Nearly 300 Complaints Filed Against Ajaj as Deadline for Filing Closes

PUKMEDIA

Defendant Ajaj Ahmed Hardan.

Saturday, 9 August 2025, marks the deadline for filing complaints against defendant Ajaj, who was recently arrested. So far, approximately 300 complaints have been submitted.

Dilshad Majid, head of the complaints receiving committee in Sulaymaniyah, told PUKMEDIA: "The deadline for filing complaints against defendant Ajaj ends at 4:00 p.m. (local time) on Saturday. So far, approximately 50 complaints have been filed by our committee, the majority of which are from women."

He added: "All of the complainants were witnesses to or victims of Ajaj's crimes, and the complaints contain detailed information about the crimes he committed against Kurdish women, children, and men."

Majid noted that "the work of the committees in both Chamchamal and Kalar will also conclude today. According to our information, approximately 300 complaints have been registered so far, most of them from the Kalar and Chamchamal areas."

He further stated that "the process is proceeding well, and the plan has been implemented better than expected, as a large number of complaints have been collected within these committees."

On 31 July 2025, the office of Iraqi First Lady Shanaz Ibrahim Ahmed announced the arrest of a prominent figure accused of involvement in the Anfal crimes during the era of the defunct Ba'ath regime — Ajaj Ahmed Hardan al-Tikriti, also known as Hajjaj Nugra Salman. He is accused of committing some of the most horrific crimes against detainees at Nugra Salman Prison in the Samawah desert, southern Iraq, where he served as the supervisor during the Anfal operations.

In an official press statement, National Security Service (NSS) spokesperson Arshad al-Hakim confirmed Hardan’s arrest, stating that he had swiftly confessed to the charges brought against him, particularly those involving crimes committed against the Kurdish population.

Ajaj Ahmed Hardan previously held several high-ranking security positions under the former regime. Hardan is alleged to have played a central role in overseeing mass executions and the burial of victims in mass graves. The NSS said in a statement that he committed a series of crimes against humanity, particularly targeting members of the Kurdish community who had been forcibly relocated to Muthanna during the Anfal campaign.

The statement detailed acts of torture, murder, and rape carried out within Nugra Salman Prison. For years, the defendant’s family had falsely claimed he was deceased in an attempt to evade justice. However, a detailed intelligence investigation, cross-referenced with past testimonies, eventually led to his identification and location in Salah al-Din Governorate.

Following judicial authorisation and the documentation of survivors’ and witnesses’ testimonies, Hardan was apprehended and handed over to the competent investigative authorities for legal proceedings.

The Ba'ath regime in Iraq, particularly under Saddam Hussein, was responsible for egregious human rights violations against its own population. Among the most notorious of these was the Anfal campaign — a genocidal military operation in the late 1980s involving mass killings, forced displacement, and chemical attacks against the Kurdish population.

The campaign martyred more than 180,000 Kurds, including women, children, and the elderly.

The regime also routinely crushed dissent through arbitrary arrests, torture, and summary executions. Minority communities — including Kurds, Shiite Arabs, and others — were systematically persecuted, displaced, or expelled from their homes in efforts to consolidate power and enforce ideological control.



PUKMEDIA