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Halabja protest turns violent
17.3.2006
By IWPR contributors in Halabja (ICR No. 168,
16-Mar-06)
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One
person is killed as thousands voice their anger at
authorities who they believe exploit their misery
and do nothing to help them recover from Saddam’s
gas attack.
The authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan faced a major
challenge today, March 16, as residents of Halabja –
scene of a chemical attack 18 years ago - took to
the streets in anger at what they said was cynical
exploitation of their plight by local politicians.
A 17-year-old boy was killed and dozens more injured
in clashes with Kurdish security forces after around
2,000 locals – mostly young men – staged street
protests to prevent officials getting into Halabja
and taking part in ceremonies to mark the
anniversary of the 1988 gas attack by Saddam
Hussein’s military, in which 5,000 people died.
Officials from Halabja, in Sulaimaniyah province,
had rolled out red carpets for the day of mourning.
Earlier in the week, protest organisers had promised
a peaceful sit-down action designed to embarrass the
visiting dignitaries and block their access to the
town.
But a build-up of security forces in the town
suggested the authorities were determined to ensure
everything went according to plan.
International delegates from Hiroshima and Italy
visited the memorial on March 15, the day before the
official anniversary.
On March 16, the ceremonies were called off after
three hours of unrest during which demonstrators
burnt tires, rolled rocks into the road or lay down
there themselves to prevent officials driving into
the town.
One group of stone-throwing demonstrators stormed
the monument to the victims of the chemical attack,
torching it and sending black smoke billowing over
the town. Some said the memorial was no more than a
“bank" which helped officials raise cash to line
their own pockets.
Protesters also set fire to a museum honouring
victims of the gas attack after smashing furniture
and windows and ripping down photos there.
"Is this a place of martyrs or a bar?" asked Kameron
Aziz, emptying out a refrigerator stocked with
drinks including beer for the visiting officials.
"Why shouldn't we set it on fire? This is a day of
mourning, and our officials want to drink."
IWPR reporters witnessed Kurdish security forces
opening fire on those who had stormed the memorial.
Kurda Ahmed, 17, was hit in the abdomen by a police
rifle bullet, said eyewitnesses, who also alleged
that a member of the security forces shot him again
in the side, firing a pistol at close range.
Ahmed died in Halabja hospital. A doctor who treated
him but asked not to be named confirmed that he was
hit by two different bullets.
Ten others were treated for injuries, the doctor
reported, including four who were still in critical
condition with gunshot wounds. Demonstration
organisers said at least 100 people were beaten by
security forces.
"This is a repeat of the Halabja tragedy," said
Mariwan Halabjaee, one of the organisers. "What
police and security have done is the same as the
Baathists."
A security official who asked to remain anonymous
said police responded with gunfire after
demonstrators fired at them first. He said several
protesters were detained briefly but all had been
released.
The northern Kurdish territories have largely been
immune from the violence plaguing the rest of Iraq.
Police in Baghdad found 25 bodies of men shot
execution-style on march 15 and 16, while to the
north of the capital, United States and Iraqi forces
launched major air assaults on Samarra.
Kurdistan may be the safest part of Iraq, but young
people here have grown increasingly angry at the
regional authorities who should be looking after
them but whom they accuse of inaction, complacency
and corruption.
As the placards carried by protesters made plain,
there is a strong sense in Halabja that officials
quietly ignore the real needs of survivors at the
same time as playing up the town’s terrible history,
which is emblematic of Saddam’s oppression of the
Kurds and thus serves justification for a strongly
decentralised Kurdish entity.
Year after year, politicians from the two leading
Kurdish parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan,
PUK, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, come to pay
tribute to the victims and pledge help to regenerate
the town. But local people say nothing gets done –
infrastructure is in a state of collapse, the roads
are unpaved, houses still bear the damage they
suffered in Saddam’s war with Iran, and healthcare
provision is poor even though the attack left
thousands of survivors with a legacy of respiratory
disease, cancer and other problems.
"I want compensation," said Ali Hassan Saleh, who
lost two children in the chemical attack and accuses
the PUK of failing to provide the house it promised
him. "The government hasn't paid attention to this
town. We need proper services."
The authorities in Sulaimaniyah, the seat of one of
Kurdistan’s two administrations, appeared
unrepentant, with the PUK branding the protestors as
"terrorists" and deputy prime minister Emad Ahmed
saying, "This is an act of sabotage, and we are
investigating."
Mahdi Mahmood, who represents the Islamic Union of
Kurdistan in Halabja, said all the main political
parties had agreed to investigate the violence and
also to form a committee to address residents'
demands.
It may take more than that to rebuild public
confidence.
"We were just asking for our rights," said Habi
Taoufiq Abdullah, who was treated in hospital after
being shot in the hip. "We didn't deserve this
response."
Reporting by IWPR Kurdish editor Mariwan Hama-Saeed
and IWPR trainee journalists Amanj Khalil, Ayub
Karim and Ismail Osman in Halabja.
www.iwpr.net
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