The Al- Anfal Campaign
Genocide and Gendercide
Who was involved
- World War 1 ends and the Treaty of Sèvres is signed between the Allies and the Ottoman Empire, promising the Kurds a land of their own.
Genocide: The deliberate killing of a large group of people, esp. those of a particular group or nation.
- Kurdish mountain homeland is divided into four new states, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and the Soviet Union, as well as Iran
- Feared the spread of Islam
- United States supplied Saddam Hussein
- Kurdish have been around since distant antiquity
Approx. 20-25 million people
- Largest group of people without a state of their own
- The lands located in Iraq that the Kurdish lived in were rich in oil resources, resulting in conflict with the Government in Baghdad
- Later captured Saddam Hussein and hung him
- President/Dictator of Iraq's Ba'ath Regime
Gendercide: The systematic killing of members of a specific sex
- Opposed Israel and the spread of Islam
- Hanged on December 30, 2006
Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq (KDP)
- Ba'ath Party offers Kurds rights/land for themselves, but starts expelling Kurdish farmers for poor Arab tribesmen
- Resistance organization that rises up against Saddam
- Cousin to Saddam Hussein
- Governor of Northern Iraq and equivalent in power to Saddam Hussein in the Northern region.
- Secretary General of the Northern Bureau of the Ba'ath Party
- had overall command of the ruthless operations concerning the Kurdish people
- Two Barzani tribe members led the KDP with only a part of the tribe participating with them
- KDP tries to fight back, but fails and the Kurdish flee into the mountains
- al-Majid comes into power and the Anfal operation begins
Why
World's Reaction
Geographical location
- At the time the genocide occured, no one spoke out
- Saddam Hussein(and the rest of the Ba'ath regime) wanted to get rid of non-Arab populations so they could control the region for themselves.
Books
- The World Condemned Saddam Hussein's actions after learning about it
Movies
Interview
Reflection
- Some of the Kurdish population fought with the Iranians against the Iraq's
- Collection of analytical pieces of information and literature pertaining to the treatment of the Kurds throughout history.
Kulajo: My Heart is Darkened
- Never heard of the al-anfal campaign
- Six different geographical areas
- United States originally didn't acknowledge Saddam's genocidal actions. However, eventually the United States took action and helped topple Saddam from power.
- A documentary on the Anfal genocide, consisting of personal accounts of the events from the point of view of people from a small farming village
- Kurdish people are outsiders to the Iraqis and seen as a nuisance
- Surprised at the attrocites committed and the United States's part in them
Kurdistan: Genocide and Rebirth: The destruction of Kurdistan and its rebuilding
- Didn't even know their was a Kurdish nationality, or that they lacked their own nation, despite there being 20 million of them
- A Kurdish man's personal account of living under the Saddam regime, offering insight upon life in iraq for the Kurdish peopel
- A subtitled documentary covering the more widespread accounts of the victims of the Anfal Compaign
What happened
The Result
- 8 Iraqi militaristic operation's against the Kurdish people
- 50,000 to 182,000 Kurds have been killed
- Each operation, or stage followed roughly the same pattern
- Aerial Bombings and Chemical attacks
- Military surrounds target area and loots, destroys and sets fire to anything in their path
- Secret Police search the towns for any surviving Kurds
2. Symbolization
3. Dehumanization
1. Classification
- The Al-Anfal Campaign Contributed to the United States (military) involvement in Iraq
There is really no symbol placed
on the Kurds.
- Notable the chemical attack on Halabja where thousands of civilians died
- Registering for citizenship gave two options for their nationality, Arab or Kurdish
- The Kurds are seen as outcasts
since they have no country of their
own.
- They are stripped of their rights and have freedom
- The Ba'ath Party
- Iraqi government led and
organized the attacks
- The Kurds are treated and seen like outcasts.
- lasted between 1986 and 1989 during the final stages of the Iraq-Iran war.
- Banned from certain areas, with a shoot-to-kill policy
- The US unintentionally aided in the genocide by supplying Iraqis with weapons
8. Denial
7. Extermination
6. Preparation
5. Polarization
- Ali-Hassan Al Majid was outraged at the estimated number of deaths
- Government on all levels conspired against the Kurdish people
- Thousands of men were kidnapped and taken to camps
- Everyone else was either left behind or exiled to desert land with no aid
- Men, anyone considered old enough to fire a gun, would be captured, tortured, beaten, killed without reason
- Multiple chem strikes were ordered on innocent civilians
- Some were also used for chemical testing
- Anfal celebrated in Iraqi media