Latest news with #Baath
Indian Express
4 days ago
- General
- Indian Express
Gurgaon civics bodies clear vending carts and parked vehicles near Unitech Cyber Park
The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) conducted a joint demolition drive Monday morning to clear encroachments along the sector 39/46 dividing road. The action was prompted by multiple complaints about illegal vending carts and parked vehicles obstructing the service road near Unitech Cyber Park, causing significant traffic delays, a GMDA spokesperson said. 'The GMDA and MCG teams found that illegal carts were operating close to the cyber park, while cycle tracks and two-wheeler lanes developed by GMDA were being used as unauthorised parking spaces for cars and bikes. Despite four prior visits by MCG teams, which involved towing vehicles and issuing warnings to cart owners, the encroachments persisted, leading to delays of 45 minutes to an hour to cross a 500m stretch', it was added. The drive was led by R S Baath, Nodal Officer for Encroachments and District Town Planner, GMDA, and also involved traffic police personnel. Approximately 50 illegal carts operating without permits were demolished, and 28 challans worth Rs 15,000 were issued for parking rule violations. Commercial establishments nearby were directed to arrange staff parking within their premises. 'Investigations revealed that some cart owners lacked Aadhaar cards, and many were locals. Public reports also indicated that local mafias were charging up to Rs 3,000 from cart owners to operate on the stretch,' the GMDA spokesperson said. Baath stated that the GMDA is conducting regular day and night enforcement drives on key master and service roads. The authority aims to clear public land, green belts, and improve traffic management in Gurgaon, with more such drives planned over the next three months, he added. Last month the two bodies too jointly cleared over 75 allegedly illegal vegetable carts from Khandsa Road and 14 carts from Mahavir Chowk, Agrasen Chowk, and Bus Stand Road to tackle widespread encroachment. That action had been prompted by residents' complaints about traffic disruptions caused by illegal vendors near the Sabzi Mandi at Khandsa Road that affected school buses and office-goers. In April, the two civic bodies had jointly removed over 200 encroachments by shops on a 2.5 km stretch from Mata Mandir to sector 5 in the city. 'There is a zero-tolerance policy towards encroachment, and FIRs will be lodged against the violators,' Baath said at the time.
Shafaq News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Iraq unearths six mass graves in al-Anbar
Shafaq News/ Iraq has finished excavating six mass graves in al-Anbar province, uncovering remains of victims executed during various periods of violence, the Martyrs Foundation reported on Monday. The graves, located in the Al-Jam'iyah neighborhood of al-Saqlawiyah, contained dozens of victims killed under Saddam Hussein's regime, as well as during al-Qaeda and ISIS control in the area, the foundation stated, adding that DNA tests will be conducted using samples from families of the missing to confirm identities. 'Once verified, remains will be returned to relatives for burial.' The foundation also confirmed that legal documents, including forensic reports and seizure records, will be submitted to Iraqi courts to trigger official investigations. According to the Martyrs Foundation and UN reports, Iraq has identified more than 200 mass grave sites, many from the Baath era. These include graves from the 1988 Anfal campaign against Kurds, the 1991 Shaaban uprising, and crackdowns on political opponents in the 1980s. After 2003, new waves of violence emerged, particularly by extremist groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS. Among the most notorious incidents were the 2014 massacre of Yazidis in Sinjar and the execution of more than 1,700 Iraqi cadets at Camp Speicher.
Shafaq News
6 days ago
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Stateless in their homeland: The unending exile of Iraq's Feyli Kurds
Shafaq News/ In the quiet alleys of eastern Baghdad, Amira Abdul-Amir Ali moves through her days under the weight of silence. Her footsteps echo with decades of exclusion—an exile not from geography, but from legal existence. Born in 1960 and raised in Iraq, she remains, at 64, a citizen of nowhere. No official record affirms her Iraqi identity. Her life is suspended in a bureaucratic void—without recognition, rights, or recourse. Amira's story mirrors that of tens of thousands of Feyli Kurds, a Shiite Kurdish minority deeply woven into Iraq's social and economic fabric. For generations, they ran businesses, held public posts, and called Iraq home. But shifting political tides erased that belonging. Displacement by Decree The persecution of the Feyli Kurds was deliberate and protracted. In the early 1970s, the Baath regime under President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr initiated mass deportations, accusing Feylis of 'Iranian allegiance.' Under Saddam Hussein, the campaign intensified, peaking in 1980 with one of Iraq's most egregious state-led displacements. Citizenship papers vanished overnight. Families were rounded up and forced into Iran. Homes, shops, and savings were confiscated. Over 500,000 Feyli Kurds were expelled, according to estimates. Thousands of young men disappeared, likely executed or buried in unmarked graves. Baghdad's Feyli professionals and merchants were among the hardest hit. The Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights reports that more than 1.3 million people went missing nationwide between 1980 and 1990. Feyli Kurds bore a disproportionate share of that toll. Recognition Without Relief In 2010, Iraq's High Criminal Court classified the deportations and disappearances as genocide. A year later, Parliament echoed that recognition. Yet these acknowledgments, while historic, brought little in practice. Pledges to restore citizenship, return property, and compensate victims remain largely unfulfilled. Many survivors returned to Iraq after the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein—hopeful, but soon entangled in a labyrinth of paperwork. Reinstating citizenship required documents lost during exile or raids, and the state offered scant support in recovering them. A Name Without a Nation Amira's life exemplifies this bureaucratic limbo. Deported with her family in 1980, she spent decades in Iran. There, she married an Iraqi prisoner of war in a religious ceremony—valid by custom, but unregistered by Iraqi authorities. After returning to Iraq post-2003, her husband failed to submit her nationality paperwork. When he died, Amira was left alone, legally invisible. She holds no national ID, cannot access public healthcare or education, and is excluded from Iraq's food ration system. 