IV
104TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. RES. 379
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives concerning the eighth
anniversary of the massacre of over 5,000 Kurds as a result of a
gas bomb attack by the Iraqi Government.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 12, 1996
Mr. PORTER submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on International Relations
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives con-
cerning the eighth anniversary of the massacre of over
5,000 Kurds as a result of a gas bomb attack by the
Iraqi Government.
Whereas over four million Kurds live in Iraq, composing 20
percent of the population;
Whereas the Iraqi Government has continually taken violent
actions against Kurds living in Iraq;
Whereas, on March 17, 1988, the Iraqi Government, by its
own admission, used chemical weapons against Iraqi
Kurd civilians in the Kurdish frontier village of Halabja,
resulting in the death of over 5,000 innocent persons;
Whereas this terrible, inhumane act by the repressive Iraqi
Government provoked international outrage;
HRES 379 IH
Whereas the Iraqi Government continued its use of chemical
weapons against a defenseless Kurdish population
throughout 1988;
Whereas over 182,000 Iraqi Kurds were killed by the Iraqi
Government during the Anfal campaigns in 1988;
Whereas it was not until the international response to Iraq’s
invasion of Kuwait in 1990 that the international com-
munity instituted measures to destroy Iraq’s arsenal of
weapons of mass destruction;
Whereas the Iraqi Government has laid over 20 million mines
throughout the Kurdish countryside which continue to
hamper efforts of rehabilitation of the displaced popu-
lation;
Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 688 of
April 1, 1991, demanded that Iraq cease repression of its
citizens and called for an international relief program for
the Iraqi civilian population and, in particular the Kurd-
ish population;
Whereas, since the spring of 1991, the United States, Brit-
ain, and France have enforced by daily overflights a no-
fly zone over Iraq north of the 36th parallel;
Whereas, in addition to the allied air umbrella, the United
Nations carries out relief and security operations in Iraq,
with emphasis on the Kurdish region;
Whereas, since 1991, the United States has provided approxi-
mately $1.2 billion to support humanitarian and protec-
tive activities, known as Operation Provide Comfort, on
behalf of the Iraqi Kurds; and
Whereas there will never truly be peace for the Iraqi Kurds
without justice being carried out against their Iraqi per-
petrators: Now, therefore, be it
HRES 379 IH
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep-
resentatives that the United States Administration
should—
(1) mark the eighth anniversary of the death of
over 5,000 Iraqi Kurds in the 1988 chemical attack
by the Iraqi Government on Halabja by commemo-
rating all those innocent men, women, and children
who lost their lives;
(2) reaffirm the United States’ commitment to
protect and help the Kurdish people in Iraq, thus
ensuring that the tragedy of Halabja will never be
repeated;
(3) support efforts to promote a democratic al-
ternative to the present regime in Iraq which will as-
sure the Kurdish people the right to self-government
through a federal system; and
(4) renew efforts to establish an international
war crime tribunal to prosecute Iraqi leaders in-
volved in crimes against humanity and war crimes.
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