Recognising the killings of Iraqi Kurds as genocide

Under Saddam Hussein’s rule many thousands of Iraqi Kurds were killed over several decades. This included chemical weapons attacks, for instance at Halabja, and mass executions and internment, culminating in the ‘Anfal’ campaigns of 1988.

The UK does not officially recognise this as genocide, although several bodies (including courts in Iraq and the Netherlands) have done so. In the UK there is no clear process for officially recognising events as genocide, but the UK can prosecute people for genocide even if the events took place outside the UK (after 1991).

Under the 1948 Genocide Convention, genocide is defined as mass killings or other acts intended to destroy a particular group of people. States must prevent or punish genocide, individually or through the UN, and the International Criminal Court can be involved (for events after 2002).