[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 45 (Monday, March 16, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E668]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              REMEMBERING THE SLAUGHTER IN IRAQI KURDISTAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. HOWARD L. BERMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 16, 2009

  Mr. BERMAN. Madam Speaker, Twenty one years ago, on March 16, 1988, 
the Saddam Hussein regime committed one of modern history's most 
horrific crimes. The indiscriminate use of chemical weapons to destroy 
the town of Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan led to the brutal slaughter of 
thousands of innocent men, women, and children and permanently 
debilitated many more. More than two decades after the massacre, the 
people of Halabja still suffer from the effects of that barbaric 
attack. Long-term effects include cancers, birth defects, neurological 
problems, miscarriages, infertility, and congenital malformations in 
children--all of which are disproportionately prevalent in the Halabja 
area--as well as irreparable damage to the environment. These serious 
medical and environmental problems continue to hinder the well-being 
and overall progress of those living in Halabja and the surrounding 
area.
  Tragically, Halabja was not the only instance in which the former 
Iraqi regime used chemical weapons. Rather, it was but one event in a 
deliberate, large-scale campaign called the Anfal to exterminate the 
predominantly Kurdish inhabitants of Iraqi Kurdistan. The 1988 Anfal 
campaign resulted in the deaths of as many as 180,000 people. Iraqi 
forces used chemical and biological weapons against over 250 population 
centers from April 1987 to August 1988. Studies indicate that more than 
half of current inhabitants of Halabja were exposed to toxic chemical 
agents at the time of the attack.
  On December 30, 2006, Saddam Hussein was hanged for the murder of 148 
Shiite Arab citizens of Dujail, which is located in south-central Iraq. 
That case was taken up before the Anfal case, and it resulted in a 
death sentence. Because Iraqi law requires that a death sentence be 
carried our nearly immediately, Saddam's other crimes, including the 
Anfal genocide, never came to trial. The swiftness of Saddam's 
execution was an injustice to those that were brutally killed, maimed, 
or otherwise damaged in the Anfal; put simply, these victims were 
denied their day in court. Many Kurds now fear that the world will 
never hear of the true extent of the Halabja atrocities--widely 
considered the heaviest use of chemical weapons against civilians in 
modern times. It is therefore imperative that the Anfal campaign, and 
the massacre of Halabja, be documented and remembered--and 
internationally recognized as a crime of genocide against the Kurdish 
people. But we should also do more. On the tragic anniversary of 
Halabja 1988, the world must not only remember the individuals who 
perished but also provide help to those that continue to suffer today. 
That would be an appropriate way for the world to bear witness to 
crimes that are among the ugliest the world has seen.

                          ____________________