The families of the 83 people killed by Barzani in 1997 must call on the United Nations to prosecute the perpetrators, and Massoud Barzani and his children and nephew must be prosecuted by the International Court of Justice for crimes against humanity.

 The families of the 83 people killed by Barzani in 1997 must call on the United Nations to prosecute the perpetrators, and Massoud Barzani and his children and nephew must be prosecuted by the International Court of Justice for crimes against humanity. Massoud barzani committed for crimes against humanity in 1997 Barzani forces killed more than 83 civilians several of whom Barzani killed were doctors and nurses in Erbil in 1997.

The Hawler massacre is a deep wound that has not healed for 25 years

The Hawler massacre is considered a crime in the Kurdish society, and despite the passage of more than 25 years, the fate of the victims is still unknown, while the government of Southern Kurdistan and Parliament are silent about this crime.

The status that South Kurdistan obtained after the Republic of Kurdistan became a great hope for the unity of the Kurdish ranks, as the Kurdish people hoped that this status would be a reason for the escalation of the struggle against the occupation.

The occupying Turkish state has been attacking southern Kurdistan since 1983 and trying to occupy the region under the pretext of war against the Kurdistan Workers Party, as it is trying to restore its dreams in the Milli Charter. The attack took place on May 14, 1997, with the participation of more than 200 thousand soldiers and guards. The Turkish state described it at the time as "Operation Hammer", as its pretext at the time was that the aim of its attacks was to eliminate the central base of the PKK in Zab.

The Freedom Movement fighters suffered heavy losses in the Turkish occupation army, as many soldiers and guards were killed in this operation. According to information reported by the occupied Turkish army, the KDP asked Turkey to launch an attack on the PKK’s presence areas in southern Kurdistan, and when the attack began The Peshmerga were in the ranks of the Turkish army.

A massacre took place on May 16, 1997 in a hospital in Hewler while the hospital was treating the wounded of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) following the start of the occupation process. The attack carried out by the KDP forces resulted in the martyrdom of 83 wounded patriots and PKK fighters.

KDP forces simultaneously attacked the hospital as well as the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (YNDK) center, the office of the Mozopotamia Cultural Center in Hewler and the Free Kurdistan Women's Union (YAJK) and Welat û Welatê Roj newspapers and shelled them with heavy weapons. Many defenseless people lost their lives In these attacks and later, arrests and imprisonment began after the attack and continued for months.

As a result of that attack, 83 guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), who were wounded receiving treatment in the hospital, hospital workers, journalists and patriots were martyred.

One of the founders of the newspaper and witness to the massacre that took place in the attack on Welat Niaz Hamid newspaper.

Hamid indicated that he had received a lot of information about the massacre from people who were close to the newspaper's website at the time. He said: "Welat newspaper had many readers. The KDP and Turkish intelligence could not bear that, so they attacked the newspaper's center and they killed a group of journalists there. Information about the bodies so far and the whereabouts of their burial places.

Speaking about the attack on the hospital, in which Guerilla fighters were wounded at the time, Hamed said: "There was a brutal attack on the hospital in which the wounded were, as they caused the martyrdom of the wounded fighters in an inhumane manner that shakes the entity of humanity. They also attacked the Arts and Culture Center again and the service institutions in the community in southern Kurdistan, which was under the administration of the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

Niaz Hamid pointed out that the Welat newspaper's centers, workers and offices were attacked several times before. He said: "Welat newspaper was attacked in several ways in the cities of Hewler and Sulaymaniyah before the massacre that took place in Hewler, as Dr. Salah Hawrami was killed on March 13, 1995 by Turkish intelligence. In cooperation with the Kurdistan Democratic Party, where he was one of the contributors to Welat newspaper, and they tried in many cases, through attacks on the newspaper, to stand in the way of the newspaper’s functioning and work to prevent and close it. Despite all the difficulties it faced, the newspaper continued its work.

Hamid spoke about the incident that took place in the newspaper, confirming the testimony of witnesses who witnessed the attack that took place at the time, adding: “Citizens who lived near the newspaper told me that the Turkish intelligence and the KDP gangs attacked the Welat newspaper center in Ankawa, where a 106-caliber shell was fired. mm on the newspaper in front of Hawler Castle at half past four in the evening that day, with the exception of medium and individual weapons. At that time, some journalists who were working at the time were targeted. The attack on the newspaper’s center continued until seven thirty in the evening that day, and after the attack on the newspaper ended, all journalists were killed The gangs of the Kurdistan Democratic Party started looting, and Hamid drew attention to the information provided by the witnesses and said: “One of the witnesses, when he went to the central hall of the newspaper, saw the martyrdom of Comrade Rosa, and he also saw that Comrade Ronnie was also martyred, and because of the collapse of the building, he could not know the status of all the comrades there. Completely, the remains of many journalists' bodies remained under destruction, and he could not bear that difficult situation because he knew all the journalists there. He ran home and started talking about the massacre to his family.

At the end of his speech, Niaz Hamid pointed out that the KDP gangs, in cooperation with Turkish intelligence, brutally attacked the newspaper's center, saying: "It was the only building that was attacked with heavy weapons, as it was completely destroyed and all the comrades there were martyred the day before. The perpetrators of this massacre, their collaborators and those responsible must be held accountable." and prosecute them and inflict the most severe punishments necessary to avenge the martyrs.

