A brief history of Halabja
Historical sources indicate that Halabja was built in the beginning of 1850s and some
others say that it is older than that. (Slide 3)
The same sources consider the Jaff tribe as the founder of Halabja town. (slide 4)
Halabja lies in northeast of Iraq. It is situated between 35-36 north longitudes, and is
80 kilometres from the south-eastern city of Sulaimaniyah. It is 16 km away from
Iran. (slide 5)
Population of Halabja, including surrounding villages, according to the statistics of
1977 was about 90,000 people. After expulsion of Baath regime and reconstruction of
Halabja in 1990s, according to another statistic the population increased to about
120,000 people. (slide 6)
The religion of the vast majority of people of Halabja is Islam and it is the birth place
of many Islamic scholars. (slide 7)
The native language of people of Halabja is Kurdish. (slide 8)
Halabja before the attack
Since 1889, Halabja has been the site of struggle and confrontation between the Jaff
tribes and their opponents. Famous leaders of the Jaff tribe include Adila Khanim who
ruled from 1909—1924 and played a crucial role in gather support from the people of
Halabja for the rebellion of Sheikh Mahmood against the British. (slide 9)
During the years 1930s to 1980s several political movements and parties appeared and
established their cells in Halabja. Moreover, since those years up till now people of
Halabja have performed many political and military activities against the oppressions
of the successive governments of Iraq which was why it was always targeted by those
regimes. (slide 10)
Halabja was bombarded many times by Iraqi armed forces during 1960s to 1980s such
as in 1963 General Zayeem Sadiq burned major sections of the town of Halabja.
Resistance continued in the following years but flared up again in 1974. In that year,
Halabja was a major headquarters from which the Peshmerga launched their
revolution, and the regime reacted with another bombardment that began on April 26,
1974. Fifty-two civilians were killed in that bombardment and many more were left
with chronic disabilities. On May 12, 1987, the Baathist regime attacked
demonstrations held by the people of Halabja with war helicopters and tanks. Twelve
people were killed during the bombardment, and several wounded were later buried
alive by Baathist security force (these bodies were uncovered in 1991). Then the
regime began to wait for another pretext to attack the town. Demonstrations against
the regime had been organized from 1980-1988, and the regime always responded
with arms. (slide 11)
The catastrophe of Hallabja chemical bombardment time is
night of 13th /14th march 1988. The people of Halabja
intensely hear sounds of bombs and rockets, due to Iraq-Iran
war, they already got acquainted with the sounds of warplanes
and bombardment, but the sounds and echoes of this time is
different, it is a raining-like firing. The horizon of the Mountains is sparkling. (slide
12)
On March 16 1988, as the sun rises, (slide 13)
people flood into the streets, bazaar, and alleys as usual. Hallabja Square is crowded
around. The downtown of Hallabja is flooding with mass murmuring. Some of those
people, who left the city in the evening and most of them stayed on the Mountains,
return to the city in the next day afternoon. (slide 14)
The time is a beautiful spring with a spotless sky. The season is moderate. A dark
green plain shows itself. Time is 11:45 am; it is time for midday praying. (slide 15)
Most of the families are setting table for lunch. (slide 16)
Suddenly the sound of planes excites the city, along with stunning booms of bomb
explosions. Everything is confused. The booms and sounds of the explosions are so
high that shake and bring the city to earthquake. Smokes and screams, and
supplications of the children, women, and elders excite the sky. Flocks of planes
come in every ten seconds and unmercifully pour their anger over the city. A filthy
dark cloud dominates the sky of the city. Doors, windows, and shutters of the shops
and houses smashed down- they cannot resist to the explosions. There are
bombardments in every corner. People of the city are so confused that they are
scattered and left their homes and places. They set to run away outside the city.
Those who have basements slip into them, hoping for escape at any time. The
bombardment has heavily struck the city since it was started up to 2 pm. just like the
ants’ creeping, the escapees are moving towards outside of the city in all directions. It
is very hard for everyone to survive in such circumstance. The survivors got either
blind or burnt, or faint and unconscious for several days. Livestock and animals are
not far from the catastrophe- the streets that are full of chemical gases also embrace
them. That mist over Halabja was composed of Sarin, Tabun, mustard gas and nerve
agents such as VX. If you overlook the city from distance, a dark red, orange and
white colored-smoke shadows over it. The stinky smell of fruits and sewages spread
around the city. (slide 17)
In this massacre more than 5 thousand innocent civilians lost their lives within few
minutes and more than 10 thousand people were hideously injured and suffer to this
day. (slides 18 & 19)
Finally, after the liberation of Iraq the key people who committed this crime (Saddam
Hussein Al-Majid, former president of Iraq and Ali Hassan Al-Majid, cousin of
Saddam and former minister of defence) after several trials were sentenced to death
for their crimes. (slide 20)
Who were the suppliers of chemicals?!
Precursor chemicals and manufacturing equipment came from a variety of sources the government of Iraq had a great deal of indigenous capacity for manufacturing the
weapons.
Many of the shells found at Halabja have Soviet markings.
With regard to Western companies, there is data pointing to 85 German, 19 French, 18
British and 18 US suppliers. (slide 21)
On the 28th of February 2013, the United Kingdom House of Commons, in a
parliamentary debate, passed a motion recognising as genocide the March 16th 1988
poison gas attack by Iraqi forces on the Kurdish town of Halabja.
The parliament resolved:
that this House formally recognises the genocide against the people of Iraqi Kurdistan;
encourages governments, the EU and UN to do likewise; believes that this will enable
Kurdish people, many in the UK, to achieve justice for their considerable loss; and
further believes that it would enable the UK, the home of democracy and freedom, to
send out a message of support for international conventions and human rights, which
is made even more pressing by the slaughter in Syria and the possible use of chemical
arsenals. (slide 22)
After the revolution of Kurdish people in 1991 against Baath regime Halabja was
renovated and reconstructed and it is currently under the control of Kurdistan
Regional Government. (slides 23 & 24)