Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is on trial for
genocide. He is accused of ordering the Anfal
campaign -- a military operation against Iraqi Kurds
two decades ago. Prosecutors say 180,000 Kurds were
killed and thousands of villages wiped out.
Kurdish-American filmmaker Jano Rosebiani has tried
to convey the magnitude of the devastation in a
series of documentary films, with victims and
survivors telling their own stories. VOA's Brian
Padden reports from the northern city of Erbil, in
the heart of the Kurdistan region.
Erbil, Kurdistan-Iraq, September 19 , -- A
Kurdish mother shows her anguish as she recalls how
her husband and eight children were killed during
the Iraqi Anfal campaign. It is one of many
emotional interviews in Jano Rosebiani's
documentary, called "Mass Graves."
Rosebiani is a Kurdish-American filmmaker. He says
he made "Mass Graves" to bring to light the
atrocities that occurred during the rule of Saddam
Hussein.
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Jano Rosebiani, Kurdish-American filmmaker
Photo:VOA |
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"I felt like no one was
actually doing any films or documentaries in
detail,” he says, “nothing deep enough to really get
the viewer outside of the region to really
understand the tragedy that took place here, or the
extent of it, the fact that we can actually call it
genocide."
Rosebiani produced three
documentaries, "Mass Graves," "Chemical Ali" and
"Weapon Of Mass Destruction" with financial support
from the U.S. government.
All three films use eyewitness accounts to detail
atrocities allegedly committed by Saddam Hussein's
regime. People tell of seeing their loved ones
tortured and killed in front of them, of being
forced to flee their homes, of surviving chemical
attacks and of the sense of isolation.
One man said he was able to escape to a Turkish
refugee camp, but officials there refused to
acknowledge that he was a victim of a chemical
attack.
"We would tell the Turks about the chemicals,” said
the former refugee. “They would tell us to shut our
mouths. They would say, 'You have been burned by
fire.' "
Rosebiani was also given access to video shot by the
Iraqi military, documenting torture and killings.
Rosebiani says the films are hard to watch.
"It was really a nightmare to go through it. I would
look at my (the) babies, and start thinking of the
stories they were telling me about, what was
happening to their babies. You know, sometimes I
feel like I would go mad."
Now that Saddam Hussein and six of his former
military commanders are on trial for genocide
against the Kurds, there is a sense of satisfaction
for Rosebiani. He says his films set the stage for
the current trial by making the case against Saddam
in the court of world opinion.
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