Bahrka, northwest Erbil, north of Baghdad 1. Wide of road, sign reads (Arabic) 'Bahrka district' 2. Residential road 3. Exterior of house belonging to family of Anfal victim 4. Woman outside house washing down path 5. Relatives and friends of victims arriving at house 6. Woman inside home 7. Relatives and friends of victims sitting around near photo board of Anfal victims, in house 8. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Um Ismaeel, Resident: ''In 1983 the Iraqi troops blockaded the area of Qurshita, and on July 30, 1983 at 4 am, the troops arrested all men of the village. Ten days later, the troops invaded Bahrka once again and arrested all the men. Barzan and Waleed Iyash were among the troops. They executed all men in front of us." 9. Relatives and friends of victims looking at photo board of victims, zoom into photos 10. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Um Arif, resident: ''In 1975, the former regime (when Saddam Hussein was Vice President) took us to the southern province of Diwaniyah and in 1980 we returned to Bahrka district. Then Barzan al-Tikriti '(Half brother of Saddam) took all men under the pretext of questioning them. Till now they didn't come back. We want him to be executed in the Kurdistan region.'' 11. People outside house on street 12. Various of dirt roads, residential area Erbil, north of Baghdad 13. Various of people and traffic at a standstill to commemorate the Anfal victims STORYLINE: As the second trial of Saddam Hussein got underway in Baghdad on Monday, Kurdish families from the the Bahrka district retold tales of torture, torment and oppression under Saddam's callous regime. The ousted Iraqi leader is charged with genocide for war crimes from his scorched earth offensive against Kurds nearly two decades ago during the Iraqi army's infamous 'Anfal' operation which translates in Arabic for "spoils of war," during 1987 and 1988. One resident, Um Ismaeel, alleged Iraqi troops executed several men in front of them. Um Arif, another resident accused the former regime of relocating them by force in southern province of Diwaniyah in 1975. Residents in Erbil held a five minute silence to commemorate the victims of Anfal bought traffic and pedestrians to a halt. Two other defendants face charges of genocide - among them is Hassan al-Majid, who earned the name Chemical Ali, for his use of poisonous gas. Also on trial are Sabir al-Douri, former director of military intelligence; Sultan Hashim Ahmad al-Tai, who was head of the Iraqi army's 1st Corps, which executed the Anfal military operation; and Taher Tawfiq al-Ani, then the Mosul governor. The two other defendants are Hussein Rashid Mohammed, who was deputy director of operations for the Iraqi military, and Farhan Mutlaq Saleh, then head of military intelligence's Eastern regional office. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. The 1987-88 crackdowns of the Iraqi government were aimed at crushing independence-minded Kurdish militias and clearing all Kurds from the northern region along the border with Iran. Saddam accused the Kurds of helping Iran in its war with Iraq. Iraqi officials and human rights groups say the precise death count resulting from Operation Anfal is difficult to determine because of the attack's scale. Estimates range from around 50,000 to well over 100,000 and Kurdish survivors say many villages were razed and countless young men disappeared. They also accuse the army of using prohibited mustard gas and nerve agents, but the trial does not deal with the most notorious gassing -the March 1988 attack on Halabja that killed an estimated 5,000 Kurds. That incident will be part of a separate investigation by the Iraqi High Tribunal. Critics have decried the first trial's lengthy, sometimes chaotic proceedings. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/acfc9887743ada03b74270c19d905abb Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

• published: 24 Jul 2015
• views: 0