As 52nd anniversary of Sorya Massacres in Iraq approaches, parliamentary candidate Sliwa calls for unity in pursuit of rights

NOHADRA, Iraq — As the 52nd anniversary of the Sorya Massacres approaches, a candidate for Iraqi Parliament for the Bethnahrain Patriotic Union (Huyodo d-Bethnahrin Athroyo, HBA) list, Joseph Sliwa told the SyriacPress news desk that, “The painful wound of this inhuman massacre will not heal until the rights of our people are restored and they are compensated for the tragedies, injustice, and killing they endured.”

Sliwa called for unity and solidarity amongst Chaldeans–Syriacs–Assyrians wherever they are in pursuit of their legitimate rights.

“The more dispersed the children of this great people are, the more attacks against them, such as the painful massacre of Sorya,” he said.

Sorya is one of the villages in the Zakho District of Nohadra (Duhok) Governorate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). The perpetrator of this crime was Lieutenant Abdul Karim Khalil al-Juhaishi from Mosul, known for his brutality and aggressive behavior towards the villagers.

On 16 September 1969, Baathist’s descended on the village and brutally murdered 38 innocent Syriac Chaldean civilians with automatic rifle fire.

The inhabitants of Sorya were gathered into a barn where they were, without exception, violently gunned down.

The victims of that massacre were women, men, and children, even the priest of the village was not spared.