On This Day in 1988: Saddam’s Regime Pardoned All Kurds Except Mam Jalal

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Late President Mam Jalal.

On 8 September 1988—37 years ago—the Ba'ath Party convened a meeting and issued a general amnesty for all Iraqi Kurds, with the sole exception of President Mam Jalal.

The decision, titled “General and Comprehensive Amnesty for All Iraqi Kurds,” stated: “Based on Article 42, paragraph 1, of the Iraqi Constitution, the Revolutionary Command Council decided at its meeting on 8 September 1988 to grant a general and comprehensive amnesty to all Iraqi Kurds covered by the declaration of the Revolutionary Leadership Council of 6 September 1988. The amnesty applies to any act punishable by law committed prior to the decision of 6 September 1988, whether inside or outside Iraq. However, those convicted of theft or murder shall be excluded from this decision.”

Another clause of the decree further clarified: “Every Kurd who is convicted or detained shall be granted a general amnesty, his case closed, and he shall be released—unless convicted or detained in connection with other charges.”

The ruling concluded unambiguously: “This general amnesty does not apply to Jalal Talabani.”

Seventeen years later, on 6 April 2005, Mam Jalal was elected President of Iraq by the Iraqi National Assembly. He thus became not only the first Kurd in Iraq’s modern political history to hold the presidency, but also the first president chosen by an elected Iraqi parliament since the establishment of the state in the 1920s. He went on to serve two consecutive terms.



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