Iraqi court sentences “Anfal butcher” Ajaj al-Tikriti to death
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Baghdad's Rusafa Criminal Court sentenced a former security officer of Saddam Hussein's regime to death on Thursday over crimes committed at Nuqrat al-Salman prison, including the rape of a Kurdish woman detained during the Anfal campaigns, the systematic starvation of prisoners, and participation in executions.
The defendant, Ajaj Ahmed Hardan al-Tikriti —known as the "Hajjaj of Nuqrat al-Salman"— served for five years in the former regime's security apparatus, including three years at the prison in Al-Samawah, a city in Muthanna province in southern Iraq, before being forced into retirement following a fight.
The Iraqi National Security Service (INSS) said al-Tikriti was arrested in August 2025 following an intelligence operation spanning more than six months. His relatives had attempted to obstruct the search by falsely claiming he had died. Authorities tracked him to a hideout in Saladin province through intelligence analysis and cross-referencing prior testimony, securing judicial approval before moving in.
Investigations yielded what the INSS described as explicit confessions by the defendant regarding his conduct at Nuqrat al-Salman. The court grounded its ruling in those confessions alongside victims' testimonies, plaintiffs' statements, and investigative evidence, describing the sentence as just punishment for crimes committed against Iraqis.
Court proceedings opened May 7, 2026, before the Rusafa Appeals Court in Baghdad, attended by dozens of relatives of Anfal victims, former detainees, and witnesses. Authorities summoned approximately 220 individuals from Al-Sulaymaniyah, Erbil, Duhok, Diyala, and Saladin provinces to testify.
The Anfal campaigns were a series of genocidal operations carried out by the Iraqi government between 1986 and 1989 targeting Kurdish communities in northern Iraq, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians.
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