Kurdistan Regional Government
Representation in Italy
Suleimania, Kurdistan Region - Iraq (KRG.org) - The remains of 730 Kurds beheaded or buried alive during the former regime's Anfal genocide campaign were returned to their homeland on Monday for a ceremony in Suleimania and reburial the following day.
The bodies were recovered from a grave in the deserts of the Mahari area of Diwania Province in southern Iraq, where they were discovered last year. They were identified as Kurdish victims of the Anfal campaign who were massacred by the former regime in 1988.
At the ceremony commemorating their return to the region, KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani said, "The graves of these martyrs that are before us are a symbol of all our martyrs." Adding, "What we have achieved to date is the result of the blood of these martyrs, who sacrificed their lives for the good of Kurdistan and the Kurdish people, and we therefore vowed to defend all these achievements until our last breath."
"Those executed for committing these crimes are the exception," the Prime Minister stated. "Fundamental changes are still needed as long as there are still people trying to protect the ideology of the old regime, and it's possible the same thing could happen to us again. Today, some political parties are pursuing the same path as the previous regime," he said, concluding that this is why the KRG is seeking...
To establish strong adherence to the rule of law and the constitution, in order to prevent another dictator from ruling Iraq again.
More than 4,500 villages were destroyed during the Anfal campaign, and more than 180,000 people were murdered or disappeared. The campaign has been recognized as a genocide by the Iraqi Council of Representatives and the Iraqi Tribunal, as well as by several international organizations.
Most of the victims were found in Chamchamal, Garmeyan, and Kadar-Karam provinces, and were all reburied in Chamchamal on Tuesday near a monument built in memory of the genocide. Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani attended the burial on Tuesday.
The ceremonies were organized by the KRG Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs, and the ceremony in Suleimaniyah was also attended by Vice President Kosrat Rasul Ali, Speaker of the Kurdistan Parliament Dr. Arsalan Bayiz, Minister of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs Sabah Ahmed Mohamed, as well as members of the Iraqi and Kurdistan Parliaments, the Mayor of Sulaymaniyah, the British Consul General in the Kurdistan Region, and a number of other officials.