April
19, 2007
Call on a parliamentary study into the possible role
of the Dutch government in the sale of thousands of
barrels of raw materials for poison gasses to Iraq.
Nineteen years ago (16 March 1988) the Kurdish city
of Halabja was bombarded with chemical weapons by
the Iraqi Baath regime of Saddam Hussein. As a
consequence of this atrocious crime againist
humanity, 5,000 men, women, and children perished
off the face of the earth.
The majority of the survivors of Halabja to this
very moment suffer from the worst stages and types
of cancers and tumors as a result of the synergistic
effect of the chemical weapons used. To this day
many women cannot bear children, and if they can a
majority of them are born with major birth deffects.
The Dutch buiness man and chemical weapons trader
Frans Van Anraat provided the Saddam Hussein regime
with all of the raw necessary materials and
chemicals in order to produce mustard gas and a
cocktail of nerve gases.
Not only did he provide the chemical materials, but
he also provided Hussein and his regime with the
technical components and institutions for poison gas
fabrics.
These chemical weapons were used against civilians
and non-civilians during the Iran-Iraq war which
lasted from 1980 until 1988. On 16 March 1988 5,000
innocent civilians in the Kurdish city of Halabja
perished within a matter of hours, all victims of
Saddam Husseins ethnic cleansing policy against the
Kurds named “Al Anfal” campain. The attack on
Halabja to this day is the largest single chemical
weapons attack on any human population. |
Frans van Anraat, a Dutch businessman who sold
chemicals to Saddam used in gas attacks on
Kurdish villages in Iraq in the 1980s
Former dictator Saddam Hussein
Photo : AFP |
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After the Iraqi regime fell in April of 2003 Dutch
business man Frans Van Anraat fled Baghdad where he
was a guest of the Saddam regime and took up
residence in Amsterdamse Staatsliedenbuurt. On
december 17th, 2004 he confessed that it was a so
called “safe house” for the AIVD.
Van Anraat was a suspected AIVD informant. This was
later on proved by telephone conversations that were
being recorded. Also so six weeks prior he had
obtained a new passport for his travels. In December
of 2005 he was convicted and sentenced to 15 years
in prison.
Although the Dutch businessman has been condemned by
the courts, the role of the Dutch government in this
atrocious genocide has been never examined.
We request the following questions be answered:
1. Was the Dutch government informed about the sale
of raw materials for poison gases to the regime of
Saddam Hussein, if so what kind of information did
they have?
2. If no, then how can thousands of barrels of raw
chemical material be exported to Iraq with the
knowing of the Dutch Government?
3. What was the role of the Dutch customs office in
this acquisition?
4. What role have the Dutch chemical companies
played in the production and sale of raw materials
and poison gases to the regime of Saddam Hussin?
5. What was the role of the AIVD? Why was the Dutch
business man in one of their Amsterdam “safe houses”
in 2004? And what is the relation between the AIVD
and this bussinesman?
6. Why was he earlier released without reasons and
who decided this?
7. What responsibility does the Dutch government
hold to the victims of this crime?
In a democratic state like The Netherlands, it is of
great importance that the role of the Dutch
government in this atrocious crime be identified and
recognized so therefore this crime or any one like
it never occur again under the auspices of a
democratic state whom is a part of the European
Union, a union of nations that sets an example when
it comes to human rights and the rights of every
individual.
Our intention is to collect 100,000 signatures of
support from the people of The Netherlands
Yes I also support the call to the first House of
Commons for a parliamentary study into possible role
of the Dutch government in the sale of thousands of
barrels of raw materials of poison gases which were
used to kill innocent people to the regime of Saddam
Hussein in the 1980’s.
Initiators:
Gohdar Massom, State member of North Holland
Kurdish Youth and Student Union in the Netherlands
Kurdish Federation in the Netherlands (FEDKOM)
Kurdish Club Midia in the Netherlands
The Center of Halabja (CHAK)
Koerdish Youth Council in the Netherlands
International Kurdish Women Affairs in the
Netherlands (IKWA)
Visit
http://kurd4all.nl
About Frans van Anraat
Frans Cornelis Adrianus van Anraat (born August 9,
1942 in Den Helder) is a Dutch businessman who sold
raw materials for the production of chemical weapons
to Iraq during the reign of Saddam Hussein.
During the 1970's Van Anraat worked at engineering
companies in Italy, Switzerland and Singapore that
were building chemical plants in Iraq. Having
learned about the trade in chemicals, he founded his
own company, "FCA Contractor", based in Bissone,
Switzerland. From 1984 he supplied thousands of tons
of chemicals to Iraq.
Among these chemicals were the essential raw
materials for producing mustard gas and nerve gas.
Both gases were used during the Iran-Iraq war
between 1980-1988 as well as during an attack the
military carried out on Iraqi Kurds in 1988, in
which some 5,000 people were killed. This attack was
part of the Al-Anfal campaign of the Iraqi regime
against Kurds in the north of the country.
After his arrest and release in Italy in 1989, Van
Anraat fled to Iraq, where he lived for the next 14
years. When Saddam's regime fell in 2003, Van Anraat
returned to the Netherlands. He was arrested on
December 6, 2004 for complicity to war crimes and
genocide. On December 23, he was sentenced to
fifteen years in prison for complicity to war
crimes, but the court argued the charges of
complicity to genocide could not be substantiated.
The public prosecutor appealed the verdict. This
case is also notable, because it established that
the chemical bombings in North Iraq constituted
genocide according to the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Soon after his arrest, Dutch newspapers reported
that Van Anraat had been an informer of the Dutch
secret service AIVD.
Van Anraat is the only Dutchman ever to appear on
the FBI's most wanted list.
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