|
Kurdish minority prepares genocide case
22.6.2008
|
|
|
|
June
22, 2008
BAGHDAD, — The Iraqi High Tribunal is
prepared to hear a case concerning atrocities
committed against Fayli Kurds under Saddam Hussein,
officials said.
Fayli Kurds settled the border regions between
modern-day Iran and Iraq during the Mesopotamian era
in what are today the Ilam and Kirmanshah provinces
of Iran and the Diyala province in Iraq.
Thousands of Faylis settled in Baghdad, and their
numbers reached about 1 million before Saddam
Hussein launched ethnic cleansing campaigns against
the ethnic minority in the 1970s and 1980s.
European officials and representatives from the
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) brought several
Faylis to Iraq to serve as witnesses as their cases
are prepared for delivery before the Iraqi High
Tribunal,www.ekurd.net
the Kurdish Globe
reported.
Many of the witnesses said they were the victims of
the chemical thallium, a nerve agent, forced
displacements and disappearances.
Approximately 10,000 Faylis were detained under
Saddam and hundreds of families were deported to
Iran.
"The Faylis were living in Iraq for hundreds of
years," said Mihabad Qaradaghi, a Kurdish official.
"In the 1970s, the Kurdish (political) movement was
active inside Baghdad due to the large Fayli
population there. Authorities at that time planned
to cleanse them to remove their influence and to
benefit financially by confiscating their property."
Qaradaghi said several of the Fayli witnesses face
obstacles to regain their Iraqi citizenship. The
Kurdistan Regional Government offered to provide
Faylis with identity cards, but the issue largely
rests with Baghdad, she said.
The Iraqi High Tribunal is to consider whether the
crimes committed against the Faylis amount to
genocide.
Copyright, respective author or news agency, UPI
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
® 