Niaz Hamid pointed out that the Welat newspaper's centers, workers and offices were attacked several times before. He said: "Welat newspaper was attacked in several ways in the cities of Hewler and Sulaymaniyah before the massacre that took place in Hewler, as Dr. Salah Hawrami was killed on March 13, 1995 by Turkish intelligence. In cooperation with the Kurdistan Democratic Party, where he was one of the contributors to Welat newspaper, and they tried in many cases, through attacks on the newspaper, to stand in the way of the newspaper’s functioning and work to prevent and close it. Despite all the difficulties it faced, the newspaper continued its work.

Hamid spoke about the incident that took place in the newspaper, confirming the testimony of witnesses who witnessed the attack that took place at the time, adding: “Citizens who lived near the newspaper told me that the Turkish intelligence and the KDP gangs attacked the Welat newspaper center in Ankawa, where a 106-caliber shell was fired. mm on the newspaper in front of Hawler Castle at half past four in the evening that day, with the exception of medium and individual weapons. At that time, some journalists who were working at the time were targeted. The attack on the newspaper’s center continued until seven thirty in the evening that day, and after the attack on the newspaper ended, all journalists were killed The gangs of the Kurdistan Democratic Party started looting, and Hamid drew attention to the information provided by the witnesses and said: “One of the witnesses, when he went to the central hall of the newspaper, saw the martyrdom of Comrade Rosa, and he also saw that Comrade Ronnie was also martyred, and because of the collapse of the building, he could not know the status of all the comrades there. Completely, the remains of many journalists' bodies remained under destruction, and he could not bear that difficult situation because he knew all the journalists there. He ran home and started talking about the massacre to his family.

At the end of his speech, Niaz Hamid pointed out that the KDP gangs, in cooperation with Turkish intelligence, brutally attacked the newspaper's center, saying: "It was the only building that was attacked with heavy weapons, as it was completely destroyed and all the comrades there were martyred the day before. The perpetrators of this massacre, their collaborators and those responsible must be held accountable." and prosecute them and inflict the most severe punishments necessary to avenge the martyrs.

The forces of the Kurdistan Democratic Party along with the Turkish army and those working in the area in the name of the Peace Forces attacked a number of organizations, including the Kurdistan Red Crescent, and the attack resulted in the killing of dozens of unarmed people, and despite the passage of 25 years since the Hawler massacre, the bodies of the martyrs were not delivered to Their families, even the place where the funerals of the martyrs were buried, did not know their whereabouts.

Despite the end of the massacre, the KDP did not return the funerals of the guerrilla forces and hospital workers to their families. It is said that the funerals of some of the people who were killed were buried near Hewler Airport. According to the 56th issue of Çetir newspaper issued in 2011, the funerals of some martyrs were buried in a place Nearby on Hawler and Makhmour road, this place is known as Mahmal Qir.

It is said that some of the funerals of martyrs of the Guerilla fighters were buried next to the Hawler-Dohuk road, on the road to Hawler Airport.

About this, one of the Peshmerga, who asked not to be named, said: "I was an employee in that area when the funerals were brought by trucks, and we were sent there as a group of Peshmerga to maintain security, as the trucks were covered when the funerals were attended. We were not in the area where they were digging, but we were seeing Everything that is going on where the bodies were wrapped in blankets and covers and I did not see their faces but they buried them with their clothes and blankets and covers one by one in the tombs that were dug for them there and during the funerals we were told to leave the area so we left it where new graves were dug but I did not know then who they were but after that I contacted the other Peshmerga and learned that it was for members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

He added, "On that day I was in that area, more than 20 funerals were buried. The place where the funerals were held was at the last corner on the Duhok road to Duhok Airport.

  He continued, "There were many graves, but that area was not a cemetery at that time, but after he heard that those who buried members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) made it a cemetery since that time, but how many people were buried there and what were their names? I don't know but They have a record and then the airport was built, and the cemetery is now next to the airport barrier on the way to Dohuk.

Relatives of the missing and martyrs in the Hawler massacre and the Al-Amal Association for the Support of War Victims submitted a request to the Human Rights Committee of the Kurdistan Region Parliament, human rights associations and the Iraqi parliament to visit the graves of their martyred children, but they have not reached any result so far.

Attempts to reveal the fate of the victims increased after the year 2000 and beyond, as the relatives of the martyrs intervened in these attempts to find the locations of their children’s graves. This is why the War Support Society was established in 2010 and is being worked on extensively.

In 2011, the Human Rights Committee of the Kurdistan Regional Parliament began working on this issue. In 2011, a request was submitted to the Ministry of Interior, in which it demanded clarification of the fate of the missing in that massacre.

In 2012, the Ministry of Interior in the Kurdistan Region issued a statement acknowledging that no one was rescued and liberated from that massacre and that everyone was killed, but the location of their graves was not revealed, nor were the perpetrators of this crime revealed.

The Ministry of Interior announced that it was ready to recognize those who were martyred in the Hawler massacre as martyrs, but so far it has not fulfilled its promise.