The Genocide of Kurds Under the Name of Anfal
What
is the definition of Anfal?
The Middle East defined the process
of Anfal as, "Anfal is a name given to a series of inhumane attacks done
by the brutal Ba'th soldiers. The whole process of Anfal consisted of eight
attacks that were taken place in six different places. On September 17th, 1987.
the condemned Ba'th regime had census in the whole Iraq. After four months of the census, the process
of Anfal started. The first series of Anfal started on February 22th, 1988. The
process was ruled by one of the Ba'th Office from the North. After a while, it
was run by Ali Hassan Majed."
Dr. Azad Muhammed Amen, a professor
in the Salahaden University defined the process of Anfal as, " According
to our perspective, the process of Anfal didn't only consist of the attacks of
Ba'th Regime's troops against the Kurdistan villages and Peshmarga- Kurdish
Soldiers, but it was a well- organized process of destroying thousands of
villages in Kurdistan. After the process of Anfal, the destroyed Kurdish
villages were bombarded with Chemical bombs. Those innocent Kurdish people who
were not killed by the chemical bombardment, were arrested by Ba'th regime.
Then they were conveyed to the Ba'th Campus. After that, the process of
classifying the arrested people took place, and they were transferred to
different places. Women and children were sent to their special campus.
However, the elder people were sent to the jails from the South of Iraq. Also,
Those people who were between (15-50) years old were sent to death. Before the
process of Anfal started, the graves had been prepared for Kurds. Countless
Kurdish people were disappeared without giving any explanation and judgments.
What were the
reasons of the process so-called Anfal?
1. The geography of Kurdistan is
very important. That is why it has been the battle field of various wars
between different countries and nations ever since. Saddam was trying to invade
it in order to get the significance of its geography.
2. It was an attempt to unbalance
the Number of Youths both boys and girls between Kurdistan- The North of Iraq,
and Iraq- The South. It is undeniable that the best way to reduce the number of
youths is to arrest them, and kill them. Their main goal was to decline the
number of boys in Kurdistan.
3. A part of Iraq, especially the
mountain and the wild areas were controlled by Peshmarga. The Ba'th Regime
thought that they had right to fight in order to get back the control of that part.
4. The Ba'th Party announced that
Kurds made problems for Arabs. They said that Kurds were the only obstacle for
the Arab Unity. The Ba'th regime claimed, "If we get rid of Kurds and
bring back Kurdistan to Iraq, there will be the real unity between Arabs."
Their approach of getting rid of Kurds in Iraq was done by the Process of
Anfal. Don't You Think Kurds Were the Real Victim of Genocide?
5. The military and economic support
of foreign countries was another reason that encouraged the Ba'th Party to
start the process of Anfal. Post Helterman, a member of Human Rights
Watch in America, thought, "If the military, political, and economic
support of Foreign and International countries weren't provided to Ba'th, the
process of Anfal wouldn't have been applied successfully.
6. Iraqi leaders and commanders were
taught that Kurds were inhuman. Iraqi leaders and commanders were
psychologically affected. They were told that Kurds controlled a part of Iraq,
but the Iraqi leaders have to get it
back. Therefore, the main aim of Iraqi leaders were to bring the end of Kurds.
What were the
results of Anfal?
1. Almost all the Kurdistan region
was bombarded by the chemical weapon.
2. Destroying almost all the
villages in Kurdistan.
3. Almost all the Kurdistan villages
underwent Looting and Prowling our wealth and treasure by Ba'th Regime. Besides
that, sheep, goat, cars, and possessions were stolen.
4. Those Kurdish girls who were
between 15-29 were sent to Egypt; I am sorry, They were not sent, but
sold to Egypt. Egypt bought the
girls from The Ba'th party. Till now, there are a lot of families in my region
waiting for their girls to come back, but who knows where their daughters are
now?
5. Five thousand (5,000) people
called" Kurdi Fali" were arrested. We don't know what happened to
them. The only thing we know is that THEY were taken from Kurdistan, but we
don't know where they were taken to.
6. Eight thousand (8,000) people
called Barzani were arrested in a place in Kurdistan called Barzan. The only
thing we know is that we don't know what happened to them, and we don't know
where they were killed and buried.
7. More dangerously, (182,000)
Kurdish innocent people were arrested from all over Kurdistan in a few months
regardless to age and gender. The 182,000 arrested Kurds included women and
many children who were still drinking MILK. " For which sin?" What
did a 1 month child do to Ba'th? The child even couldn't speak. For Which
sin?
The only Sin that Kurds had was,
"They Were
Kurds." Under the power of Saddam, it was a big sin and
transgression to be a Kurd. If you were a Kurd, You deserved death
without any question.
8. Those people who were rescued
from the process of Anfal faced social and psychological problems. They were
left with no one. Imagine a family in which you are the only one rescued; your
father, mother, siblings were either killed or taken to un-known places and
Campos. Can you envision how sorrowful and painful your life would be?
There are many more reasons, but
History is responsible to convey them to you, and the world.
The Process of Anfal started on
February 23th, 1988 from the valley of Gafayaty; after its eight series in six
different places in Kurdistan, It ended on August 6th, 1988 in Baddnan.
I got
most of the information from the book of 12th grade.
By, Hersh Seidgul Abdullah,
A Student at AUIS.