Nechirvan Barzani calls on the federal government to compensate Anfal victims

Shafaq News / The President of Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani, recalled, on Tuesday, the "last stage" of Anfal operations in Bahdinan region, calling on the federal government to implement the decision of the Iraqi High Criminal Court and compensate the victims.

Barzani said in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency, "Today we remember with respect the victims of Anfal Bhdinan, and we salute the pure souls of the martyrs as we send our greetings to their dear families", adding, "the Ba'athist regime in the year 1988 kidnapped and killed 180,000 citizen of Kurdistan from Garmyan to Bahdinan, wiping out traces of life in thousands of Kurdistan villages".

"Between August 25 and September 6, 1988, and in the last stages of the Anfal operations, the vast majority of the areas of Bahdinan were bombed with chemical weapons, and all the components of the region were subjected to arrest, killing and deportation campaigns carried out by five military teams. Bahdinan was demolished and destroyed, and the survivors of that crime fled to Iran and Turkey, to suffer the pain of displacement", he continued.

Barzani continued, "On this memory, we reiterate our assertion that the Iraqi federal government must fulfill its legal duties and implement the decision of the Iraqi Supreme Court of Crimes that considered the Anfal campaigns a genocide and a crime against humanity, and that the victims of Anfal and their families must be compensated. Providing them with more services, following up on the fate of the missing, and continuing to document crimes and work to define them as genocide crimes at the international level to prevent their recurrence in any part of the world".

He stressed that, "the memory of the Anfal will be a motive for us to strengthen cohesion and unify the ranks of the parties and components of Kurdistan".

"On this anniversary, we renew our thanks and appreciation to the people of Erbil and its outskirts, as they helped by all means the people of the devastated Bahdinan who were displaced. Their generosity and humanitarian stance will never be forgotten", Barzani concluded.