On March 12, 2025, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Representation in the United States held a commemoration at the U.S. Capitol to honor the victims of the Halabja chemical attack and reinforce the ongoing call for justice. The event was attended by Congressman Abraham Hamadeh, Director of the Office of Iraq Affairs at the U.S. State Department – Near Eastern Affairs Aaron Nuutinen, and Director of the Global Kurdish Initiative for Peace at American University Yerevan Saeed.

The commemoration began with a speech by Treefa Aziz, KRG Representative to the United States, who provided a brief history of the Halabja attack. She highlighted the immense suffering experienced by millions of Kurds during the genocidal Anfal Campaign executed by the Iraqi Ba’ath regime across the Kurdistan Region. Aziz detailed how, on March 16, 1988, the former Iraqi government perpetrated an unspeakable atrocity against the city of Halabja by launching a chemical weapons assault on the civilian population, resulting in the deaths of over 5,000 individuals and injuring more than 10,000 others.

Yesterday, we held a commemoration at the U.S. Capitol to honor the victims of the Halabja genocide and reaffirm our call for justice. Grateful for the participation of Congressman @AbrahamHamadeh, Aaron Nuutinen, Director of the Office of Iraq Affairs at @StateDept_NEA, and… pic.twitter.com/KyIf1yka50

— KRG-USA (@KRG_USA) March 13, 2025

“We remain committed to collaborating with members of Congress to raise awareness of the Halabja tragedy and the enduring suffering of the Kurdish people.” Representative Aziz told Kurdistan Chronicle. “Our efforts will persist in this regard, as achieving formal recognition of the Halabja tragedy as genocide by the United States would represent a significant and meaningful victory for justice and historical accountability.”

Yerevan Saeed, a survivor of the Halabja massacre, then shared his personal story. He recounted the tragic loss of his grandfather and how his father lost more than 20 family members, including aunts and cousins. Saeed also spoke of the injuries sustained by some relatives and the deaths of many childhood friends. His harrowing experiences were previously covered in an interview with Kurdistan Chronicle.

Read more: Surviving Halabja: Yerevan Saeed’s Story

Both Congressmen Hamadeh and Director Nuutinen commemorated the victims of the Halabja attacks. “This occasion serves as a crucial reminder of our collective responsibility to prevent such tragedies from occurring in the future,” they noted. Both officials reaffirmed the United States’ unwavering support for the Kurdish people in the face of any crimes against humanity, emphasizing the importance of justice and accountability for past atrocities.

It is worth noting that the state of Georgia acknowledges both the Anfal Campaign – including the chemical attack on Halabja – and the 2014 Yezidi massacre as genocides. In October 2024, the Georgia State Senate passed Resolution 922, updating its previous resolution from 2015 to include the official recognition of these tragic events as acts of genocide. Furthermore, representatives from the KRG have expressed their commitment to working diligently with the United States in hopes of attaining formal recognition of the Halabja attack as genocide, paralleling Georgia’s acknowledgment.