Memory & recognition
The Halabja genocide: memory, dignity and justice
Remembering the victims of the chemical attack on Halabja on 16 March 1988, and the responsibility to preserve their memory.
Photograph supplied for this website.
On 16 March 1988, Iraqi forces under Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist regime attacked Halabja with chemical weapons. Thousands of civilians were killed in this Kurdish city. The Kurdistan Regional Government cites an estimated 5,000 deaths.
Halabja belongs to the history of genocide against the Kurdish people. Human Rights Watch documents the attack alongside the wider campaign of persecution, while distinguishing it from the eight military operations formally known as Anfal. That distinction helps preserve an accurate historical record without separating Halabja from the suffering of Kurdish communities.
Remembering people, defending dignity
Behind every number is a person, a family and a life that cannot be replaced. Remembering Halabja means treating victims with dignity, listening to survivors and protecting the evidence that helps future generations understand what happened.
For Janwar, remembrance is connected to human rights: resisting denial, supporting accountability and defending communities threatened by persecution. The memory of Halabja calls for solidarity that reaches beyond borders.
Sources and further reading
Historical background: Human Rights Watch, Genocide in Iraq: The Anfal Campaign Against the Kurds (1993), chapter 3; Kurdistan Regional Government Representation in the United States, History of Kurdistan Region.