Introduction
Amna Suraka — “the Red Security” — is a museum in Sulaymaniyah that stands as one of the most powerful memorials in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Housed in the former headquarters of the Iraqi regime’s security service, where many Kurds were imprisoned and abused during the years of Ba’athist rule, the bullet-scarred red building has been preserved and turned into a place of memory. It documents the suffering of the Kurdish people under that era — above all the Anfal campaign and the chemical attack on Halabja — and honours those who endured and resisted. It is a site of grief, remembrance, and resilience.
A scarred building turned into a museum of memory, Amna Suraka bears witness to one of the darkest chapters of Kurdish history. This profile approaches its story with the gravity it deserves.
Key Takeaways
• Amna Suraka (“Red Security”) is a memorial museum in Sulaymaniyah.
• It occupies the former regional headquarters of the Iraqi security service.
• From 1979 to 1991 many Kurds were imprisoned and abused there.
• It now documents the Anfal campaign, Halabja, and Kurdish resistance.
• It is a place of remembrance for the victims and survivors of that era.
Quick Facts
Name: Amna Suraka (“Red Security” / Red Prison)
Type: Human-rights and historical museum
Country / Region: Kurdistan Region, Iraq (Başur)
City: Sulaymaniyah (Slemani)
Former Use: Regional security-service headquarters, 1979–1991
Opened As Museum: 2003
Themes: Anfal, Halabja, repression, resistance
Operated By: Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)
Contents
Related People, Places, and Topics
References and Further Reading
Where Is Amna Suraka?
Amna Suraka stands in the heart of Sulaymaniyah, the great cultural city of the eastern Kurdistan Region of Iraq, set among the mountains of the region. The museum is one of the most visited sites in the city, alongside the Slemani Museum and the city’s parks and bazaars. Its themes connect it closely to other memorials of the era, such as the Halabja Monument, which commemorates the victims of the 1988 chemical attack on the town of Halabja.
The Red Security
The building takes its name — Amna Suraka, “the Red Security” — from the colour of its walls and from its grim former purpose. From 1979 to 1991, during the rule of the Ba’athist regime in Iraq, it served as the northern regional headquarters of the state security service. In those years many people were detained within its walls — among them students, Kurdish activists, and others deemed enemies of the regime — and many suffered greatly there. The building stands as physical evidence of the machinery of repression that the Kurdish people endured during that period, a history the museum confronts directly and soberly.
The 1991 Uprising
In the spring of 1991, in the uprising that followed the Gulf War, the people of the region rose up and the security complex at Sulaymaniyah was taken. The fierce fighting of those days left the buildings shattered and pocked with bullet holes and shell damage, marks that remain on the red walls to this day. The capture of the Red Security was a moment of profound significance — the seizing of one of the most feared symbols of the regime’s power in the region — and the scars left on the building were deliberately preserved as part of its later transformation.
From Prison to Museum
In 2003 the former headquarters was opened to the public as a museum, preserving the site as a memorial and a place of education about the era. The complex keeps its damaged buildings and reconstructed cells as they were, and its exhibits document the campaigns of violence against the Kurdish people, especially the Anfal operations of the late 1980s and the chemical attack on Halabja, as well as the resistance and survival of the community. Among its installations is a hall lined with thousands of mirror shards and lights, each remembering a victim of Anfal — a striking memorial to the scale of the loss.
A Place of Memory
Amna Suraka stands today as one of the most important sites of memory in the Kurdistan Region — a place where the suffering of the past is preserved so that it will not be forgotten, and where the endurance of the Kurdish people is honoured. Visitors come to learn, to mourn, and to reflect. By keeping the scarred building and its history open to all, the museum bears witness to a painful chapter while affirming the resilience of a people who survived it. It is, in the deepest sense, a monument to both memory and endurance.
Timeline
1979–1991 — The building serves as the regional security headquarters.
late 1980s — The Anfal campaign and the Halabja attack devastate the Kurds.
1991 — In the uprising the complex is taken; the buildings are left scarred.
2003 — Amna Suraka is opened to the public as a memorial museum.
today — It stands as a major site of memory and education in Slemani.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Amna Suraka?
Amna Suraka, “the Red Security,” is a memorial museum in Sulaymaniyah housed in the former regional headquarters of the Iraqi security service, where many Kurds were imprisoned and abused under Ba’athist rule.
What does the museum commemorate?
It documents the repression of the Kurdish people during that era — especially the Anfal campaign and the chemical attack on Halabja — and honours the victims, survivors, and resistance.
Why is the building scarred?
The complex was heavily damaged in the fighting of the 1991 uprising, and its bullet-marked walls and ruined buildings were deliberately preserved when it became a museum.
When did it become a museum?
The former headquarters was opened to the public as a museum in 2003, and it is operated as a site of memory and education.
Related People, Places, and Topics
The Anfal campaign · the 1991 uprising · Kurdish memory and resistance · Sulaymaniyah · the Halabja Monument · Halabja.