Iraqi ministries ask public for help locating burial sites of missing Gulf War nationals

BAGHDAD — The Iraqi Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs have issued a public call for help in finding the burial sites of Iraqis and Kuwaitis who went missing during the Second Gulf War. The ministries made the appeal on Tuesday, encouraging anyone with relevant information to come forward via the contact numbers and email addresses they provided.

In their joint statement, the ministries urged “all citizens, both inside Iraq and abroad, who have knowledge of possible burial sites of Iraqi or Kuwaiti nationals within Iraq or Kuwait, resulting from the 1991 Gulf War, to share this information.” They added that financial rewards would be offered for valuable information.

This initiative aims to bring closure to families of those who disappeared during the conflict. The ministries stressed the importance of public cooperation, calling it a crucial step toward healing and delivering justice for the families affected by the war.

Phone numbers and email addresses have been made available for those who wish to provide information, and submission can be made in major cities.

The 1990-1991 Gulf War caused severe civilian casualties and destruction in Iraq. The conflict began when Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990, and was followed by Operation Desert Storm, led by a U.S.-backed coalition, to drive Iraqi forces out in early 1991.

According to Human Rights Watch, more than 100,000 Iraqi civilians may have died as an indirect result of the conflict and the subsequent United Nations sanctions, which devastated Iraq’s infrastructure, including hospitals, water treatment facilities, and electricity grids.

A report by the Strategic Center for Human Rights in Iraq, dated June 2024, estimates that around 400,000 people, including Christians, Kurds, and Shiites, are buried in mass graves across Iraq. Iraq is believed to have between 250,000 and 1 million missing persons, many believed to be in mass graves.

Iraq’s Council of Ministers declared May 16 as National Day of Mass Graves in 2007 to recognize the missing. The Law on the Protection of Mass Graves, amended in 2015, outlines the process for investigating mass graves. The International Commission on Missing Persons has worked closely with Iraq on this issue for over a decade.