Amna Swr Museum

This museum is located in Slemani, North of Iraq. Here many people that were involved with politics or was a peshmarga (what a peshmarga is; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peshmerga ) where caught and tortured for the Baath's regime to find out more information on where the other peshmarga's were. In this video it shows some of the forms of torture that was used at the time. This continued until 5th March 1991 where the Kurdish revolution occurred in which the Baath's regime were defeated.
Also the people that were most important to the Baath's were sent to Baghdad to be killed. Many people under this regime died of the kind of tortures that they used.




This is what the museum looked like inside: 

This photo shows another form of torture that the Baath's regime used on the Kurdish prisoners. Here they would handcuff the prisoner on the stairs in a way that they couldn't lift their head up or move their  legs. The aim of this torture was for anyone of the Baath's people that went past would swear at the prisoner, spit on them, kick them, pull their hair and many other forms. 

This statue is made of a famous man that was a peshmarga, he had connection with the others. When he was caught, he was put into a cell of his own and their was a tiny window where every morning when the sun raised he would sing that kurdish national anthem. He was later taken to another prison in Baghdad and was killed. The most important people to the Baath's regime would be taken to Baghdad for further questioning then they were killed by a dozen of Baath's people.  

This is what the windows looked like. In a shared cell there would be up to 50 people in a small room with this much light and air. 

These photos where placed in the museum where thousands of these were put into 5 and more rooms. Each of those photos had their own story and meaning. But unfortunately I can't post all those photos on here. 

The below photo is a sample of mud that was taken when the people of Slemani city ran away to the mountains as their was news spreading that Saddam Hussein will use chemical bombs on this city just like the Halabja city. We can see hand prints, finger prints and foot prints. 

This photo shows that the prisoners in the cells wrote their names and the date of when they were in their. This prisoner has written the date '26/8/1989'. In the many cells their were many of them but the most clearest one was this one. 

Interview with Dr Maruf Gul Part 1 & 2

Another person I was greatful to meet with was Dr Maruf Gul who has a degree in International Law and master in genocide. His interview covered many areas through a lawyers perspective on before and after the tragedy so how this new Iraqi government has helped to compensate the Kurdish people. He also talks about the 182,000 innocent Kurds that were martyred during the Baath's regime using different forms of torture including chemical gases and weapons.

Interview with Goran Adham Rahim

This interview is with the current mayor of Halabja Mr Goran Adham Rahim. He was a lawyer that was present in the trails of Ali Hassan Majid. Here he will give information on Halabja's history from the war between Iran and Iraq, up to the tragedy of Halabja and beyond.

Halabja Monument Part 4

This is the last video of the monument that I have made. It provides vital information on the Halabja city and the monument as well as it's an interview with one of the survivors which is Omed.



 

 

The top photo shows the Halabja Monument. The way in which this is built has many significants. On the outside of the monument at the top it's shaped in 4 hands to show the 4 parts of Kurdistan. The line that connects the 4 hands to the rest of the monument is decorated in the Kurdish flag as shown in the photo below. Around the roof of the monument its made in the shape of circles, this represents what the chemical bombs looked like when it hit the ground also the effect it had on the persons skin before it became burnt.

 

 

The tragedy occurred on 16th March 1988. Inside the monument is a big round hall in the centre where around the walls their are the names of the martyred people and family (5,000 martyred) also the table in middle the diameter is 3m to show the third month (March). Front the bottom to the top the measurement is 19m and 88cm which symbolises the year 1988. The monument is made up of 16 pillars which reflects on the 16th day of the third month.

 

These are various statues, awards and certificate that the has been given to the monument from different countries and areas of Iraq:

 

 

The next photos are of Ali Hassan Majid in the newspapers, the rope he was hung with which was given to the monument as well as the pen and papers that were signed for him to be prosecuted. Also Saddam Hussein when he was in court as well as a picture of his 2 sons before they were tortured and killed.

 

 

This ink of this pen is green to show that Kurdistan is a green country, to be an independent nation and when given the opportunity bigger things can be expected of them.

 

I went to the graveyard where it contained the mass graveyards that had been built for the martyr's of the tragedy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Below are the final photo's of the Halabja monument.

 

 

 

The photo below was taken in August 2012. On the left is the vehicle that Omed was wounded in which is kept till this day as well as on the right on the floor are the containers of the bombs that have been found in various areas of Halabja city and its surroundings. These have been kept for almost 25 years to show that their is more evidence for the people that do not believe that this disaster has happened to the Kurds. When looking at the front of the vehicle you can see that the gas has had an effect on it and is still visible today. 

 

 

 

The significance of the picture below is that, it belonged to a women, on the day when she got married she was martyred. Now after nearly 25 years ago when she was placed into one of the mass graves around the Halabja city. A couple of years ago, people were building new roads for the city when they discovered this mass grave and it contained this piece of gold that goes around the neck. It has been presented to the monument.

 

 





 

 



Halabja Monument Part 3

 

 

This video is a real video footage taken on the day of the tragedy. Here you will see Omed interviewed in Iran after he regained his concsious. 

HERE ARE MORE PICTURES TAKEN FROM THE MONUMENT:
 
The photo that's hung of the wall is Omed when it's 14 years old at the time of when he was interviewed in Iran. That is him on right today as you can see he is well and is still continuing with his treatment.

 

 

This boy was taken to Iran for treatment but because of his many wounds, he died under treatment. There are many more people that suffered like him at a young age. Research shows that 65% of the martyred people were children and women. 

 



Halabja Monument Part 2

This part 2 of the Halabja Monument shows the following:

• The indications behind the shape of the monument.
• The hall that contains the names and family names of the Kurds that were martyred in the tragedy.
• The first hall of fame where it contains real images taken in that time.

Throughout this video Omed will be explaining in detail each of the above points.

Below are some of the photos that I took of the monument on what the second part of the Halabja monument shows.

This first image shows a number of pictures that were taken at the time of the tragedy. These are the first pictures that were taken of when the tragedy occurred. As you can see amongst those pictures there is Omari Khawar which is the first picture on the top row starting from the right that a statue of him was made in the first video. Also the two vehicles are consists of Omed's family when they tried to get away from the city. In addition the second photo on the second row from the left shows 4 people sitting on the floor at the time but if you look closely you can see there is another photo on top of that which shows the 4 of them today.  

These next two photos are from the tragedy. This first one is photos showing the views of the villages around Halabja city. These photos show the riving flowing through the city as well as caves and villages around that have also been affected in the same way as inside the city. This shows that even when the people inside of the city wanted to escape, it was the same as around the city as well.

This photo is a close up of the vehicle that Omed survived in. Here he lost all of his family apart from his father who was not in Halabja at the time. As you can see people are falling of the vehicle as they were martyred. It is a miracle that Omed and his friend were the only ones that survived in this vehicle whilst the rest of his family and friends died in front of his eyes.

 

 

This picture shows that the animals where affected too in this disaster. Not only where the Kurds martyred but also all the animals and insects that were on the land of Halabja as well as it's surroundings. 

 

 

 

This next picture shows, the Kurds that were affected by the chemical gas were taken to the different cities in Iran for treatment. In this picture it shows the people that couldn't get treated as a result their died. Before they died their name, surname, age, where they came from was noted and pictures where taken of them after a piece of paper with all their details were placed on their chest to show anyone remaining of their family and the world.  

 

These pictures show some of the people that died when they got to Iran. Their wounds were so deep that nothing could treat them.