Shafaq News/ On Wednesday, Kurdish leader Masoud
Barzani condemned the "atrocities" committed against the Kurdish
people, including the Anfal campaign against the Barzanis.
In a statement marking the 41st anniversary of
the Anfal genocide, Barzani described the actions of the former Iraqi regime as
"unjust and illegal," highlighting that "eight thousand Barzani
men, ranging in age from nine to ninety, were arrested solely for being
Kurdish. They were subjected to a brutal massacre in the deserts of southern
Iraq."
Barzani characterized these crimes as "part
of a broader systematic campaign by the regime to eradicate the Kurdish people.
This campaign began with the abduction and disappearance of twelve thousand
young Fayli Kurds, continued through the Anfal campaigns and chemical attacks
across Kurdistan, and included Arabization, forced displacement, and
demographic manipulation in the region."
The Kurdish leader emphasized that these crimes
reflect the "chauvinistic, authoritarian, and inhumane" mindset of
the former Iraqi authorities, which he believes is the root cause of the
enduring backwardness, suffering, and tragedies faced by the people of Iraq and
the broader region.
In 1983, an uprising against Saddam Hussein's regime erupted in the Kurdistan
Region, leading to the initiation of the Anfal campaign. Saddam appointed
General Ali Hassan al-Majid al-Tikriti, the Baath Party's Secretary of the
North, to oversee the campaign. On March 16, 1988, al-Majid ordered chemical
attacks on Halabja and surrounding villages, an act that has been recognized as
"genocide."
The Anfal campaign specifically targeted the Barzan area, where thousands
of individuals were arrested, transported to the deserts of southern Iraq, and
executed. Their bodies were subsequently buried in mass graves.
On May 3, 2011, the Iraqi High Criminal Court classified the Anfal
campaign 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 for
their roles in the Anfal campaign, with some receiving death sentences.