Karbala University hosted the closing ceremony of the ‘Memory of Pain and the Spark of Hope’ competition, which was launched by the Volunteer Development and Advancement Team with the participation of eight universities in Karbala province.

The competition, organised by the team in conjunction with International Human Rights Day, aims to raise awareness of Baathist crimes and counter attempts to erase the facts of the past related to the crimes committed by the Baath regime.

The closing activities were attended by Prof Jassim Al-Barrak and Prof Haider Mohammed, Assistant Vice Presidents for Administrative and Scientific Affairs, the head of the Martyrs Foundation and a number of local government members.

Karbala University President Prof. Sabah Wajid Ali recalled the crimes committed by the Baath regime during its rule in Iraq, pointing out that ‘these pages will be cursed by history, which are dark pages of embers in which Iraqis tasted all forms of pain and woes,’ adding that ‘the period of Baath Party rule witnessed the implementation of the most heinous crimes throughout history, which are repulsive to humanity.’

‘The Foundation seeks to support this competition to be applied at the level of Iraq as it is a qualitative event organised by a group of conscious young people with the aim of shedding light on the crimes of the Baath,’ said Abdullah al-Naali, head of the Martyrs Foundation. ‘The foundation has an archive of documents that includes more than one million documents that criminalise the dissolved Baath Party,’ he said.

‘The competition is part of the attempts to provide moral reparations to the families of martyrs and those affected by the former regime, and 176 students from various universities in Karbala province participated in the two-week scientific debates on the crimes of the former regime, and the winning teams will be honoured today,’ said Dr. Mohammed Sahib, supervisor of the Development and Advancement Volunteer Team.

Karbala University won the first place in the competition, in which teams from different universities participated.