پەرلەمانی کوردستان
2020-08-25T04:37:29.000000Z
Erbil, Kurdistan Region, August 25, 2020
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani issued a statement on the 32nd anniversary of the 1988 Anfal genocidal campaigns against civilians in Badinan areas of the Kurdistan Region, where thousands of people were systematically killed by the former Iraqi Ba’ath regime. Below is the statement:
Today we remember and honor the victims of the Anfal genocidal campaigns in Badinan, where thousands of innocent civilians were killed at the hands of the Ba’ath regime in the late 1980s.
More than 180,000 people lost their lives in many areas across Iraqi Kurdistan, from Garmian to Badinan, as the Anfal Campaigns systematically and indiscriminately targeted civilians. The genocidal campaigns, which culminated in 1988, also resulted in the destruction of thousands of villages across Kurdistan, severely damaging the environment and demolishing all the affected areas’ infrastructure. Entire communities were rounded up and forcefully sent to concentration camps, mostly in southern Iraq.
Most areas in Badinan were attacked with chemical weapons in a series of assaults between August and September of 1988. Five different divisions of the then Iraqi army took part in the systematic attacks which indiscriminately rounded up innocent civilians, from all religious and ethnic communities, and sent them to the death camps of Iraqi southern deserts. During these vicious campaigns, mosques as well as local churches were leveled to the ground. Those who escaped arrest left their homes for a life in despair in neighboring countries as refugees.
As we mark this day, we reiterate that Iraq’s federal government must live up to its legal obligations and implement the verdict of the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal which has recognized the Anfal Campaigns as war crimes, crimes against humanity and as genocide. It must also offer full compensations to the Anfal victims and their surviving relatives.
The victims of Anfal must be offered greater assistance in the Kurdistan Region and the search for the missing must continue. The Kurdistan Region continues to work for international recognition of the Anfal Campaigns as genocide and also continues to document these crimes to prevent their repetition anywhere else in the world.
Remembering Anfal should encourage us to further strengthen peace and unity among all communities in Kurdistan. These horrifying atrocities must lead us all towards tolerance and peaceful coexistence and encourage us to further preserve Kurdistan’s achievements.
As we mark this day, we commend the people of Erbil and its surroundings for their courageous roles in sheltering and assisting the families who were targeted in the Anfal campaigns in Badinan and were sent to the concentration camp of Jezhnikan near Erbil. Their support and contribution to the affected families will forever remain in our memory.
We pay tribute to the memories of the fallen heroes of Anfal and all the martyrs of Kurdistan.
Nechirvan Barzani
Kurdistan Region President
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani issued a statement on the 32nd anniversary of the 1988 Anfal genocidal campaigns against civilians in Badinan areas of the Kurdistan Region, where thousands of people were systematically killed by the former Iraqi Ba’ath regime. Below is the statement:
Today we remember and honor the victims of the Anfal genocidal campaigns in Badinan, where thousands of innocent civilians were killed at the hands of the Ba’ath regime in the late 1980s.
More than 180,000 people lost their lives in many areas across Iraqi Kurdistan, from Garmian to Badinan, as the Anfal Campaigns systematically and indiscriminately targeted civilians. The genocidal campaigns, which culminated in 1988, also resulted in the destruction of thousands of villages across Kurdistan, severely damaging the environment and demolishing all the affected areas’ infrastructure. Entire communities were rounded up and forcefully sent to concentration camps, mostly in southern Iraq.
Most areas in Badinan were attacked with chemical weapons in a series of assaults between August and September of 1988. Five different divisions of the then Iraqi army took part in the systematic attacks which indiscriminately rounded up innocent civilians, from all religious and ethnic communities, and sent them to the death camps of Iraqi southern deserts. During these vicious campaigns, mosques as well as local churches were leveled to the ground. Those who escaped arrest left their homes for a life in despair in neighboring countries as refugees.
As we mark this day, we reiterate that Iraq’s federal government must live up to its legal obligations and implement the verdict of the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal which has recognized the Anfal Campaigns as war crimes, crimes against humanity and as genocide. It must also offer full compensations to the Anfal victims and their surviving relatives.
The victims of Anfal must be offered greater assistance in the Kurdistan Region and the search for the missing must continue. The Kurdistan Region continues to work for international recognition of the Anfal Campaigns as genocide and also continues to document these crimes to prevent their repetition anywhere else in the world.
Remembering Anfal should encourage us to further strengthen peace and unity among all communities in Kurdistan. These horrifying atrocities must lead us all towards tolerance and peaceful coexistence and encourage us to further preserve Kurdistan’s achievements.
As we mark this day, we commend the people of Erbil and its surroundings for their courageous roles in sheltering and assisting the families who were targeted in the Anfal campaigns in Badinan and were sent to the concentration camp of Jezhnikan near Erbil. Their support and contribution to the affected families will forever remain in our memory.
We pay tribute to the memories of the fallen heroes of Anfal and all the martyrs of Kurdistan.
Nechirvan Barzani
Kurdistan Region President
