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	Director-General's Statement Commemorating the Halabja Attack of 16 March 1988

H.E. Mr. Ahmet Üzümcü, the Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, addressed in a letter the Iraqi government and families of the victims of Halabja on the occasion of the 24th anniversary of the chemical weapons attack on the city. The Organisation issues a statement on the 16th of March every year, as passed by the Executive Council of the Organisation in its 62nd session.

Statement

While expressing our solidarity together with the authorities and inhabitants of the city of Halabja, we pay our homage to the memory of the victims who were subject to one of the largest and most brutal attacks by chemical weapons directed against a civilian population.

As we convey our deepest sympathies for the victims and recall their great sufferings, we remind ourselves of our firm commitment and resolve to permanently eliminate the threat of chemical weapons.

The memory of those who perished in the most painful circumstances must strengthen our determination to fully achieve the goals of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and to ensure that the international community never allows such tragedies to happen again.

It is our strong conviction that the most appropriate commemoration of the tragic victims of Halabja is by universal adherence to and the effective implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, which is for the purpose of excluding completely the possibility of the use of chemical weapons once and for all.