The Iraqi government has consistently disregarded international community decisions and has not adhered to any international principles, committing crimes against humanity without hesitation. Even senior officials of this regime have not denied the use of these weapons. They have considered the use of larger and more destructive weapons as legitimate. The Iraqi government began its research activities related to the development of chemical weapons in the early 1970s and operationalized them in 1982; they are capable of producing various types of chemical agents, including blister agents (mustard gas) and nerve agents (Tabun, Sarin, and VX gas). These were used during the war with Iran and against the Kurdish people from 1984 to 1988.
One of the darkest crimes in the history of the Iraqi state during the Ba’ath regime was the use of chemical weapons, which were prohibited in 1925 under the Geneva Conventions. The Geneva Protocol, also known as the Geneva Convention or Geneva Law, is a regulation banning the use of suffocating, poisonous, or other gases and bacteriological warfare. This law was adopted on June 17, 1925, and came into effect on February 8, 1928, prohibiting the use of chemical weapons in any form. The Iraqi government joined the 1925 Geneva Protocol in 1931, with the caveat that it would not consider itself bound by the protocol if the opposing party first used chemical weapons. However, Iraq itself initiated the use of chemical weapons.
History of Chemical Weapons Use
In 1915, the Germans used chlorine gas against the French and British in the Ypres region of Belgium. It was banned by the international community in 1925 under the Geneva Protocol, but the use of chemical weapons continues in various parts of the world.
Second Battle of Ypres-Ieper (April 22 – May 15, 1915). First mass use of poison gas by the German army. Around 100,000 casualties.
Chemical Attack on Halabja
In the closing months of the Iraq-Iran war, on March 16, 1988, Halabja was subjected to one of the most brutal mass extermination campaigns in modern times. The city was bombed and destroyed.
The chemical attack on Halabja suffocated nearly 5,000 civilians, including women, children, the elderly, and the young, with chemical agents, injured more than 10,000 people, and forced many to migrate. When a delegation from the U.S. Congress traveled to Baghdad in the spring of 1990 and asked Tariq Aziz, the Foreign Minister of Iraq, whether his country had used chemical weapons against the Kurds, he honestly admitted to having used chemical weapons against the Kurds. He said that if Iraq had nuclear weapons, they would use them against the Kurds.
Chemical Weapons in Documents
According to documents, the use of chemical weapons by the Ba’ath regime in Iraq dates back to the beginning of the war between Iraq and Iran. Documents mention the use of chemical weapons in various parts of Kurdistan during Operation Anfal, including Document No. 3405, dated March 22, 1988, from the Eastern Intelligence Department to the General Directorate of Military Intelligence, reporting the transfer of wounded persons to Iran.
The Role of the World in Supplying Chemical Weapons to Iraq
Evidence suggests that the former Soviet Union made many of the bombs found in Halabja. Available data also indicate the involvement of 85 German, 19 French, 18 British, and 18 U.S. companies in the supply of chemical weapons to Iraq. After the second Gulf War, a study conducted by Iraqi experts revealed that 207 international companies from various countries, including the United States, Argentina, Germany, Spain, Italy, Britain, Brazil, Japan, India, the Netherlands, Monaco, Egypt, Poland, Sweden, and Switzerland and Greece, participated in arming Iraq.
The Halabja Chemical Attack on International Media
Here, we discuss the reaction to the Halabja chemical attack, excluding Iraq and Iran, who accused each other in their media.
The first report on this crime was published in The Guardian’s British newspaper on March 22, 1988. “The victims of Halabja are like statues found in the underground monuments of Pompeii (southern Italy). They were killed so quickly that their expressions are shocking.” The report also stated: “The face and eyes of a crumpled baby with a split mouth and a cry suffocated in his throat under his father’s arm in front of a house they never reached. The evil spirit of death suddenly appeared to people while they were engaged in their daily activities. Only a few rushed to their homes for shelter and save themselves, while the rest lay stiff on the streets and alleys.”
The Turkish newspaper Güneş says: “You cannot walk in Halabja, which fell into Iranian hands ten days ago, due to the large number of corpses.” It also wrote: “About 5000 Iraqis were killed by mustard gas and another 5000 were injured.”
The London Daily Telegraph wrote on March 23, 1988: “A horrifying sight of hundreds of human bodies lying in the streets of Halabja was seen. Over 100 people in Iranian hospitals are suffering from a shared deadly pain caused by chemical injuries. The city, which once had a population of 70,000, is now a deserted city without life.”
The British Herald Tribune wrote on March 24, 1988: “The world nations should ostracize the Iraqi regime. Saddam Hussein is a Hitler.”
On March 26, 1988, the BBC reported that a Belgian and a Dutch doctor from the World Health Organization (WHO), representing Doctors Without Borders, and a chemical specialist stated that chemical weapons had been used against civilians in Halabja and its surroundings.
On April 1, 1988, Agence France-Presse reported that Halabja, one of the Kurdish cities of Iraq, was captured by Iranian forces on March 19 and 20, 1988, and was chemically bombed by Iraq. “It has fallen into a deep sleep in a cold silence.”
The New York Times wrote on April 5, 1988: “This action is a war crime by any definition, accompanied by Iraq’s weak official responses and informal excuses for the use of inhumane weapons.”
A total of 25 journalists and photographers from various countries, including two Kurds, photographed the chemical attack on Halabja.
Richard Beeston, born in 1963, died of cancer in 2013 at the age of 50. The crime of the Halabja chemical attack had a profound impact on his life, and he spoke about it at many conferences. At a meeting in London in March 2013 about the Halabja chemical attack, he said: “The only thing that gives me peace is attending the Supreme Criminal Court, where I witnessed the trial of Ali Hassan al-Majid.”
Richard Beeston, an English journalist and photographer who entered Halabja from Kermanshah, Iran, on March 17, 1988, from Britain, photographed the victims of the chemical attack. In the images, he took a photo of Omar Khawari, who has now become the emblem of Halabja and the martyrs of the chemical attack. Although Ramadan Ozbun and Ahmadi Nategi had taken pictures before him, the photo of Omar Khawar, which has now become the symbol of Halabja and the martyrs of the chemical attack, was taken by Richard. Through his camera, he was able to help the Kurdish people and bring the cries of the people who were chemically bombed to the entire world.
Richard published his reports in The Times and faced much controversy, especially from then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who accused him of spreading baseless information and causing commercial and economic damage to London and Baghdad.
The Results of the Genocide of the Chemical Attack on Halabja
The main objective of the Iraqi regime in the chemical attack on Kurdistan between 1987 and 1988 was to implement the policy of burning the land.
- Chemical attack on Halabja kills 5,000 civilians and injures more than 10,000
- They will continue to suffer from their pain and wounds forever, leaving behind many damaging scars that have not been treated.
- It also led to the dissolution of family units, and 72 families are still waiting for their 114 missing children.
- In addition, 139,472 people were displaced.
- Halabja, Sirwan, Khurmal, Biara, and Said Sadiq districts with 216 villages were destroyed.
- Those who fled to Iran after the attack were tortured on their return. They were sent to Nugra Salman Castle Prison.
- In the district, many buildings, including 24,804 houses, 112 schools, 32 hospitals, and health centers, have been demolished.
Halabja Case in the Iraqi High Criminal Court
The case of the chemical attack on Halabja after the fall of the Ba’ath regime in 2003 was referred to the High Criminal Court in 2007, and in 2010, the High Criminal Court of Iraq ruled it as genocide. The Iraqi Parliament and the federal government approved this decision. However, no compensation has been paid to the victims’ relatives.
* The above article is a short excerpt from my book about Halabja.