The Recovery of the Pure Remains of the Victims of the Anfal Operations Eases the Pain and Grief Left by This Heinous Crime in the Hearts of Their Families and the Kurdish People as a Whole
Fuad Othman – Journalist and Genocide Activist
Thirty-eight years ago, specifically on 22 February 1988, the defunct Ba’ath regime began implementing the first phase of the brutal and notorious Anfal campaigns in the Kurdistan Region. This phase targeted the Jafayati Valley area, where dozens of villages were subjected to a savage and barbaric attack that resulted in thousands of deaths, in addition to thousands of others who were forcibly taken toward an unknown fate.
These military operations, which took their name from a chapter of the Holy Qur’an, were completely stripped of all human values. This phase served as a prelude to the eight stages of the Anfal campaign that later engulfed all of Kurdistan—beginning with Jafayati Valley, passing through Germiyan, the Koya Plain, Qaradagh, and the Erbil areas, and ultimately reaching Badinan, where the Anfal campaign concluded. These crimes have been classified among the most atrocious crimes of the era: more than 182,000 innocent people were killed, and 4,500 Kurdish villages and towns were destroyed. All signs of life were erased there—as stated in one of the regime’s documents later—ranging from burning trees and orchards to destroying springs and water sources, and turning those areas into prohibited zones where their inhabitants were even forbidden from visiting the graves of their loved ones in their native lands.
The defunct regime launched this campaign according to a premeditated and carefully planned strategy, employing a massive military arsenal and advanced weapons, including internationally prohibited ones, to attack the regions of Dukan and Jafayati. Military operations during this phase continued until 13 March 1988. Despite the overwhelming military power and capabilities deployed, the Peshmerga forces wrote a remarkable chapter of resistance, repelling the regime’s attack for 28 days. They were supported by the steadfastness of the local population, who recorded a proud history of courage. The regime was unable to advance until it resorted to the use of deadly chemical weapons banned under international law. These attacks resulted in the martyrdom of thousands and the disappearance of hundreds of families in unknown mass graves, in addition to the destruction of more than 30 villages in Jafayati Valley and the displacement and “Anfalization” of more than a thousand citizens.
After the fall of the regime, specifically in 2004, two mass graves containing victims of that phase of the Anfal campaign were discovered in the outskirts of Mosul. After the graves were opened in the presence of international observers, the remains were transferred back to the land of their forefathers and laid to rest at the Anfal Martyrs Memorial in Dukan District.
International researcher and mass-grave expert Michael Rubin referred to these two graves in his testimony before the Iraqi High Tribunal, explaining that the grave known as “Nineveh 2” contained the remains of 123 individuals, including 25 women and 98 children under the age of thirteen, among them a fetus in its mother’s womb. Rubin described the grave, noting that its depth reached 3.5 meters, which reflected the regime’s intention to conceal the crime and erase its evidence entirely, as he stated before the court.
The second grave, “Nineveh 9,” contained the remains of 94 adult men. This confirms testimonies from survivors of the graves and eyewitnesses that men were separated from women and children before being executed. A large number of victims remain missing to this day.
On this painful anniversary, I believe it is necessary to dedicate all our efforts and capabilities to supporting initiatives aimed at uncovering the fate of the Anfal victims and returning their pure remains. The concerned authorities must intensify efforts to reveal the remaining mass graves. During the past period, two mass graves were opened in the Tel Sheikhiyah area, where 172 remains were recovered from the first grave and 153 from the second. There are still seven identified graves in the Tel Sheikhiyah area that have not yet been opened. We therefore see it as necessary to open them and to ensure that excavation operations are conducted under the supervision of international organizations and through documented scientific methods in order to give the process an international character.
In order to determine the identities of the victims, DNA testing is essential. We appreciate the efforts made by the teams formed by the Martyrs Foundation and the Forensic Medicine Department, in cooperation with Iraq’s First Lady Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed, who worked to collect DNA samples from relatives of victims in the Jamjamal area and the Koya Plain. We also hope that this process will be expanded and that a sufficient budget will be allocated within the federal public budget to establish a comprehensive genetic information bank for all relatives of victims in Kurdistan, ensuring rapid matching and identification of remains whenever a new mass grave is discovered.
In this context, we call on the Council of Representatives of Iraq and the Kurdistan Parliament to enact legislation imposing deterrent penalties on anyone who denies the crimes of the Ba’ath regime, glorifies that bloody regime, or attempts to portray its dark era positively to younger generations. It is also necessary to amend the Law on the Protection of Mass Graves No. 5 of 2006 (as amended) in a manner that guarantees a central role for the Kurdistan Region in all stages of search and excavation, up to the dignified burial ceremonies.
We also call for intensified efforts to internationalize the genocide crimes committed against our people, given that the elements of the crime are fully established according to international standards. It is equally important to include these issues more extensively in school curricula to familiarize future generations with these atrocities. In this regard, the Federal Ministry of Education has begun introducing the crimes of the former regime into a school textbook, referring to the genocide committed against the Kurds only marginally and without sufficient depth. The ministry must therefore review the educational curricula to reflect the reality of what happened with greater accuracy and clarity.
Finally, in order to help heal the wounds of the victims’ families, we call for the prosecution of all individuals implicated in the Anfal crimes whose names have appeared in court proceedings, and for them to be brought to justice so that they receive their fair punishment.
We pray to God to envelop the souls of the Anfal martyrs and the heroic Peshmerga in His vast mercy, and may their memory serve as a driving force for the unity of our ranks and the solidarity of our people.
Long live the people of Kurdistan—free and dignified.
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