Kurdish PEN Centre comments on Saddam Hussein’s Trial for his Anfal Campaign

Bremen-Homburg, Germany 23rd August, 2006

On the 21st of August, 2006, a new genocide trial against the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and six co-defendants has been started for their campaign of 19871988 in Kurdistan.

As it becomes obvious to the international community, the real aim of the Iraqi regime has been the total elimination of the Kurds through the gas attacks and mass killings and erasing any trait of their history. This resulted in hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths, thousands of destroyed villages and poisoned nature in Kurdistan. Many more people have been tortured and displaced during this notorious Anfal campaign after a Koranic phrase that refers to ‘the spoils of war’.

The Kurdish PEN Centre:

• may provide en extensive list of murdered writers and teachers as well as of demolished schools and cultural objects by the Iraqi military;

• believes in civilised and legal approach towards the perpetrators of crimesagainst humanity in Iraq or elsewhere;

• hopes that the case shall become a lesson to those who thinks of eliminating the Kurds or any other big or small nation on the earth;

• is convinced that the national and international figures and institutions shall stop using the pretext of realpolitik to cover up deeds of oppressors;

• will tirelessly contribute to healthy literary and artistic exchanges between Kurds, Arabs and other nations of the region for the sake of peace and mutual respect;

• expects the active involvement of the international cultural organisations including UNESCO in exploring of damages done to the historical, cultural and religious monuments in Kurdistan during the Anfal campaign.

Kurdish PEN Centre

Navenda PENa Kurd, Dresdner Bank, Konto-Nr. 4 757 403 00, Blz.: 700 800 00
IBAN: DE56 7008 0000 0475 7403 00
S.W.I.F.T.: DRESDEFF700