The rebellion occurred nearly a year prior to the infamous chemical attacks which killed 5,000 Kurds and poisoned thousands more.
“13 May” – a 24 minute documentary released this year by Kurdish director Tariq Tofiq – tells the story of this little-known rebellion.
On the sidelines of this year’s Slemani International Film Festival, where the film was screened last week, Rudaw English spoke to Chnur Kadr to hear the story in her own words.
Ali Hassan al-Majid – who will always be known to history as ‘Chemical Ali’ – was first cousin to Saddam Hussein and secretary-general of the Baath Party’s northern region. Towards the end of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88), Ali had already begun forcibly relocating Kurds from Halabja to the surrounding villages in what is known as the Anfal campaign.
Prior to the May 13, 1987 rebellion in Halabja, Kadr had been studying and working with the Communist Party of Iraq. She was also part of her students’ union.
“The Communist Party was the first party to share details of the rebellion since we were in opposition to the government, but other parties like the Islamic parties and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) helped spread the word too,” Kadr said.
“We spread the word among the students first and then the students shared it among the other people. We were really enthusiastic about the rebellion because we had a lot of suppressed feelings about the regime; so many people took part, especially the youth.”
On the night of May 12, a rebel crept into a mosque and climbed into the broadcasting room. From there, he played a pre-recorded tape over the loudspeakers announcing May 13 as the date of the rebellion in an attempt to bring more people into the streets to march against the regime.
“Many people knew what the regime was capable of and were afraid to participate,” Kadr said.
Less than a month before, on April 16, 1987, the Baathist regime had carried out its first chemical attack against Kurdish civilians in the village of Sheikh Wasanan located in the mountainous region of Balisan valley.
More than 300 Kurds – over half the village population – died in that attack. Many believe this barrage was a practice round before the bigger slaughters to come.
When May 13 came, two groups of protesters set off through the streets from separate locations. The two groups rallied the neighborhoods they passed through before meeting to form one mass contingent.
“When we started, it was a small group of about 20 people but a lot of people just joined as we were marching. At the point that we merged, there were hundreds of people,” Kadr said.
That is when the Iraqi army attacked.
A bomb exploded in the nearby Kani Ashqan district of Halabja, killing one and injuring several others. They were rushed to hospital.
However, Chemical Ali had issued orders. Anyone injured in the protests was to be buried alive. A special “kill list” had also been drafted including the names of 16 organizers.
MAY 13 - from archives published in the book, “Bureaucracy of Repression: The Iraqi Government in Its Own Words” by Joost R. Hiltermann, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Middle East Watch (MEW) published in 1994Kadr said she happened to see the list by chance and realized her name was among those to be buried alive. This was despite precautions to protect her identity by wearing men’s clothing and covering her face during the march.
Of the 16 names on the kill list, Kadr and her friend Hazar were to be the only survivors.
Hazar’s brother had been injured in the protest and was inside the hospital. If he remained, security forces would certainly take him and bury him.
As the hospital was blocked by the Iraqi military, Hazar could only enter disguised as a nurse. He managed to smuggle his brother out through a back exit.
Kadr, who was meanwhile waiting near the hospital, was recognized by security forces and had to run for her life. She took refuge in a nearby home, took off her disguise and changed into a traditional Kurdish dress. To throw security forces off her scent, she even began cleaning the house.
Did the May 13 rebellion provoke the Baath regime to gas Halabja a year later? Kadr doesn’t think so. The regime was already forcibly relocating Kurds and had been detaining, torturing, and killing them for years without reason, she said.
It was also an unarmed rebellion – they simply wanted their rights and their voices to be heard.
One thing which was special about the May 13 rebellion was the role of women, who participated across three main groups.
The first left the city of Halabja to share information with the Peshmerga forces in the mountains. The second group supported Peshmerga hiding in the city among the general population. This group provided food and safe houses for meetings and rest.
The third group, which Kadr was involved with, marched in the streets. Among the initial 20 protesters, eight were women. She still remembers their names by heart.
“I remember one of the women who was part of the rebellion died one year later during the chemical attacks,” said Kadr.
Few films at the Slemani International Film Festival summed up this year’s theme “Heroines Preserve Humanity” as well as ‘13 May’.
“I feel like a hero because what I did back then for women at that time in 1987 was something really unusual,” said Kadr. “Nobody expected women to be that active, even though we had a lot of female Peshmerga.”
“If that’s not being a heroine, then I don’t know what being a heroine is.”
“For all the young girls today, it is important to be as independent as they can be. Don’t rely on other people, be independent and just do what you believe in and you will always be successful.”
“They should be the light that people follow into becoming a better nation.”
