Genocide against Kurdish People - Essay Example

Running head: GENOCIDE AGAINST KURDISH PEOPLE Genocide against Kurdish People and the Involvement of Humanitarian Activism Insert Insert Grade Course Insert Tutor’s Name 21 November 2010 Genocide against Kurdish People and the Involvement of Humanitarian Activism Kurdish people: Background, origin, Struggles for land and identity Quite often, Kurds are normally looked at from a negative perspective. They lack their own nation-state, which makes them to be often referred to as the largest global homeless people. In addition, they are not in any way related to their neighbors who entail Arabs, Turks, and Persians (Schuurman, 2007, p.12). Primarily, they form about 25 million of the entire Middle East population, while topography and speech are key determinants of an ethnic group’s uniqueness. The Kurds are spread over four nations: Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria. A small fraction of the Kurds can be traced in the former Soviet Republic (especially Armenia and Azerbaijan) and Europe particularly Germany. The Kurds form Kurdistan, an imaginary group of people who though may not be officially located on the world map, form a strong imprint in the hearts and minds of the Kurds. The language of the Kurds is Kurdish, which is categorized into two: Kurmanji and Sorani (Schuurman, 2007, p.13). The former is spoken by those residing in the former Soviet Republic and Syria while the latter is used among those that live in Iran and Iraq. Apart from these two language categories there are numerous other dialects. Additionally, three language scripts are common among the Kurds: Latin, Arabic, and Cyrillic (Eller, 1999, p.146). Therefore, the issue of a people united by a common language group to form a defined nationality is normally sophisticated for the case of the Kurds. The nature of the Kurdish tribal convention also makes their identity more fractured. Although the tribes’ effect on the Kurdish society has faded over the last century as a result of changes in both state and economic policies, tribal leaders still hold mandate especially with respect to the village setting. The Kurdish identity is connected to the mountains, even among the urban Kurds. Origin myths also help define people’s identity. One myth suggests that Kurds are descendants of children hid in the mountain to evade the child-eating monster - Zahhak. Another identifies them as King Solomon slave girls’ offspring, fathered by a demon who took refuge to the mountains to escape from the king. A third myth links them to Abraham’s wife who is believed to have been a Kurd (McDowall, 2000, p.4). Most Kurds came from Indo-European tribes that moved towards Iran during the second millennium. Generally, Kurds form a single ethnic group that has maintained a unique identity due to four reasons: demography, geography, an indigenous rather than a recently migrated group and, their tribal and feudal organization structure (Cornell, 2000, p.35). As far as their political history is concerned, the Kurds have been rebellious toward a strong governing authority right from the time Kurdistan was portioned by Great Powers after World War 1. This rebellion determined the way the Kurds were treated by Saddam Hussein in 1980’s and 1990’s. The Kurds experienced political strength between the sixteenth and the eighteenth century. However, they had faced chaos prior to this period. Their autonomy faded during the Ottoman Empire. In Turkey’s fight for independence, during Kemal’s tenure at around 1923, the hopes of Kurdistan being independent were thwarted for many years thereafter. These years were marked by Kurdish rebellion against the governing authorities. Three of them took place between 1925 and 1938 in Turkey. Such rebellions led to the deportation of most of the Kurdish leaders (Schuurman, 2007, p.18). The Kurds from Iran formed a transient Mahabad Republic that saw its leaders lynched after Russian support had vanished. The new Ba’ath party regime led by Hasan al-Bakr and Saddam Hussein (1968-1979) denied Kurds and other Iraq people representation in government. The regime reached out to the Kurds and endorsed an agreement, which did not last for more than a year leading to persecution of some Kurds. After sometime, the Kurds lost both the American support and aid. These combined with the impeding Iraqi attacks fled into Iran where they became refugees. When Saddam eventually took over presidency in Iraq, Kurds and other citizens continued suffering under his tyrannical leadership (Schuurman, 2007, p.22). The rebellious attitude of the Kurdish leaders in Iraq had a great significance at the time of Iran-Iraq war of 1980-1989. During the war, some Kurdish leaders conspired with Iranian forces to fight the Iraqi forces. Saddam’s retribution was manifested in the abduction of thousands of Barzani males who were at least 