The Martyrs Foundation directs to open new mass graves, create a special database

BAGHDAD-INA

Martyrs Foundation announced Wednesday the start of a new phase of searching for mass graves, while referring to the intention to open cemeteries in Ramadi and Sinjar this year, it confirmed the endeavor to establish a database of its own.

The Director-General of the Mass Graves Department, Dhiaa Karim, told the Iraqi News Agency (INA), that "there are mass graves that have not been reached so far," noting that "the department has begun a new phase of aerial survey and aerial maps in order to determine the changes that occurred in the presidential palaces and surrounding areas to search for graves, and therefore the process of searching them will be carried out in the coming days once these sites are identified.


 He added, "The number of the remains of the martyrs of the Speicher crime that were found in the river by the military commands  amounted to 161 martyrs who were buried in Wadi al-Salam cemetery," noting that "the process of opening the graves is complicated and caused the work staff to suffer respiratory and skin diseases due to high temperatures and the emission of the gases from the remains, which were largely accumulated and buried very deep”.

Karim continued, "There are many mass graves and they are constantly increasing, and we are working to establish a database for them," explaining that "many graves have been monitored in Anbar Governorate and Sinjar District."

He also indicated, "A plan has been drawn up to open new cemeteries this year in Sinjar, as well as other cemeteries in the city of Ramadi," noting: "We are working in accordance with the legal framework, as our teams open the cemeteries, remove the remains, determine their identities, complete the legal files and refer them to the competent judicial authorities."  

 He stated, "There is an international dimension represented in the fact of the crimes committed against the victims of mass graves, which is not a crime in itself as much as a method of genocide against humanity," explaining that "there is a difference between the concept of the cemetery and the site, for the site is the presidential palaces in which I witnessed  17 mass graves opened.