Iraq tribunal sentences ex-Baath officer to death over 1983 Barzani killings

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s High Tribunal in Baghdad on Sunday sentenced a former Baath party officer to death for his role in the killing of members of the Kurdish Barzani tribe, according to a statement from the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs.

The ministry said the trial was held with six witnesses in attendance and ended with a death sentence for Shakir Taha Yahya al-Douri, a former Baath official, for involvement in the 1983 mass killing of Barzani Kurds.

Eyad Kakayi, a legal representative for victims, told 964media the convicted officer took part in the forced relocation of about 20 Barzani civilians to Anbar. Kakayi said they were then transferred to Fallujah and Saqlawiyah, executed and buried in mass graves in the desert.

Kakayi said additional defendants in the case still face trial, pending further scheduling by the court.

The tribunal also acquitted a second former officer, Saadoun Sabri Jamil al-Qaisi, citing a lack of evidence, the ministry said.

The 1983 killing of thousands of Barzani Kurds is widely recognized as a state-directed atrocity carried out under the former Baathist regime. On July 31, 1983, Iraqi security forces rounded up more than 8,000 Barzani men and boys, transporting detainees to desert areas where many were executed and buried in mass graves.

The mass killings are often discussed alongside the Baath regime’s broader Anfal campaign against Kurds, conducted in 1988, which included mass executions and destruction of villages. Human Rights Watch reported in 1993 that Anfal led to the killing of an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 Kurds, while Kurdish sources have put the number higher.