Anfal and the Rwandan genocide

This text was published in Xebat the 27th December 2008.

I visited Iraqi Kurdistan spring and autumn this year and collected information about Anfal. The scale of Saddam's destruction and the horrifying nature of Anfal shocked me.

After returning to my native country Finland, I searched information about Anfal and genocides in general. It surprised me how little there is information in internet about Anfal. For example about the Rwandan genocide there is so many documents, best seller books and popular movies, for example “Hotel Rwanda” which was a candidate for three Oscar awards, the most respected movie awards in the world. It did not win any of them, but even a candidacy is a good achievement.

The Rwandan genocide occurred 1994, also five years later than Anfal. Why the international community has recognized the genocide that happened in Africa but not a similar case in Iraq? In addition, it is not doing anything even now when the Allies have liberated Iraq from Saddam’s tyranny! Why his atrocities are not being surveyed intensively?

When I have asked Kurds to explain this to me, many people have spoken about the Western support to Saddam Hussein during the 1980s. That was the time of Iraq-Iran war. NATO countries sold weapons to Saddam and he used them against his own citizens. Now these countries are ashamed for this and do not want the truth to come to day light.

Kurds and KRG want Anfal to become internationally recognized. Before the international community can announce Anfal as genocide, it must know what Anfal is.

Iraq war is the hottest topic in international mass media. There are several well selling books about it, and new ones are published all the time. They are sold as cheap paperback editions. Readers can buy them easily via internet in every part of the world, except not in Iraq. There are plenty of books also about the Sudan civil war, the Afghanistan war and the Rwandan genocide. Anfal is absolutely as important news topic as them but information about it is missing in the international forums.

Kurds should not wait passively than foreign writers and filmmakers come to Kurdistan to document Anfal. That might happen, or might not.

Kurds must arrange very many things to clear the destruction, which Saddam left. You have to handle the every day problems of the genocide survivors. It is not an easy work to document the genocide in addition to that and distribute the information to international forums. For Armenians it took several generations. The Armenian genocide occurred 1915 but only now the international community is little by little starting to recognize it.

But if the Kurds do not do this work by themselves, no one else will neither do it. It is unfair that it is the responsibility of the victim to get justice. However, so it is.

If you Kurds want Anfal to be recognized as genocide, you must make international lobby for it. There must be a long perspective plan for it. Despite it is difficult thing in a chaotic country where the urgent problems take all the attention of the decision makers. Nevertheless, it is the only way to reach the target, international recognition of Anfal.

Merry Christmas from Hewlêr!

I took this picture in Hewlêr bazar today the 24th December 2008.

Kirkuk, a multicultural city

Advertisement of a Turkmen festival held in Kirkuk in November 2008. Kirkuk Turkmen are not so similar to Turks than the Turkish state claims.

There was a massive suicide bomb attack in Kirkuk during Eid al-Adha, the 11th December 2008. Fifty people died.

News from Kirkuk in international mass media is always like this: big bomb explosion, small bomb explosion, attack, murder. There is no information about the every day life.

I visited Kirkuk five times during this year. In autumn 2008 I spent six days in Kirkuk province.

What did I see? People who try to keep the normal daily routines despite very heavy military presence. They wait desperately Article 140 to be put on action.

Despite its enormous oil resources, Kirkuk is a poor no one’s land: Baghdad government is controlling it but not developing its infrastructure, fearing that the city will fall to the hands of Kurds. KRG is doing some social and health programs there (for example Roz) but its share of the budget of Iraq is meant to the provinces of Dohuk, Erbil and Sulaymania, not to the Kurdish provinces outside the region.

Many people told me about the pre-Saddam Kirkuk. It was nice multicultural city with lots of tolerance and respect to other ethnic groups. Traditionally most inhabitants in Kirkuk are Kurds and Turkmen; most Arabs have arrived there recently (and are also victims of Saddam’s terror, they have been deported from the Delta area in South Iraq). Many Kurds and Turkmen speak both languages and mixed marriages are common.

People repeated that the problems and tension in Kirkuk are led from outside, Kirkuk residents want to have a peaceful life but there are too many foreign groups acting in Kirkuk.

I spoke also with many Turkmen. When they heard a foreigner speaking Turkish they started to pour their despair on me, how the world does not know what the Turkmen of Kirkuk want: peace. Turkman is different language than Turkish (which I cannot well), I did not understand much else from their speeches that they were desperate.

Since the Kurdish uprising 1991, Turkey has supported Jabhat Turkmen -party in Kirkuk to sabotage Kurdistan becoming independent with the oil resources of Kirkuk. Information and experience should have flown to the opposite direction: pre-Saddam Kirkuk was modern multicultural city where different ethnic groups have co-existed centuries in peace and harmony. The Turkish state is built on the false identity of mononationalism and Turks are afraid of multiculturalism. They should not be: the pre-Saddam Kirkuk was an example of this.

Turkish people should learn from the history of Kirkuk and use the experiences of peaceful co-existence for changing Turkey a similar place as Kirkuk was until the Baath party destroyed the atmosphere. But instead of learning something from others Turks wants to bring the repressing Turkish mentality to Kirkuk, and continue the destruction of both Kurds and Turkmen from where Saddam finished his job.

Kirkuk in pictures - 2

I have put to Sahmaran also earlier pictures from Kirkuk, here is some more of them:

The symbol of Kirkuk is fire. These flames - which can be seen when entering Kirkuk from Hewlêr direction - are very famous. But this is not Baba Gurgur, the eternal fire which has been burning four thousand years without a break. Remember that fire is the symbol of Kurdish culture. Maybe it all started here many thousands years ago.... In the battle about Kirkuk it is question of much more than oil.

Kirkuk Bazar is a walking street. Usually cars are not permitted to enter here.

Siniyu self (Turcoman: sini self) is very popular game in Kirkuk during ramazan. Men do not play it at other times.

Stadium where Saddam arranged parades to show his power. Pay attention especially to the Kurdish petrol station on the left. Six per cent of world’s known oil resources are in Kirkuk - but the petrol which is sold on the streets comes from Iran.

A view near Dubiz. Water comes here via a canal from Dohuk reservoir.

Pictures: Kristiina Koivunen