ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Nearly three decades on, survivors of the genocidal campaign of Anfal are marking the anniversary of the ethnic cleansing atrocity as many of the perpetrators remain at large without being brought to justice, human rights activists say.
The former Iraqi regime launched the systematic genocidal campaign in eight stages culminating from late February to September 1988 against the Kurdish populations in different parts of Kurdistan, reaching its peak on April 14.
The campaign killed about 182,000 people, according to Kurdish officials, including women and children, and wiped out about 4,000 villages.
Some Kurdish tribesmen and militias helped the Iraqi regime in conducting the genocide.
Some of the accomplices are said to remain among the ranks of the Kurdish parties, in particular the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) — the two current main ruling parties in Kurdistan Region.
A number of Kurdish activists staged a protest on Thursday in Erbil in front of the Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs, demanding that the suspects of the crime to be tried in the court.
The activists said that the Kurdish parties deal with the Kurdish genocide with hypocrisy.
“Political parties have to prove their innocence that they do not have the perpetrators in their ranks,” a statement from the activists read. “[They have to] stop the double-faced policy, that on one hand they mourn with the 14th of April victims and publish [condemnation] statements, and on the other hand they provide financial support, martyrdom entitlements, veteran Peshmerga pension to the suspects, and have the suspects in their ranks.”
A decade ago, the Iraqi High Tribunal issued arrest warrants for over 400 people who are suspected to have been involved in the atrocities, some of whom are Kurds and are now residents in the Kurdistan Region.
The activists, many of whom are from organizations specialized in Kurdish genocide, say that none of the named suspects have been brought to justice to date, partly because the Kurdish government does not take it seriously.
They added that it is especially difficult to arrest those who are residing in the Kurdistan Region.
The activists said that they could give the names of the suspects to The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), but haven’t.
They also called on the Kurdish government to issue laws and regulations which will protect the lives of the eye witnesses, and those who file lawsuits in the court.
They added that with time passing, the number of perpetrators is decreasing as some of them have died, emphasizing that the perpetrators’ testimony is important to document the truth about the atrocity, in order to promote its recognition around the world.
They also called on the Kurdish judiciary to take practical steps in this regard, and call on the public prosecutor to come out and see why the perpetrators are not arrested and brought to justice.
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