Mass graves historically
A mass grave is a grave containing multiple human bodies, which may require DNA testing to reveal identity or be identified through relatives by a mark on the body or clothing or anything such as a wristwatch. The United Nations defines a criminal mass grave as a burial site containing three or more victims. Mass graves are typically created following the death or killing of many people, with a tendency for rapid burial of bodies due to health concerns. However, mass graves can be used in major conflicts such as wars, crimes, and genocides, which is our focus of discussion.
Throughout history, mass graves have been powerful and sorrowful markers of tragic and calamitous criminal events. These graves contain not only the bodies of the victims. But also the individual stories of those killed in wars, massacres, genocides, natural disasters, and pandemics like the plague in the past.
Generally, over time, mass graves have gone through the following stages:
1. Ancient civilizations: The first mass graves dating back to ancient civilizations. In many ancient societies, mass burial resulted from burying kings and all those with them as a show of loyalty, as well as the occurrence of wars or natural disasters and widespread epidemics. Archaeological studies have found such graves that indicate past conflicts and crises.
2. The Middle Ages: The outbreak of disease, especially the Black Death in the 14th century, led to hundreds of mass graves. The rapid spread of disease and the high number of casualties provided an opportunity for mass burial.
3. World Wars: The two World Wars in the 20th century witnessed unprecedented levels of violence, leading to thousands of mass graves. These changes were often the result of mass killings or mass internment and military camps, such as the Armenian Genocide in World War I and the Holocaust of Jews in World War II, as prominent examples.
4. Massacres: From the beginning to the end of the 20th century, the century witnessed many genocides, crimes against humanity, and war crimes targeting national, ethnic, and religious groups. Examples include the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust of Jews, Rwanda, the Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, where mass graves of these crimes are cited as strong and bitter evidence of the committed crimes.
5. Civil wars and dictatorships: In the 20th century, mass graves were found in areas affected by resistance to human rights violations and internal conflicts or unrest, where civilians, including women and children, were genocide, such as the Spanish Civil War, the Balkans, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina across all four parts of Kurdistan.
Mass graves are not just burial sites. They are symbols of collective memory and often become focal points for commemoration and reflection. While they display humanity's darkest moments, they emphasize the importance of understanding the past to prevent the repetition of those past crimes.
Mass Graves in Iraq:
The exposure of genocide through the discovery of hundreds of mass graves shortly after the liberation of Iraq and the fall of the Ba'athist dictatorship led to Iraq being called the "mother of mass graves" in several local and international magazines and newspapers.
The first mass grave was discovered on April 4, 2003. By June 26, 2003, the number of mass graves reached 40. By July 24, 2003, the number rose to 176. Currently, there are 301 mass graves in 100 sites across Iraqi provinces, with 80% concentrated in the central and southern regions.
Following the 1991 Kurdish uprising, dozens of mass graves were discovered, including victims of chemical attacks in Sheikh Wasan and Balisan, located in the cemetery of the Erbil asphalt factory. Even 20 years after the fall of the Ba'ath regime, the search for mass graves in Iraq continues, containing innocent Kurdish and Iraqi citizens whom the brutal Ba'ath regime sought to exterminate. Coalition forces discovered a mass grave dating back to April 4, 2003, five days before the fall of the government in the city of Madain, southeast of Baghdad, according to the archives of the Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights.
Saddam Hussein and his colleagues, known as the dictators of the century, killed, disappeared, and buried innocent people in mass graves in Kurdistan and the south. Thousands of grieving mothers waited for their sons and are still searching for their relatives. I have often wondered how people can live and sleep peacefully in a land where hundreds of mass graves of innocent people are buried underneath. The international community, especially the United Nations and human rights organizations, remained silent about these mass graves in Iraq and ignored the recognition of this as a global genocide.
Definition of mass grave:
Based on the general and international definition and the Iraqi Mass Graves Law No. 5 of 2006, any grave containing more than one body is considered a mass grave. Many cannot be identified without a DNA test.
Victims of Mass Graves:
According to the report by the Human Rights Division (CPA) of the Coalition Provisional Authority, all victims of mass graves during the rule of the Ba'ath regime, many Kurds, Arabs, religious communities, and other Iraqi ethnic groups were massacred and subjected to genocide. Their fate, buried in mass graves, was inhumane and barbaric, contrary to human rights principles, the Genocide Convention, and the Geneva Protocol. The victims are classified as follows:
1. Victims of the Kurdish Faily (Pehlí) Genocide - 1980
2. Victims of the Barzani genocide - 1983
3. Victims of the chemical bombardment of Kurdistan -1987-1988
4. Victims of the chemical attack on Halabja -1988
5. Victims of the Anfal Genocide -1988
6. Victims of the Kurdish uprising -The Shia Sha'baniyah uprising -1991.
7. Political prisoners and detainees. 1968-2003
8. Prisoners of war between Iraq and Iran - 1980-1988
9. Prisoners of the occupation of Kuwait 1990-1991
10. Religious and ethnic minorities
11. Missing Egyptians.
"Most international human rights organizations did not mention comprehensive cases of human rights violations in their annual reports before the fall of the Ba'ath regime in Iraq and attributed the number of disappearances in Iraq to other reasons such as the Iran-Iraq war. However, after the fall of the regime, those organizations and institutions, after the discovery of mass graves, increased these figures by tens of times. For example, according to a report by the International Committee of the Red Cross, 1.3 million people were reported missing in Iraq from 1979 until the fall of the regime, many of whom are in mass graves."
In addition to the existing documents on genocide, mass graves served as solid evidence, and witnesses who did not dare to reveal the truth until the fall of the Ba'ath regime were two mighty reasons for the prosecution of the perpetrators.
