Parliament Genocide Committee's statement on 35th anniversary of the Anfal Genocide of the Kurds

Over the course of 35 years, the Ba'athist regime inflicted enormous suffering, massacres and destruction on the Kurdish people, with total disregard for the most basic human rights or religious and humanitarian principles. After a series of crimes of forced deportation from villages, the genocide of the Faylis and Barzanis, and the chemical bombardment of Halabja, in 1988 another crime was perpetrated in eight stages, which the Ba’ath regime named the Anfal campaign. Throughout Kurdistan, from Garmian to Badinan, some 182,000 civilians were killed, many of them buried alive in mass graves.

This crime that is a stain on humanity’s conscience was recognized as a genocide by the Iraqi Supreme Criminal Court in 2008. We call on the Iraqi Federal Government to compensate the victims and rebuild their areas, and we also call on the KRG to pay full attention to the affected areas and help alleviate the survivors' suffering.

May the souls of the Anfal martyrs and all the martyrs of Kurdistan rest in peace.

Martyrs, Genocide, and Political Prisoners Committee

Kurdistan Parliament

14 April 2023