|
Halabja's unfinished business
28.1.2010
By Mariwan Hama-Saeed |
|
|
|
January
28, 2010
Mariwan Hama-Saeed is an Iraqi
Kurdish journalist who, as a child, survived the
1988 Halabja poison gas massacre in which some 5,000
people died. Here he argues that the execution on
Monday of Saddam Hussein aide Ali Hassan al-Majid,
who was convicted of ordering the bombardment, is
not enough to heal the wounds Halabja left.
I remember 16 March as if it was yesterday.
I remember the roar of military aircraft overhead,
hiding in my family's shelter with family and
friends, and emerging hours later to find twisted,
deformed bodies lying in the street. I remember
people crushed under buildings and crying for help.
And I remember the black smoke from the napalm
bombs, which billowed into the sky as we fled on
foot to Iran.
I was eight years old.
When I was a child, the name Ali Hassan al-Majid
always scared me. It reminded me of the horror I
witnessed and the relatives I lost. In Halabja, we
so feared "Chemical Ali" that no one dared mention
his name in public until after the 1991 Kurdish
uprising, when Kurdish fighters gained control of
three provinces in northern Iraq.
|
Mariwan Hama-Saeed is an editor and online training
coordinator with the Institute for War & Peace
Reporting's Iraq programme |
Political capital
When Chemical Ali was arrested by US troops in
August 2003, I was in shock for days. I could not
believe that the man responsible for our atrocity,
and also for killing so many Iraqi Shia Muslims,
would actually be brought to justice.
I was just as shocked by his hanging this week. He
was executed quietly and without much fanfare. I
learned of his hanging from a local radio announcer
who screamed over the airwaves: "Congratulations to
you, the people of Halabja! Chemical Ali has been
brought to justice."
I had wanted Majid to pay for his crime but the
hanging seemed more of an ambush than an execution.
It will likely be used to stir up more sentiments
against the remnants of Saddam Hussein's Baath
party,www.ekurd.netahead
of the March parliamentary election but will not
bring Halabja residents justice in the true sense of
the word.
Halabja's survivors continue to suffer health
problems and live in poverty more than 20 years
after the chemical attack. They have died of cancer
and respiratory problems, and given birth to
children with deformities which doctors say were
caused by the chemicals.
The town has long been considered a symbol of
Kurdish suffering and the atrocities of the Baathist
regime. Since the attack, politicians have used
Halabja as a political card, with Kurdish, Arab and
American leaders parading through to express their
utmost sympathy. They then drive away, leaving
behind their unfulfilled promises to help my people.
Majid's hanging seems equally political. Prior to
the Halabja trial, he was given four death sentences
for killing thousands of Shia Muslims and Kurds in
the 1980s and early 1990s.
I have no doubt that his hanging will be used as
political capital by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri
Maliki's Shia Dawa Party. As we approach the
election, Shia parties are competing over who is the
toughest on Baathists.
The campaigning, which has yet to officially launch,
is revolving around anti-Baath rhetoric, especially
in the Shia-dominated south.
A committee tasked with rooting out Baathism from
Iraqi politics recently banned more than 500
candidates for having ties with or promoting the
Baath party.
In this climate, Mr Maliki's party can boast that
during his era two of the most notorious figures in
Baathist history - Chemical Ali and Saddam Hussein -
were hanged. And since the anti-Baath rhetoric has
never been higher in the south,www.ekurd.netthe
embattled prime minister will stand a good chance of
winning the election there.
Still suffering
As a survivor of the chemical attack, I am no fan of
the Baathists. I and other victims feel relieved
that the man responsible for the death of their
loved ones and the source of their pain is gone.
But we are living in the present, not the past.
Chemical Ali's execution will be trumpeted by
political parties but it will not bring Halabja the
healthcare, jobs and basic services that it needs.
His arrest and trial have done nothing to improve
the quality of life of the survivors.
The authorities can claim that Chemical Ali's
execution brought justice to Halabja but the reality
is that our pain and struggle is far from over.
The victims are left suffering, those who helped the
regime produce chemical weapons may get away with
their crimes and some political parties may rise to
power because of it.
Mariwan Hama-Saeed is an editor and online
training coordinator with the Institute for War &
Peace Reporting's Iraq programme. His view does not
necessarily represent the views of IWPR or the BBC.
Share this story:
Copyright, respective author or news agency,
bbc co.uk
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
®
