| Persecution of theFeyli Kurds | |
|---|---|
| Part of Iraqi Kurdish persecution during theBa'athist regime | |
| Location | Iraq, especiallyBaghdad,Khanaqin, and otherKurdish areas |
| Date | 1979–2003 |
| Target | Feyli Kurds |
Attack type | Genocide,Forced deportations,Mass killing |
| Weapons | Various methods including executions, torture, forced deportations |
| Deaths | 25,000 |
| Injured | Thousands of injuries, many due to torture and mistreatment |
| Victims | Feyli Kurds |
| Perpetrators | Saddam Hussein's regime |
| Assailants | IraqiBa'athist government |
| Motive | Ethnic and political persecution, targetingKurds andShiite identity |
| Inquiry | Recognized as genocide by theIraqi Parliament (2011) |
| Accused | Saddam Hussein and theBa'athist regime officials |
| Charges | Genocide,Ethnic cleansing |
| Convicted | Saddam Hussein andTariq Aziz |
The persecution also included the revocation of citizenship, exile, and the confiscation of property | |
The persecution ofFeyli Kurds[1] orFeyli Kurdish genocide[2] was a systematic persecution of Feylis bySaddam Hussein’s regime between 1970 and 2003. The persecution campaigns led to the expulsion, flight and effective exile of the Feyli Kurds from their ancestral lands inIraq. The persecution began when a large number of Feyli Kurds were exposed to a big campaign by the regime that began by the dissolved RCCR issuance for 666 decision, which deprived Feyli Kurds of Iraqi nationality and considered them asIranians. The systematic executions started in Baghdad and Khanaqin in 1979 and later spread to other Iraqi and Kurdish areas.[3][4]
An estimated 300,000–500,000[5] Feyli Kurds had been deported toIran as a result of the persecution campaigns and at least 25,000 Feyli Kurds have disappeared. Their remains have not been found.
In 2011, the Iraqi Parliament voted to recognize the 1980 massacre of Feyli Kurds under the regime of Saddam Hussein as genocide.[6]
Feyli Kurds were very active during the14 July Revolution and were close to Abdulkarim Qasim, himself half Feyli, and due to this they were hated by the Ba'athists from the beginning.[7] Abdulkarim Qasim had given Iraqi citizenship to thousands of Feyli Kurds. By the time the Ba'athists were in power, most Feylis were Iraqi citizens or permanent residents. On April 2, 1980, a Feyli Kurd belonging to the Islamic Action Organization threw a grenade atTariq Aziz when he visitedMustansiriya University in Baghdad and injured Tariq Aziz and several attendees. This was seen as the official reason why the Ba'ath Revolutionary Council gave the decree No. 666 on April 7, 1980, depriving Iraqis of foreign origin the right to citizenship.[8]
In 1969, the Iraqi government launched a campaign of forced deportation and exile targeting the Feyli Kurds. In 1970, more than 70,000 Feylis were deported to Iran and their citizenship was revoked[citation needed]. Prominent and high-level Feyli Kurdish merchants and academics in Baghdad were specifically targeted. Numerous disappearances and executions were reported by activists between 1970 and 1973.
On 7 May 1980,Saddam Hussein signed decree number 666 which legalized and ordered the confiscation, forced deportation, exile and detention of Feyli Kurds. Saddam justified the decree by accusing Feyli Kurds of having "foreign origin" and "disloyalty to the people and father land and to the political and social principles of the Revolution". In the same year, the mass deportation of Feyli Kurds began in Baghdad and more than 1.4 million[9] Feyli Kurds were deported to Iran, many having had their property and official papers confiscated. The deportees were not allowed to take with them anything apart from the clothes they were wearing when they were picked up from their homes, schools, government offices, workplaces, shops and military units. Male adults were randomly detained and sent to the various Iraqi prisons. It is estimated that around 25,000 Feyli Kurds died due to captivity and torture.[10][11][clarification needed]
In 2003, the UNCHR estimated that 65% of 20,000 refugees in Iran are Feyli Kurds who were forcefully deported during the genocide. Most refugees who returned to Iraqi had difficulties to apply for the citizenship.[12]
In 2006, the spokesman of Kurdistan Alliance, Muayad al-Tayeb, called on Iraqi and Kurdish parliaments to support Feyli refugees, stating that "Feyli Kurds have been subjected to persecution for three reasons, first because they are Kurds, second they are from the Shiite sect and third because they are patriotic people and joined the Kurdish and Iraqi national movement."[13]
In 2010, the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration reported that since 2003 about 100,000 Feylis have had their citizenship reinstated.[14] Although according to recent statistics from the Iraqi Minister of Immigration, between April 2003 and April 2013, only 16,580 Feyli Kurds had their nationality reinstated, out of an estimated population of at least 150,000 Feyli Kurds denaturalized during the Ba’ath era who applied to get their Iraqi citizenship back.[15]
The Iraqideputy prime minister,Tariq Aziz, despite being one of Saddam’s closest confidants and decision makers, was only sentenced an additional 10-15 years in prison for his crimes against Feyli Kurds during theIran-Iraq war, while previously facing other charges.[16][17][18]
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