On 2 September, the mass grave of South Kurdistanis buried alive under the Baathist regime in Iraq was opened randomly and with large vehicles. The opening of the mass grave, which is located in the west of Salman district of Musena province and was discovered in 2018, was accepted after a long time. According to the information shared, this mass grave contains the remains of Kurds from Southern Kurdistan who were buried alive during the Baath regime.

Anti-genocide organisations, writers, journalists and relatives of Anfal victims issued a joint statement against the irregular and irresponsible opening of mass graves.

The statement said: “According to our investigations, a team of the Iraqi Ministry of Defence has been illegally digging mass graves in the city of Musena with excavators and diggers recently in order to search for missing Kuwaiti citizens. During the excavation, human skulls and bones are caught on the end of the digger. This is a cruel and irresponsible approach to the victims of the fascist Baathist regime, no matter whose remains they are. It is necessary to respect the remains of the dead.”

Listing some demands and suggestions in 8 articles, the statement called on the Iraqi Martyrs’ Registration Office, the Mass Graves Office and the Federal Iraqi Martyrs’ Institution to accelerate the excavation of other mass graves in Til Şêxiye.

Among the signatories are the Organisation for the Protection of the Rights of Victims of Mass Graves, Organisation for a Kurdistan Free of Genocide, Tevna Kurdistan Organisation of the International Criminal Court, Pishtar Centre for Victims and Protection from Genocide, Justice Campaign, Organisation for the Martyrs and Victims of Anfal, Organisation for the Prohibition of Weapons of Mass Destruction in Kurdistan, Organisation for a World Free of Chemical and Biological Weapons, Life in Kurdistan and No to Death Campaign, No to the Execution of Kurdistan Women Campaign, Kurdistan Monitoring Organisation.