Embassy Events 2003
Iraqi Kurd Shares His Vision for Iraq with Warsaw Students
9 April 2003 |
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Bakhtiar Amin was just a child when he became an Iraqi refugee. His
parents had been jailed; his mother, a Kurdish political activist,
became the first female inmate in the city of Kirkuk. Some five dozen
of his relatives had been killed; all their property, confiscated.
Fighting Saddam Hussein’s regime became a life-long passion for
Bakhtiar Amin.
That passion drives Mr. Amin to speak to audiences around the world - including here in Poland. He is Executive Director of the International Alliance for Justice (IAJ),
which coordinates a network of 275 international non-governmental
organizations from more than 120 countries. The IAJ calls for the
establishment of an international ad hoc tribunal to investigate the
Iraqi leadership's crimes against humanity, crimes of war and genocide.
“In
Saddam’s Iraq, [it was a] profession was to rape political prisoners.
And his son, Qusay, ordered the cleansing of a prison. In one day in
1998, he ordered the summary execution of two thousand prisoners. … He
ordered the decapitation of hundreds of Iraqi women, displayed their
heads on the walls and doors of their houses - professors, teachers
were decapitated in front of their students and pupils.”
Mr.
Amin spoke to about 50 International Relations students at Warsaw
University on April 9, the day that many believe effectively ended
Saddam’s regime. “War is never painless. But there were no other
choices left. It’s the worst solution, but it was the only solution and
the best solution. … So now we hope to come out of this hell and that
Saddam becomes just history,” Mr. Amin told the group.
Turning
to the future of Iraq, Mr. Amin noted that Kurds, Shiites - all the
groups in Iraq - now need to work together to “embark on a democratic
reality. It’s the vision of all the Iraqi opposition to create a
democratic, federal, pluralistic Iraq - an Iraq which reflects the
religious and ethnic composition of the country, a country which is a
mosaic of cultures.”
Speaking as a Kurd, Mr. Amin said he
expects the Kurdish population will want to remain a part of a
federated Iraq. In fact, he believes that the new government should
represent all ethnic groups. “This way we will succeed. Otherwise, if
we repeat the errors of the past, it will not work.”
Mr.
Amin told the students that plans are already underway to revamp the
educational system in Iraq to focus it on independent thought rather
than obedience to the state. In fact, he said, less sensitive
portfolios - like education, environment and health - are likely to be
turned over to the Iraqi people early in the transition process.
Meantime,
he knows that Iraq will not be able to move forward without processing
its past. Whether that requires establishing an international tribunal
or a South African-style truth and reconciliation commission remains a
question. “My struggle has been to bring these people to justice. I
hope that we can bring some of these criminals - there are plenty of
them - to justice.”
Justice and a democratic Iraq. Those are the dreams of Bakhtiar Amin.