12 years. They have never been visible since then. They are believed to have been taken to Southern Iraq where they were executed, and buried. In 1987, Saddam appointed his cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid special mandate to deal with the Kurds. This led to an ill mistreatment of the Kurdish leaders, their children, and civilian sympathizers. The major campaign against the Kurds has been termed by many as genocide. It entailed violation of several human rights. These were mass disappearance and executions of thousands people, destruction of many villages and Iraqi Kurdistan towns, vandalism of structures by engineers including schools, and wells, among others. There was also looting of civilian property by army troops, arrest of people found in some restricted areas within their own homeland, arrest accompanied by extreme deprivation of masses of people, and uncared for displacement of numerous villagers (Schuurman, 2007, p.26). This genocide occurred for two years (1987-1989). The US involvement The Reagan leadership condemned the use of chemical weapons by Iraq but failed to take action. This was despite it being informed that chemical weapons were in full use. It hindered others from holding Saddam and his regime accountable. The leadership also accused both Iraq and Iran for Halabja attacks without revealing evidence for the participation of Iran in the same and further attempted to stop the United Nations from investigating the attacks. The State department also failed to agree on its aim to uphold good relations with Iraq. The US administration officials often seemed tentative and careful in their dealings with Iraq leadership in a manner suggesting that their reaction would either irritate the Iraq leader or sour the US-Iraq relations (Schuurman, 2007, p.69). The United Nations involvement Iran was the first to notify the United Nations about the Halabja attacks. It sent an investigation team to ascertain whether Iran’s allegations that Iraq had used chemical weapons were certain. Iran and Iraq were both blamed for their perpetual use of toxic gas and were urged to cease. This action did not cause the two nations to stop their fights. There was continued letter writing from the Iranian ambassador in the US to the UN, which saw no action being taken. The Iran foreign minister then accused the UN for their inaction on the matter. The United Nation report on the whole matter recommended political responsibility rather than continuous investigations. The Involvement of Iraqi government and Non-governmental organizations Iraq had denied using chemical weapons in the war and had blamed Iran instead (King, 1987, p.20). Private investigations by a British journalist in Iraq revealed that poisonous gases and other chemical weapons had been used in the war. However, in a meeting with Germany officials, Iraq admitted its use of poisonous gases but said that Iran had used them first (Katzman, 2003, p.6). Other reports also showed that Iraq’s mission was to eliminate the Kurds (Sciolino, 1988, p.1). Eventually, Saddam Hussein together with three other officials was charged for killing Kurds and was hanged. Non-government organizations also played a part in the Halabja. For instance, Internal Committee of the Red Cross condemned use of chemical weapons (Schuurman, 2007, p.91). Additionally, the Physicians for Human Rights sent a mission to investigate the use of chemical weaponry in Turkey and Iraq, but they were not allowed to enter the latter. They concluded that poisonous gas had been used. Moreover, some Human Rights Organizations also responded, though passively. References Cornell, S.E. (2000). The Land of Many Cross Roads: The Kurdish Question in Turkey’s Politics. Retrieved November 22, 2010, from http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/docs/publications/TURKEY_KURDS.pdf. Eller, J.D. (1999). From Culture to Ethnicity to Conflict. An anthropological perspective on International ethnic Conflict. NY: University of Michigan Press. Katzman, K. (2003). Iraq: Weapons Programs, U.N. Requirements, and U.S. Policy. Retrieved November 22, 2010, from http://nuclearthreatinitiative.org/e_research/official_docs/other_us/crs07232003.pdf. King, R.P.H. (1987). UN and the Iran-Iraq War. New York: DIANE Publishing. McDowall, D. (2000). A Modern History of the Kurds. New York: I.B. Tauris Schuurman, S.J. (2007). “An inconvenient Atrocity”: The Chemical Weapons Attack on the Kurds of Halabja, Iraq. Retrieved November 22, 2010, from http://www.scribd.com/doc/30988264/An-Inconvenient-Atrocity-The-Chemical-Weapons-Attack-on-the-Kurds-of-Halabja-Iraq#fullscreen:on. Sciolino, E. (1988). New York Times: Iraqis reported to mount drive against Kurds. Retrieved on November 22, 2010, from http://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/01/world/iraqis-reported-to-mount-drive-against-kurds.html. Read More