Iraq marks 37th anniversary of 'Anfal genocide' amid search for justice and accountability

On Monday, Iraq's Kurdish community commemorated the 37th anniversary of the Anfal genocide, a brutal campaign waged by Saddam Hussein's regime against the Kurdish community. 

Relatives of the victims, lawmakers, and human rights activists have voiced frustration over what they see as a lack of accountability from both the Iraqi and Kurdish authorities in recognising the atrocities as genocide, compensating the victims' families, and recovering the remains of those killed in mass graves.

The Anfal campaign, launched between 1986 and 1988, targeted Kurdish civilians in northern Iraq, accusing them of supporting Kurdish Peshmerga rebels during the Iraq-Iran War. The regime's military operations resulted in the deaths of nearly 182,000 people, including women, children, and the elderly, many of whom were buried in mass graves scattered across the southern deserts of Iraq.

Relatives of the victims and survivors gathered early on Monday in Chamchamal, a district in the Kurdistan region, where the largest number of people fell victim to the campaign. Despite the town's proximity to some of Iraq's largest oil and gas fields, locals accuse the Kurdish authorities of neglecting essential services in the region.

In 2007, the Iraqi High Tribunal officially recognised the Anfal campaign as a genocide, with the court issuing arrest warrants for 460 individuals involved in the crimes, including 258 Kurdish mercenaries who collaborated with the regime. Yet, many perpetrators remain unpunished, and the search for the victims' remains continues to be slow, with DNA tests for identification dragging on for years.

Qasim Kazim Hama Ali, whose father was one of the victims, told The New Arab, "This year's commemoration is different from previous years, where politicians sat in the front rows of the ceremonies. This year, it's more like what we see in Armenia, where people are laying flowers at the graves of our beloved victims."

Hama Ali emphasised that the demands of the victims' families remain simple but urgent: bring the Kurdish mercenaries to justice, provide compensation for the crimes, and deliver basic public services. He also called for Iraq to join the International Criminal Court and ratify the Rome Treaties of 1957, ensuring that genocide is never repeated.

Despite the calls for accountability, Hama Ali accused the ruling parties in the Kurdistan Region, including the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), of sheltering Kurdish mercenaries. He said that none of these individuals had been brought to justice and that the process of DNA testing to identify remains from the mass graves was progressing slowly.

Last year, the remains of 172 victims of what many are calling the "Kurdish Anfal genocide" were finally buried at the Anfal Monument cemetery in Sulaimaniyah's Chamchamal district in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. These remains were previously kept at a forensic medicine facility in Baghdad for over four years.

Mowafaq Hussien, a Kurdish lawmaker from the New Generation opposition party, said to TNA that, in response to efforts from his party, the Iraqi government allocated funds last year to exhume the mass graves and conduct DNA testing. However, he criticised Kurdish officials in Baghdad for exploiting the Anfal issue for personal political gain. He also blamed the KRG's Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affaires for failing to cooperate with Iraqi officials, preventing progress in bringing the perpetrators to justice and compensating the victims’ families.

"Those Kurds who collaborated with the former Baath regime in the Anfal genocide are receiving better salaries and entitlements than the families of the victims, as they are being protected by the ruling parties for narrow partisan benefits," Hussein said.

He lamented that Anfal had not been internationally recognised as a genocide and pointed to the lack of progress on the issue within international bodies. "The case remains cold-shouldered by Kurdish officials," he added.

TNA reached out to Adel Salih, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs, and Peshawa Hawramani, the official spokesperson for the KRG, but they were unavailable for comment.

Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), Masrour Barzani, expressed his commitment to remembering the victims of the Anfal campaign. On social media, he wrote, "On the 37th anniversary of the Anfal Campaign, we respectfully remember the martyrs and victims, who were brutally subjected to forced marches through the deserts of southern and central Iraq by the previous Iraqi regime. Thousands of innocent people from Kurdistan were tortured, mutilated, and left in mass graves."

He went on to state, "The Anfal genocide was a grave crime committed against the people of Kurdistan, and to this day, the consequences remain unresolved. The federal government must acknowledge its responsibilities and address the wounds of the Anfal genocide survivors and other victims of the Ba'athist regime's brutal policies."

Meanwhile, Iraq's prime minister, Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani, also commemorated the victims of the Anfal campaign. In a post on X, he stated, "Iraqis remember with pain the crime of the former regime in the infamous 'Anfal campaigns,' and the brutal massacres committed against our Kurdish people 37 years ago."

"This crime, with all its atrocities, revealed the ugly face of the regime and its racism toward our people and its national forces," he added. 

 Al-Sudani emphasised that, despite the regime's efforts to sow division, "brotherhood and peaceful coexistence triumph over the hatred that the Saddamist Ba'ath tried to sow between the different segments of our people."

Concluding, he said, "Tyranny has been consigned to the darkness of history, while Iraqis continue together on the path of construction, development, and the elevation of a united, secure, and stable Iraq. Mercy and forgiveness for the martyrs of Anfal and all Iraq's martyrs."

As Iraq reflects on the horrific events of 37 years ago, the continued demands for justice, recognition, and reparations remains far from over.