Below is the press release issued by the Patriotic Union Of Kurdistan to mark the 18th anniversary of Saddam Hussein's chemical attack on the people of Halabja.
There have been so many comments in the press lately about the overthrow of Saddam having been "a mistake".... the stability of a dictatorship being preferable to the unravelling of the old system and the struggle for democracy that is now taking place. And on "fight dem back" the other day people were arguing that the old "stable autocracy" was clearly preferable to the current situation..... I think they don't know any history.
Also, here's a link to a very detailed (1991) Human Right's Watch article about Saddam's genocidal Anfal campaign against the Kurds:
Whatever happened to the Iraqi Kurds?
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
Bureau for International relations
Remembering Halabja – Eighteen Years
since the Massacre
16 March 2006
On this sad and
tragic day eighteen years ago, the government of
Saddam Hussein committed one of modern history’s
most tragic crimes. The indiscriminant and
unmerciful destruction of the town of Halabja with
the use of Chemical Weapons left over 5000 men,
woman and children slaughtered and more than 10,000
injured.
Eighteen years
since the massacre, the people of Halabja still
suffer from the effects of the attack, including a
much higher prevalence of major medical disorders
such as cancers, birth defects and miscarriages as
well as the irreparable damage done to the
environment.
Halabja was not
the only instance in which the former government of
Iraq used chemical weapons. An independent study
has revealed that chemical and biological weapons
have been used in attacks on over 255 towns and
villages in Iraqi Kurdistan with casualties not less
than those in Halabja.
The tragic
events of Halabja 1988, gives a clear indication of
the threat Weapons of Mass Destruction poses to the
international community and world peace at large.
Therefore it is the duty of the International
Community to prevent such instances happening again
– not to the Kurds – not to any one.
Among the many
challenges we face in Iraq will be the continued
development of its Judiciary. Iraq requires a
Judiciary that is independent and non-political with
a purpose to uphold the laws that govern the
country. It will be the duty of this Judiciary to
bring to justice those that committed these acts of
terror, for these same people are responsible for
the genocide of the Marsh Arabs and for the brutal
oppression of the Shiites of Iraq.
Bringing to
justice the perpetrators of genocide and eradicating
their extreme loyalists from political life in Iraq
will be among the first steps that will lead the
terrorized people of Iraq to closure.
In memory of the
thousands who died on March 16th 1988,
this day should mark the day when the world stands
against the use, proliferation and
development of Weapons of Mass Destruction.
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