Leader Barzani slams Saddam's Regime for genocidal campaign against Kurds
Shafaq News/ On Wednesday, Kurdish leader MasoudBarzani condemned the "atrocities" committed against the Kurdishpeople, including the Anfal campaign against the Barzanis.
In a statement marking the 41st anniversary ofthe Anfal genocide, Barzani described the actions of the former Iraqi regime as"unjust and illegal," highlighting that "eight thousand Barzanimen, ranging in age from nine to ninety, were arrested solely for beingKurdish. They were subjected to a brutal massacre in the deserts of southernIraq."
Barzani characterized these crimes as "partof a broader systematic campaign by the regime to eradicate the Kurdish people.This campaign began with the abduction and disappearance of twelve thousandyoung Fayli Kurds, continued through the Anfal campaigns and chemical attacksacross Kurdistan, and included Arabization, forced displacement, anddemographic manipulation in the region."
The Kurdish leader emphasized that these crimesreflect the "chauvinistic, authoritarian, and inhumane" mindset ofthe former Iraqi authorities, which he believes is the root cause of theenduring backwardness, suffering, and tragedies faced by the people of Iraq andthe broader region.
In 1983, an uprising against Saddam Hussein's regime erupted in the KurdistanRegion, leading to the initiation of the Anfal campaign. Saddam appointedGeneral Ali Hassan al-Majid al-Tikriti, the Baath Party's Secretary of theNorth, to oversee the campaign. On March 16, 1988, al-Majid ordered chemicalattacks on Halabja and surrounding villages, an act that has been recognized as"genocide."
The Anfal campaign specifically targeted the Barzan area, where thousandsof individuals were arrested, transported to the deserts of southern Iraq, andexecuted. Their bodies were subsequently buried in mass graves.
On May 3, 2011, the Iraqi High Criminal Court classified the Anfalcampaign as a "crime against humanity and genocide."
After the fall of Saddam's regime in 2003, several key figures,including Saddam Hussein and Ali Hassan al-Majid, were tried and convicted fortheir roles in the Anfal campaign, with some receiving death sentences.
