"When I drove into the city of Halabja, I saw many dead bodies. I saw cars full of bodies. (...) I saw that my daughter's face was covered in blisters. Her skin was also discoloured. I also saw that there were foam and blood coming out of her mouth. Then I saw that my father was holding my son in his arms. My father, my mother, and my two children were all dead. (...) I saw hundreds of dead bodies in bomb shelters. (...) In fact, all the victims were civilians. (...) In the case of my own children and father and mother, the skin and the blisters were both red, but a bit further up the road, the corpses had severe burns, and some of the bodies were charred." - (Quotation from a witness statement in the case against Frans van A.)
At the end of 2003, an investigation into Van A. was launched in response to a television program about him. Van A. was arrested in December 2004, and a year later, in December 2005, was sentenced to fifteen years' imprisonment for participation in war crimes. He was acquitted of the charges of participation in genocide. On appeal, his period of imprisonment was extended to seventeen years. The Supreme Court of the Netherlands upheld this sentence, with the deduction of six months credit for time served.
Judgments:
The Hague District Court, 23 December 2005
The Hague Court of Appeal, 9 May 2007
Supreme Court of the Netherlands, 30 June 2009, LJN BG 4882
European Court of Human Rights, 6 July 2010, Application no. 65389/09