'All I ask is to be treated like everyone else,' she told Shafaq News. 'To restore just a piece of my lost dignity.' Her entire legal identity today fits in a worn file folder—an unregistered marriage contract, a few aging residency papers—none sufficient to restore her rights. Bureaucracy and Gender Iraqi law allows reinstatement of Feyli citizenship in principle, but implementation is sluggish and inconsistent. For women, the hurdles are even greater. Iraq's civil registry system still leans heavily on male guardianship. Without a husband or male relative to file her case, Amira has effectively vanished from official records. Her experience reveals how gender compounds legal exclusion. Years in exile, outdated rules, and systemic corruption create a maze most cannot navigate. Her case is just one of hundreds stuck in this legal paralysis. Human Rights Watch has noted that Iraq's transitional justice efforts are undermined by fragmented politics and selective enforcement. Legal structures exist, but urgency and willpower are lacking. Genocide as Daily Reality The 2010 genocide ruling was a milestone—but more than a decade later, material justice remains absent. Property has not been restored. Compensation has not reached most victims. And citizenship remains elusive for many. Some Feyli Kurds have reintegrated. But others—like Amira—live in legal shadows. For them, 'genocide' is not merely a past crime—it is a daily condition. 'I live as though I have no right to anything… no home, no document, no voice,' Amira said. 'Orphaned by both parents—I just want to be treated as an Iraqi. That's all.' A Humanitarian Path Forward Amira continues to appeal to Iraqi leaders—especially Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and Interior Minister Abdul-Amir al-Shammari—seeking a humanitarian solution. Iraqi law does include provisions for exceptional cases, particularly involving mixed marriages and displaced persons, but they are rarely and inconsistently applied. Human rights advocates stress the need for urgent administrative reform: simplify application procedures, recognize informal marriages in exile, and allow women to reclaim citizenship without male intermediaries. The United Nations defines legal identity as a foundational right—one that enables access to education, healthcare, political participation, and economic life. Without it, individuals are effectively erased from public existence.
Shafaq News
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
KRG to present report on forcibly disappeared victims of Saddam at Baghdad conference
Shafaq News/ Iraq will hold a regional conference in Baghdad on May 27 to address the issue of missing persons, under the sponsorship of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein, with participation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). KRG Coordinator for International Advocacy Dindar Zebari confirmed that the event will bring together deputy foreign ministers from neighboring countries, regional experts, and representatives of accredited foreign missions, adding that the conference aims to boost regional cooperation, enhance cross-border coordination, and highlight the joint role of Iraq's Federal and Regional governments in partnership with the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP). While the KRG would be presenting a formal report that details its long-standing efforts to locate thousands of forcibly disappeared individuals, particularly victims of Saddam Hussein's regime, Zebari noted that the presentation will focus on 'major historical atrocities,' including the disappearance of Feyli Kurds in the 1980s, the Anfal campaign in Garmian and Bahdinan, and the case of 8,000 missing Barzanis. He stressed that these crimes represent some of the darkest moments in Kurdish history and warned that enforced disappearances continued beyond the Baath era, citing thousands abducted by ISIS. 'The international community and the United Nations must take a closer look at these atrocities, which we will raise during the meeting.'
Shafaq News
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Justice for Feyli Kurds: Dracula of the Baath sentenced to death
Shafaq News/ Iraq handed down two death sentences on Thursday, including one against a former Saddam-era intelligence officer accused of leading brutal campaigns. A security source told Shafaq News that Iraq's High Criminal Court sentenced Khairallah Hammadi Abdullah Jaro al-Naseri, a top Baathist official known for overseeing repression against Feyli Kurds, to death by hanging after being captured by the National Security Service earlier this year. He reportedly confessed, in the presence of victims' families, to directing executions, forced disappearances, torture, and mass burials. Dubbed 'the Dracula of the Baath,' al-Naseri operated across Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region and was long considered one of the regime's most brutal enforcers. His conviction is seen as a 'major milestone' in Iraq's pursuit of the so-called ' Group of Five '—a list of key Baathist fugitives. Separately, the Criminal Court in Najaf handed a double death sentence to an ISIS fighter convicted of killing two police officers, injuring others during interrogation, and torching civilian vehicles to incite fear and destabilize the province, the Supreme Judicial Council stated.
