Following remarks delivered during press conference at the
United Nations Foreign Press Center (New York) on September 26, 2000.
Dr. Fuad A. Baban and Mr. Jamil Abdulrahman (Mayor of Halabja) participated.

Remarks by Dr. Fouad A. Baban (FRCP)
Head of Department of Medicine, Suleymania University, Iraqi Kurdistan
Coordinator, Halabja Post-Graduate Medical Institute (HMI)

We are here to appeal to the United Nations and the international community to address an ongoing tragedy which has befallen the Kurdish and other peoples of Iraq. As sanctions are debated, it is important not to forget that Saddam Hussein’s regime is the first in history to use chemical, biological and radiological weapons against civilians, in direct contravention of Geneva conventions and other international law. In fact, we have evidence that the Iraqi regime experimented with combinations of toxic agents known to cause cancers, genetic mutations, fetal death and infertility. 12 years after the attacks, the long-term genocidal effects of these weapons are readily apparent in both survivors and the generation of children born after the attack.

Initial scientific studies conducted by local doctors and international specialists indicate that between eight to ten percent of the population of almost four million people in northern Iraq were exposed to WMD agents between April 1987 and August 1988. At present, 281 probable attack sites have been identified, including at least 250 villages and towns.

More than 5000 people were killed during the attack on Halabja, and more than 20,000 were injured. Today, 12 years after the attack, three quarters of the town remains in ruins and basic health and educational needs are not being met. The tragedy is seen on every street and in almost every house. Initial studies show that more than half of Halabja’s population was exposed. Congenital abnormality rates in this community are four to five times greater than in the post-atomic populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Rates of still births and miscarriages in the town are even more alarming. Rare and aggressive cancers in adults and children are found at levels far higher then anywhere in the world. Severe cardio-pulmonary disorders, blindness, skin burns and other major medical disorders caused by exposures continue to burden the population. The high incidences of neurological disorders we are seeing are most likely the result of exposure to nerve agents. The tragedy is compounded because there are no known treatments for multiple exposures and because diagnostic and laboratory equipment readily available in virtually any hospital in Europe or the Middle East are not available in Iraqi Kurdistan.

If as doctors we are going to be able to treat the devastating long-term health effects in our population, it is critical to learn what agents were used. To our knowledge, there is forensic evidence from only one site confirming use of mustard gas and sarin, however it is clear that these and other agents were used throughout the region in different combinations. One need only look at a map of Iraq to see that these attacks dumped tons of toxic agents into the water table of the entire country. It is likely that high cancer rates and congential abnormalities blamed on sanctions are also the result of this calibrated cruelty.

Unfortunately, the Government of Iraq would never allow any international agency to test to determine what weapons were used and whether harmful agents still persist in the environment. It is even more unfortunate that the international community and United Nations have found no way to undertake such a critical task in areas beyond control of the regime.

The doctors and health professionals of Iraqi Kurdistan need help from the international community to respond to the urgent health needs of WMD survivors. There are major shortages of critical medicines, medical equipment and teaching aids. While oil-for-food assistance has helped boost general health conditions, the special needs of WMD survivors are not being met under the dual constraints of sanctions and Iraqi sovereignty

We ask for humanitarian medical aid to assist the tens of thousands of people still suffering the long-term effects of WMD. It is worth mentioning that the former UN Humanitarian aid representative Dennis Halliday once accompanied me on a visit to Halabja. He was so alarmed by what he saw, that he suggested that only an international response similar to the Marshall Plan for post-World War Two Europe would be sufficient. This unfortunately is no understatement. We need immediate and long-term treatment and expertise in relevant medical, environmental, legal and humanitarian fields if we are to seriously address present problems.

We know that Saddam Hussein’s forces used illegal chemical, biological and radiological weapons against its own citizenry and attacked neighboring countries with these weapons. Yet the Kurds and other peoples of the region are not the only ones threatened by Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. This threat is compounded as long as UN weapons inspectors are not allowed to work in Iraq.

The entire international community can learn much from the tragic attacks on Halabja and other population centers in Iraqi Kurdistan, but only at the cost of helping the people who continue to suffer from the long-term effects. An international effort to address the urgent humanitarian needs of the region’s population, perhaps through direct compensation from the Iraqi regime’s oil revenues, is the right and just thing to do. Such assistance will not only help WMD survivors in Iraq, but will certainly serve the interests of all humanity as we confront the 21st century scourges of terrorism and WMD proliferation.