Remembering UN Security Council Resolution 688 to Shield Kurds From Ba'ath Repression

ResearchGate

The Kurdistan Region's No Fly Zone area.

Today, 5 April, marks the 35th anniversary of the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 688, which aimed to protect the Kurdish people from the oppression of the fallen Ba’ath regime following the mass displacement of millions in 1991.

Under the 688 resolution, the United Nations Security Council called for an end to the repression of civilians and paved the way for the establishment of a no-fly zone north of the 36th parallel. Coalition aircraft enforcing the ban were stationed at Incirlik Air Base in Türkiye, and the arrangement remained in place until the fall of the former regime.

Following the Kurdish uprising, France submitted the resolution to the Security Council, condemning the repression of Kurds in Iraq. It called on the Ba’ath regime to halt repressing the Kurdish civilians, respect human rights, and allow international humanitarian organisations to assist the large numbers of refugees who had fled to neighbouring Iran and Türkiye.

The resolution was adopted with 10 votes in favour, while Yemen, Zimbabwe, and Cuba voted against. China and India abstained.

A landmark in international law

Prior to this decision, the Ba’ath regime consistently portrayed its treatment of the Kurdish population as an “internal” matter, rejecting any external interference. However, UN Security Council Resolution 688 marked a decisive shift.

For the first time, the United Nations Security Council formally recognised the oppression of the Kurdish people.

The resolution characterised the repression of civilians as a “threat to international peace and security”, thereby paving the way for international humanitarian intervention, overriding the principle of state sovereignty that Iraq had previously invoked to shield itself.



PUKMEDIA