Kurdish people in the eighties.

Anfal, the eighth chapter, or Surah, in the Quran, was the codename used by Baathists for the slaughter.

Ceremonies are usuall held each year on April 14 to mark its anniversary. Tuesday marks 32 years since the conclusion of the slaughter, which killed more than 182,000 people.

But as the Kurdistan Region enters its 32nd day of a lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus, commemoration ceremonies are not expected.

President Nechirvan Barzani released a statement in remembrance of all those affected by the campaign.

“As we remember the victims and all fallen heroes of Kurdistan, it is crucial that we make all efforts to prevent the repetition of such genocidal crimes in Kurdistan or any other place in the world. It is also the Iraqi government’s moral and legal obligation to provide reparations to the families of the victims,” reads the statement.

The Anfal campaign took place over eight phases — beginning in 1986, reaching its peak in 1988 with the Halabja genocide that resulted in 5,000 people instantly killed in a chemical gas attack and another 10,000 injured. The massacre reached its peak in the closing weeks of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88).

The KRG has provided assistance to Anfal survivors and their relatives, including housing and tuition fees for studies.

The Iraqi Supreme Court has officially recognized the Anfal Campaign as constituting genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, however, the international community is largely yet to do so.

Erbil has also made efforts to secure global recognition of the Anfal as an act of genocide, and return the remains of victims from mass graves in Iraq’s southern and central deserts for reburial in the Kurdistan Region.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/14042020

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Everybody was screaming

Raza’s story is just one of many that continues to haunt the Kurdistan Region

“It was the evening when our village was bombarded. We thought it was just a regular bomb. But, it turned out to be a chemical one,” said Raza Hassan Marif of his family’s experience during the Anfal campaign, a brutal Iraqi military operation launched by Saddam Hussein against the Kurdish people in the eighties.

“Smoke billowed through the skies of Goptapa, Askar and part of Kani Hanjira [in Garmiyan],” he recalled.

'Anfal' - the eighth chapter, or Surah, in the Quran - was the codename used by Baathists for the slaughter. Ceremonies are usually held each year on April 14 to mark its anniversary. Tuesday marked 32 years since the conclusion of the genocide, which killed more than 182,000 people.

Commemoration ceremonies did not take place, with the Kurdistan Region in a state of lockdown to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

KRG President Nechirvan Barzani released a statement in remembrance of all those affected by the campaign.

“As we remember the victims and all fallen heroes of Kurdistan, it is crucial that we make all efforts to prevent the repetition of such genocidal crimes in Kurdistan or any other place in the world. It is also the Iraqi government’s moral and legal obligation to provide reparations to the families of the victims,” reads the statement.

The Anfal campaign took place over eight phases — beginning in 1986, reaching its peak in 1988 with the Halabja chemical attack that instantly killed 5,000 people and injured 10,000. The massacre intensified in the closing weeks of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88).

The KRG has provided assistance to Anfal survivors and their relatives, including housing and tuition fees for studies.

The Iraqi Supreme Court has officially recognized the Anfal Campaign as constituting genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, however, the international community is largely yet to do so.

Erbil has also made efforts to secure global recognition of the Anfal as an act of genocide, and return the remains of victims from mass graves in Iraq’s southern and central deserts for reburial in the Kurdistan Region.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/150420201

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Halabja survivors

Medical treatment for Halabja survivors hampered by COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has prevented survivors of the Halabja chemical attack from seeking medical treatment in neighouring Iran amid ongoing border closures.

Hawkar Sabir was three years-old when he survived the Halabja chemical weapons attack in March of 1988.

"I suffer from breathing difficulties. It really hurts. My lungs hurt. It's hard when your lungs lose 75 percent of their capacity," he told Rudaw.

There are almost 1,000 survivors of chemical weapon attacks suffering from chronic health conditions in the Kurdistan Region.

485 of them are in Halabja province. Many of them visit Iran two to three times a year for medical treatment

Sabir planned to visit Iran for medical treatment in February alongside 52 survivors of the chemical attack, but was unable to travel following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, with countries closing borders in an attempt to curb its spread.

People with underlying health conditions, including respiratory illnesses, are at greater risk of suffering complications from COVID-19.

According to local advocacy organizations, efforts to fight the pandemic at a local hospital are preventing those injured in chemical attacks from seeking the treatment they need.

"The hospital they used to receive medical treatment in every month has now been turned into a COVID-19 treatment center. The injured cannot go to the hospital," said Luqman Abdulghafur, head of the Halabja Chemical Victims Society.

"They need the care and assistance now more than at any other time," he added.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/160420203

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Prevent repeat of Anfal

The President of the Kurdistan Region says that he will continue efforts to prevent a recurrence of the Iraqi government’s brutal Anfal campaign against the Kurdish people on the anniversary of the mass murder of members of the Barzani tribe in the eighties

President Nechirvan Barzani issued a statement Friday on the 37th anniversary of the Anfal genocidal campaigns of 1983 against the Barzanis, urging the Iraqi government to compensate victims of Saddam Hussein’s campaign. Part of a much wider genocidal effort, 'Anfal' - the eighth chapter, or Surah, in the Quran - was the codename used by Baathists for the slaughter.

On July 31, 1983, thousands of members of the Barzani tribe were taken to deserts in southern Iraq, and indiscriminately killed on the orders of members of Iraq’s former Baath regime.

Around “8000 people were indiscriminately rounded up from the concentration camps of Qushtapa, Bahrka and Diana in Erbil Governorate on July 31st, 1983, and sent to mass murder sites in the southern deserts of Iraq,” reads the statement.

