Halabja

On March 16, 1988, Saddam Hussein's totalitarian regime carried out the most famous of its long and horrific list of atrocities. On this day, the Baathists launched a chemical weapons attack on the Kurdish city of Halabja, in northeastern Iraq. Over 5,000 defenseless men, women, and children were murdered. Halabja was only one of dozens of such assaults conducted by Saddam's regime against Iraq's Kurds.

See this report from Human Right Watch for a detailed account of the Halabja massacre.

The architect of this crime, Ali Hassan al-Majid, known as "Chemical Ali", currently sits in prison awaiting trial. On this 17th anniversary of the Halabja atrocity, let us remember the victims and work to ensure that al-Majid and the other perpetrators are held accountable.

Update: See also this press release from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan:

Remembering Halabja -- Seventeen Years Since the Massacre