Ethnic Cleansing of Kurds in Iraq Violates U.N. Resolutions
U.S. Must Lead Efforts to Halt Abuses, Maintain Pressure on Saddam
September 3, 1997
Washington, D.C. — In a letter today to Secretary of State Madeline Albright, the Washington Kurdish Institute called upon the U.S. Administration to demand an end to Saddam Hussein’s ethnic cleansing of Kirkuk, a Kurdish region rich in oil resources. Text of the letter follows:
“The forced deportation of thousands of Kurdish and Turkomen families constitutes a blatant violation of international law and stands in direct contravention of UN Resolution 688, which obligates the Iraqi regime to refrain from repressing its citizens. Since 1963, Iraqi regimes have sought to strengthen their hold on the important economic and strategic province of Kirkuk. Efforts to increase the Arab population of the predominantly Kurdish area have led to mass deportations and destruction of hundreds of Kurdish villages. In the 1980s, the ethnic cleansing campaign was directed against Turkomens as well. Families have been forced from their ancestral homelands and relocated in southern Iraq or in parts of Iraqi Kurdistan already burdened by repeated humanitarian crises. In advance of an Iraqi census, the demographics of the area are being irrevocably altered — Kurds no longer constitute a majority of the population.
“In the past year, this brutal campaign has escalated under Governor Ali Hassan Al-Mageed, an immediate cousin of Saddam Hussein. An official decree dictates that any individual not registered as an “Arab” will be deported and their property seized. In the last two weeks alone, according to local reports, 440 Kurdish families were ordered to leave homes in Jalula and Qara-Tepa, twelve houses in a nearby village were bulldozed, and Iraqi authorities were registering hundreds of other families for future deportation.
“It is tragic and ironic that such policies are carried out at a time when the easing of UN sanctions against Iraq is increasingly considered. We believe it is imperative that UN Resolutions on Iraq be fully implemented. Otherwise, Saddam will be emboldened to further abuse his own people, and will more vigorously circumvent UN monitoring of military activity and production of weapons of mass destruction.
“Turning a blind-eye to ethnic cleansing in Kirkuk sends the wrong message and infers a weakening of international resolve in the face of Saddam’s threats. As in Bosnia, the U.S. government should lead efforts against genocide and ethnic cleansing. Before any consideration is given to easing international pressure on Baghdad, ethnic cleansing in Iraqi Kurdistan must cease, and deportees be allowed to return home and recover their property.”