On World Justice Day: Kurdish Genocide organizations urge Iraq to rejoin ICC, compensate victims
Shafaq News/On Tuesday, a network of genocide organizations in Al-Sulaimaniyah urged theIraqi government on Tuesday to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) andprovide compensation for victims of genocides in Kurdistan, both materially andemotionally, in observance of the World Day for International Justice.
ShoreshAmin, a member of the network, said at a press conference in Al-Sulaimaniyah,"Today marks the 26th anniversary of the World Day for InternationalJustice, originating from the Rome Statute signed on July 17, 1998. Thestatute's provisions were enforced on July 1, 2002, after multipleamendments."
Amin notedthat while the ICC faces criticism, it has played a significant role inaddressing major crimes. "124 countries are ICC members, and 139 nationshave signed the Rome Statute. Iraq joined the agreement on February 15, 2005,but withdrew two weeks later without explanation," he said.
He called onthe Iraqi government to rejoin the Rome Statute and declare its ICC membership,suggesting that such a move would demonstrate "a commitment to a differentfuture from Iraq's past." He also urged the Iraqi Parliament to takeaction and pressure both the Iraqi Parliament and the government to push theKurdistan Regional Government to present a list of 258 individuals accused inthe Anfal campaign for international prosecution. Additionally, he called forcompensation for victims from the current Iraqi government.
Hundreds ofthousands of men, women, and children fell victim to a systematic campaignaimed at exterminating the Kurdish population in Iraq during the Anfaloperations of the late 1980s.
They weremercilessly executed, often tied together and shot into mass graves. Entiretowns and villages faced chemical attacks, and many women and children enduredappalling conditions in camps.
Young menand boys were explicitly targeted and executed en masse.
According tothe Kurdistan Regional Government, the Kurdish genocide traces back decadesbefore Anfal, with numerous atrocities claiming countless lives.
"Thegenocide perpetrated over decades began with the Arabisation of villages aroundKirkuk in 1963. It involved the deportation and disappearances of Faylee Kurdsin the 1970s-80s, the murder of 8,000 male Barzanis in 1983, the use ofchemical weapons in the late 1980s, most notably against Halabja, and finally,the Anfal campaign of 1988." KRG said.
The Anfalcampaign in 1988 marked a pinnacle of horror, with hundreds of thousandsperishing and families enduring profound suffering and health issues.Additionally, between 1976 and 1988, 4,500 villages were obliterated,devastating Iraqi Kurdistan's agricultural potential and erasing its ruralheritage.
Themagnitude of the Kurdish genocide is staggering, with an estimated 1 millionpeople disappearing since the 1960s, presumed dead or missing. Human RightsWatch's 1993 report on Anfal estimated 50,000 to 100,000 Kurdish deaths, butsubsequent accounts suggest the toll could exceed 182,000.
