Centre For Human Rights
IRAQI COMMUNIST PARTY
BM BOX AL-TARIQ LONDON WCIN 3XX-UK
FAX:0044 (171) 388 1990

Iraqi Regime Admits the Policy of
"Ethnic Cleansing" in Kurdistan

The Iraqi authorities have now publicly admitted, after repeated denials, that they did carry out mass deportation of Kurdish families from the Ta' mim(Kirkuk) province, as part of its policy of "Ethnic Cleansing" in Kurdistan.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi Communist Party, has obtained a list containing the names of 114 families, totaling 731 people, deported from the beginning of this year till April 1998. (N.B: The full list is available from our Office).

The Police Director General Hamid Othman Sabi' openly made the admission in a statement published by "Al-Mustaqbal" newspaper in Baghdad on 2^nd May 1998. He confirmed that his organs have seized the houses of deported families and handed them over to Arabs who are brought in from Nainawa(Mosul) province, Salahael-Deen(Tikrit), or central and southern provinces.

These newcomers are known as the "beneficiaries" or the "Ten Thousands Dinars" group; a name given to those who agreed to move into Kirkuk during the 1970s and the 1980s in return for a payment of 10,000 Dinars and other privileges given by the authorities.

During the census carried out last autumn, many families were forced under the threat of deportation and eviction to change their national identity in the census forms, from being Kurds or Turkmans to Arabs. Those who refuse to comply would remain unemployed or be deprived of their rights to buy property.

The forcible campaign of expulsion and deportation, being carried out by Baghdad rules, constitute a blatant violation of human rights and international conventions. This policy also exposes the true nature of the ruling clique and the destructive consequences of its chauvinist campaign for the Iraqi people, the society's social fabric and national unity.

Tens of these families have expressed their readiness to testify in front of the UN Human Rights Commission and other international human rights organisations. They are prepared to put their disposal all the information concerning this brutal policy, and the inhumane conditions they gone through.

We call for an immediate halt to these inhuman practices of the dictatorship.

Urgent action is needed by the UN Human Rights Commission, international human rights organisations and all freedom-loving people, to put an end to the chauvinist policy of "Ethnic Cleansing" in Kurdistan.

Friday 5^th June 1998

Information just received from our Party sources inside Iraq reveal that the Iraqi authorities are preparing to deport 120 Kurdish families from the city of Kirkuk. (N.B: The full list of Kurdish families threatened with deportation can be obtained from our Office).

This new wave of "ethnic cleansing" has been planned to start on 16 June 1998, according to orders issued late last month by the "Internal Affairs Department" (Ministry of Inferior) in Ta'mim (Kirkuk) province.

The official deportation order is based on the recommendations issued by the "Higher Committee Supervising the Deportation" and dated 28^th May 1998.

The pretext for this criminal act is that the deportees are relatives of "saboteurs and elements who joined the hostile bands".

According to the list obtained by our sources(containing the names of heads of households), the families come from the following districts in the city of Kirkuk: al-Shorija, al-Huriyyah, Imam, al-Iskan Qassem, al-Jadeed and al-Iskan al-Qadeem, Dour al-Shurta, al-Andulus, Almas.

The impending wave of mass deportation is further evidence on the "ethnic cleansing" campaign pursued by the dictatorial regime, with the aim of changing the national structure of the city and forcibly transforming it into a predominantly Arab city.

This act is a blatant and impudent response to the mounting international protests, the latest of which were by the UN Humans Rights Commission and by Amnesty International(29 April 1998).

The 120 Kurdish families threatened with imminent expulsion from their homes, together with thousands more families facing a similar fate, look forward to urgent international action, by the UN and human rights organisations, to stop this barbaric act.

Call for an immediate halt to Saddam's "Ethnic Cleansing" campaign