Parliament's Presidency’s statement on 33rd anniversary of Halabja chemical bombing

Dear families of the martyrs of Halabja, Hawraman and Sharazur, dear people of Kurdistan,

Thirty-three years have passed since the 1988 chemical attack and massacre of Halabja city.

16th of March is indelibly seared into our nation's memory and our history, a deep wound that will never heal and remains in the conscience of all Kurds, of the chemical bombing of Halabja, Hawraman, Sharazur and surrounding villages. It was the darkest chapter in the history of the Ba'ath regime's rule.

This crime was not only perpetrated against the children of our nation, but was also a crime committed against all humanity, just as Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the Holocaust were. On this solemn day of remembrance, we once again condemn the perpetrators of this crime. We also ask the international community and international organizations to recognize this crime against humanity as genocide, so that it will never happen again anywhere in the world and so that the people of Kurdistan never again have to live in fear of the repeat of any such crime.

The Federal Government of Iraq should work on the decision of the Supreme Criminal Court and Article 132 of the Iraqi Constitution to compensate the martyrs and survivors of Halabja. And the Iraqi Council of Representatives has a duty to pass a law recognizing the genocide of the people of Kurdistan as well as the rights of the survivors and the martyrs’ families to reparations for the material, moral and psychological damages that they have suffered.

As we have stressed before, we stress against that the victims' families must receive proper care and attention, and that the Kurdistan Regional Government should better serve the families of the victims, treat those with long-term effects of chemical weapons, find the missing of this unique human tragedy and providing the necessary budget that Halabja governorate deserves, just as the other provinces of Kurdistan Region do.

We the Kurdistan Parliament believe it is our duty to support all the demands of the people of Halabja and the surrounding affected areas; and MPs from Halabja, the relevant standing committees and MPs in general will monitor the city's progress in health, education and culture and public services, and will continue to investigate the problems facing the people of Halabja and raise their demands with Government institutions.

We pray for the eternal souls of the victims of the Halabja chemical attack and for all the martyrs of Kurdistan.

Presidency of Kurdistan Parliament

16 March 2021