Van Anraat – Guilty Verdict in War Crimes Complicity Lethal Gassing Kurds ¶ Updated

Killing of Iraq Kurds Ruled A Genocide

A court in The Hague has ruled that the killing of thousands of Kurds in Iraq in the 1980s was an act of genocide.
The ruling came in the case of Dutch trader Frans van Anraat, who was given a 15-year sentence for selling chemicals to Saddam Hussein’s regime.

He was found guilty of complicity in war crimes over a 1988 chemical attack that killed more than 5,000 people, but acquitted of genocide charges.

Halabja was one of the worst atrocities of Saddam's regime

It is the first trial to deal with war crimes against Kurds in Iraq and Iran.

‘Intent to destroy’

Dozens of ethnic Kurds gathered in the packed courtroom to hear the verdict.

“The court has no other conclusion than that these attacks were committed with the intent to destroy the Kurdish population of Iraq”
Court ruling

“The court thinks and considers legally and convincingly proven that the Kurdish population meets requirement under Genocide Conventions as an ethnic group,” the ruling said.

The chemicals traded to Iraq did also originate in the United States.

 
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A Short History of Regime Change, Gassing People and WMDs

Dutch double agent jailed: sold US poison gas chemicals to Iraq

While the US, Interpol and the Dutch police force were trying to find him, the Dutch secret service AIVD was hiding van Anraat in one of their ‘safe houses’. And now he anyhow got a 15 years jail term? Why did they sacrifice him? Isn’t that strange?

THE HAGUE (Radio Liberty Europe) Dec. 23 — A Dutch court ruled today that the killing of thousands of Kurds in Iraq in 1988 was an act of genocide. The ruling came as part of a verdict in the case of Dutch chemicals merchant Frans van Anraat.

Van Anraat was sentenced to 15 years in prison today after the court found him guilty of complicity in war crimes for selling more than 1,000 tons of chemicals to Iraq used to carry out lethal gas attacks against Kurdish villages. He was acquitted of genocide charges.

Van Anraat maintained he was unaware the material would be used in chemical warfare.

It is the first court case to deal with the attacks against the Kurds.

Victims of Hussein-era attacks against Kurds being prepared for reburial in October
(AFP)