Petition drive seeks justice for victims of 1988 chemical assault
Halabja survivors campaign for compensation as anniversary looms
SULAYMANIYAH—The Halabja Chemical Attack Survivors Organization is spearheading a petition drive demanding that the Iraqi government award compensation to survivors and victims of the Halabja chemical assault, a brutal act carried out on March 16, 1988, by the regime of Saddam Hussein.
This attack, part of the Anfal campaign against the Kurdish population, involved the use of chemical weapons, leading to the deaths of thousands and leaving lasting harm on the community.
The campaign, taking place near a portrait of the Kurdish leader Sheikh Mahmood Hafid in Bardarki Sara, Sulaymaniyah, seeks to gather support from those in Sulaymaniyah and the surrounding regions, especially targeting Halabja residents who sought refuge in Iran after the devastating chemical attack.
Launched on March 4 in the Halabja marketplace, the initiative aims to draw attention and support from locals displaced by the tragedy.
Rebwar Ahmad, Deputy Head of the organization and overseer of the campaign, emphasized to 964media the goal of enforcing Law 35 of 2013 for Halabja’s populace. This law mirrors the compensation provided to victims of the Al-Rafah camp, who were displaced during the 1991 Shiite uprising against Saddam Hussein’s regime— as Shiite communities in the south rose in opposition to decades of oppression, only to face brutal suppression.
Law No. 35 of 2013 was enacted to offer financial and moral restitution to the refugees and victims of these historic atrocities, specifically those displaced to Al-Rafah camp in Saudi Arabia following the uprising.
Ahmad plans to present a memorandum with the collected signatures to Iraq’s three presidencies, advocating for Halabja residents to be similarly compensated in accordance with the same law.