Iraqi government should fulfill its 'moral duty' and compensate Halabja victims: PM Barzani

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi government should fulfill its "moral duty" to compensate the victims of the 1988 Halabja chemical weapons attack, Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani said on Wednesday, on the 34th anniversary of that atrocity. 

"On this tragic occasion, we reiterate that the Iraqi federal government should fulfill its moral duty in compensating the relatives of martyrs, injured, and those affected by the Halabja chemical attacks," Barzani wrote in a statement on Wednesday. 

The prime minister later said that the federal government is obligated to pay compensation for that crime under Article 132 of the Iraqi Constitution. 

"The State shall guarantee care for the families of the martyrs, political prisoners, and victims of the oppressive practices of the defunct dictatorial regime," Article 132 (1) says. 

In 2014, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) recognized Halabja as its fourth governorate after Erbil, Sulaimani, and Duhok.

In late 2021, Barzani decreed the establishment tourism department for the province as part of completing the provincial structure of the Kurdish city. 

Halabja's administrative positions are occupied mainly by women, including the mayor, municipality head, university president, and head of the provincial human rights office.

The Kurdistan Region commemorates the Halabja massacre every year on Mar. 16. On Mar. 16, 1988, the former Iraqi Baathist regime dropped chemical weapons on that town, killing 5,000 civilians, including women and children. More than 10,000 were also injured, some of whom are still suffering from the long-term health consequences of the attacks. 

The KRG has repeatedly called on its federal counterpart to compensate the victims of atrocities against Kurds committed by the former Iraqi regimes, including the infamous Anfal Campaign (1986-89) that killed an estimated 180,000 Kurds.