“A life in utter despair and gruesome hardship awaited the mothers and the girls who lost their men and fathers to the vicious Anfal campaigns. These brave women took the responsibility of raising their deprived children in the absence of their fathers and brothers who never came back from the death camps of southern Iraq,” adds the statement.

“On this day, we salute the role of these honorable mothers and sisters who defied unimaginable adversities and never gave in.”

The Anfal campaign took place over eight phases — beginning in 1986, reaching its peak in 1988 with the Halabja chemical attack that instantly killed 5,000 people and injured 10,000. The massacre intensified in the closing weeks of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88).

The KRG has provided assistance to Anfal survivors and their relatives, including housing and tuition fees for studies.

The Iraqi Supreme Court has officially recognized the Anfal Campaign as constituting genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, however, the international community is largely yet to do so.

Erbil has also made efforts to secure global recognition of the Anfal as an act of genocide, and return the remains of victims from mass graves in Iraq’s southern and central deserts for reburial in the Kurdistan Region.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/310720201

[Anthea]

Anfal Genocide

Kurdistan Region leaders call for sped up victim compensation from Baghdad

Kurdistan Region leaders on Wednesday commemorated 33 years since the start of the Garmiyan phase of the Anfal campaign against Kurds, calling for compensation for the families of victims from the Iraqi government to be sped up.

The Anfal campaign began in 1986, and was named after the eighth surah in the Quran. More than 182,000 Kurds died in two years of slaughter by then president Saddam Hussein’s regime. April 14, 1988 was when the campaign started in the Garmiyan area in the south of the Kurdistan Region.

Anfal was recognised as a crime against humanity and a war crime by Iraq’s Supreme Court in 2008, but little has been done for Anfal’s survivors or the victims of families.

“The Iraqi government must provide material and mental compensations for the families of the victims,” Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said in an official statement on Wednesday. “We are asking the Iraqi government to carry out that legal and moral duty and provide justice.”

President Barzani also called on the international community to recognize the Anfal campaign as genocide.

Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region Masrour Barzani said on Wednesday that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) “is working to provide more services to the families of Anfal victims and to ensure a dignified life for them” while his government demands “material and mental compensation for the families of the victims of the brutal campaign from the federal government.”

More than 4,500 villages were destroyed during the Anfal campaign according to a Kurdistan Parliament report obtained by Rudaw English.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi called the Anfal campaign a “painful catastrophe”, while President Barham Salih said that compensation for families of victims must be accelerated to “alleviate their sufferings and heal their wounds.”

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/140420213

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Anfal Survivors Recount Genocide

Anfal survivors have told Rudaw of their personal experiences of displacement and loss, 33 years since the genocide ended

“Two of my uncles returned to the village in the hope of rescuing people. One of my uncles had lost all his children. They were arrested. I remained alone with one of my aunts. I was working in a restaurant by day, and would spend many of my nights crying,” said Sabah Najmadi, who lost 10 members of his family.

Anfal - the eighth chapter in the Quran - was the codename used by Baathists for the slaughter of Kurds. Ceremonies are usually held each year on April 14 to mark its anniversary. Wednesday marks 33 years since the conclusion of the genocide.

“When the Anfal happened and we left the village, my father said goodbye to Glalkawa, he looked back at the village and said, ‘Glalkawa, I will not see you again,’” said Salih Rostam, who lost eight relatives.

The Anfal campaign took place over eight phases, beginning in 1986. More than 182,000 people fell victim to the genocide and more than 4,500 villages were destroyed, according to a Kurdistan Parliament report obtained by Rudaw English.

The army never entered the village, but it was bombed. The army entered other villages near us, and took the people to Qalaqochali and Mla Sura, and from there to Quratu, and then to Nugra Salman and Dubz. They took them to their deaths,” said Sabah.

Although the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) does provide assistance to families of the victims, some, including Salih, still believe that not enough has been done.

“If we die, no one will know that Anfal happened. There are no Anfal stories, there is no documentation.”

The Iraqi parliament recognized Anfal as a genocide on April 14, 2008. Military commanders were handed the death sentence, with Ali Hassan Majeed hanged in 2011.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/14042021

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Garmiyan Villager Erects Anfal Monument

A villager in Garmiyan's Kifri district has spent $3,000 building a monument to remember local victims of the Anfal campaign

Farhan Sleman is from Qala Charmala, where 126 people were killed.

"No one has thought of building a monument at the entrance to the villages. Neither my uncle Saeed nor his family survived. My uncle Mohammed is the same. All our relatives were victims," he told Rudaw.

"The goal of building the monument is to remember the names of those who died. We have visited a lot of villages but haven’t seen any symbol of Anfal."

The Anfal - the eighth chapter in the Quran - was the codename used by Baathists for the slaughter of Kurds, which began in 1986. Wednesday marks 33 years since the conclusion of the genocide.

Laali Hassan is a survivor. She was imprisoned for seven months.

"My father, my uncle, three of my aunts, dozens of my cousins and the entire village were victims of Anfal. All of our relatives are victims. There are some victims whose houses have not been rebuilt because none of their family members are left."

More than 182,000 people fell victim to the genocide and more than 4,500 villages were destroyed, according to a Kurdistan Parliament report obtained by Rudaw English.

Upwards of 5,000 villages were destroyed in the Garmiyan area.

"I saw 15 children die in one day. Children died crying for sweets," said Laali.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/140420211