On 16th of March 1988, the Iraqi Baath-Regime indiscriminately targeted the Kurdish population of Iraq with a series of poison gas attacks. Over 5,000 civilians were instantly killed and another 7,000 injured. The survivors and bereaved continue to suffer from the consequences of the chemical attack until this day.
The Halabja poison gas bombings remain the single largest chemical weapons attack against a civilian population in the world. In a 2005 ruling by the District Court of The Hague against Dutch trader Frans van Anraat, the court said that it must consider “legally and convincingly proven that the Kurdish population meets requirement under Genocide Conventions as an ethnic group. The court has no other conclusion than that these attacks were committed with the intent to destroy the Kurdish population of Iraq.”
28 years later, the Kurdish people are still not safe. Genocide remains a real threat. In 2014, the Yezidis, a Kurdish ethno-religious group, were targeted by the terror militia IS. Approximately 5000 Yezidis were executed, another 6,000 women and children were kidnapped and enslaved, and several Yezidi holy sites were destroyed. Many of the women and children remain captive. Mass graves of Yezidis are being discovered on a daily basis. The atrocities continue.
It is time we took a stand and said: “Enough is enough, End Genocide Now”. In memory of the victims of the Halabja chemical attacks, we ask the international community to share these informational pictures on March 16th to raise awareness about the Halabja victims and survivors. In their own words, the survivors and witnesses describe their experience of the harrowing attack that changed their lives forever. Following this link you may download all the statements along with an avatar ready for social media use, to take a stand and to End Genocide Now.