The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) has documented the human rights situation in Iraq during the past five years since the start of the popular movement, including by publishing 30 periodic reports detailing the grave violations taking place in the country. They can be viewed here.

The 31st periodic report covers various types of grave violations, including gross human rights violations that occurred in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in the past two months.

Party founder and political activist assassinated

On 07 December 2023, the founder of the Al-Da’i Party, Fadel Al-Marsoumi, was assassinated by unknown gunmen on a motorcycle, who opened fire on the civilian car in which he was riding. He died immediately, and the gunmen fled to an unknown destination.

Al-Da’i party, which he leads, participated in the provincial council election that took place on 18 December 2023, and its campaign slogan was, “Patriots demand reform”.

Head of the Iraq Center for Human Rights subpoenaed

On 03 December 2023, the Iraq Center for Human Rights announced on its Facebook page that a judicial summons had been issued against its president, human rights defender Ali Al-Abadi, in accordance with Article 433 of the Iraqi Penal Code regarding insult and defamation, due to statements he made about torture in Iraqi prisons.

The next day, Al-Abadi held a press conference called for by the Civil Popular Committees in the city of Basra, where he stated that his organisation only documents violations in order to put an end to them, and thus should not be targeted. He called on Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani and the United Nations, through the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), in the capital, Baghdad, to intervene in order to protect civil society activists.

The Iraq Center for Human Rights operates from the city of Basra, the capital of Basra Governorate in southern Iraq, and focuses its activities on monitoring violations in Iraqi prisons, including torture.

Reliable information received by GCHR confirmed that the summons was initiated by the National Security Service, which filed a complaint against him because of statements he made in a television interview on 26 June 2023, on the occasion of the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. He spoke about torture in Iraqi prisons, especially during the investigation stage, and mentioned that some members of the Internal Security Service are among those engaging in torture. The case was transferred from the Third Karkh Investigation Court in Baghdad, which specialises in publishing and media cases, to the local judiciary in Basra Governorate.

In a popular gathering held in solidarity with him in Basra on 13 July 2023, Al-Abadi also denounced the Basra Governorate Police Chief, Major General Qasim Rashid, for filing in June 2023 a judicial complaint against him under Article 433 of the Iraqi Penal Code, due to other statements which were made by Al-Abadi in a press conference held at the end of May 2023, in which he condemned the police chief’s threat in a meeting held earlier in May with police officers to use torture against citizens. This case is still with the Criminal Evidence Directorate.

Trial of a political commentator continues due to his public views

The trial of political analyst Mohammad Na’na Hassan continues after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani appealed the initial ruling issued against him.

On 26 March 2023, security forces arrested Hassan in the Karrada area in central Baghdad. He was detained at the Sulaykh Police Station in Baghdad until his release 12 days later on bail. The arrest was based on a complaint filed against him by Prime Minister Al-Sudani on 09 September 2022, accusing him of verbally attacking him before he assumed office when he was a candidate for prime minister.

Hassan had attacked Al-Sudani in an episode of the “The Decision is for You” programme presented by journalist Sahar Abbas Jameel from the Dijlah Satellite Channel, which was broadcast on 30 August 2022. He made several accusations, including that he was submitting to some leaders of the parties in power.

On 02 October 2023, the Karrada Misdemeanor Court in Baghdad issued its ruling to imprison Hassan for a period of six months with a suspended sentence, a fine of one million Iraqi dinars (about $700 dollars) and a personal pledge not to repeat his claims, after it convicted him on charges of defamation and insulting the Prime Minister. Reliable local sources confirmed that the trial was a sham as neither he nor his lawyer were allowed to present a defense statement.

The Prime Minister appealed this preliminary ruling, and the Baghdad Al-Rusafa Court of Appeal decided to accept his request, holding its hearings on 08 and 28 November and on 28 December 2023. The fourth hearing is expected to be held on 14 January 2024.

GCHR denounces the targeting of political analyst Mohammad Na’na Hassan because of his personal opinions that he expressed in a public television seminar and condemns the authorities’ targeting and judicial harassment of him.

News website blocked

The Ultra Iraq news website has been blocked inside Iraq since 28 November 2023. Informed local sources confirmed to GCHR that the blocking occurred without prior notice by the relevant government authorities. It is believed that the reason for blocking the website is the criticism it directs towards the government’s performance and its coverage of some corruption files in the country.

Iraqi citizen released in the UAE

On 30 December 2023, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities released Iraqi blogger Bassem Rahim after detaining him for six weeks. He left the country the next day and arrived in Karbala, where he lives. On the morning of 17 November 2023, Rahim posted a video on his Tik Tok account in which he described the flooded streets in Dubai during a wave of rainfall there. He was arbitrarily arrested the next day by security forces, who charged him with insulting the city.

Rahim was among a group of Iraqi citizens on a tourist trip to the Emirates for a week, which arrived on 16 November 2023. He was arrested on the third day of his trip due to exercising his legitimate right to freedom of expression, which led to his unlawful imprisonment for 42 days.

Human rights organisation founded after successful climate change campaign

On 28 December 2023, human rights defender Sarah Ahmed from Karbala Governorate posted news about a climate change campaign on her Facebook page, “From a limited-time campaign to a volunteer team and then a registered organisation… we end the year with this achievement in the field of our passion… We continue to strive to make a difference in this world.”

Ahmed was referring to the Climate Prospects Campaign in which human rights defenders Areej Reaad, Shamel Zamil and Sara Jassim participated with her. The campaign was fully supported by GCHR and the Innovation for Change (I4C) Middle East and North Africa Hub.

After the campaign achieved its goals, the four founders changed the name to the Volunteer Climate Prospect Team, and then decided to register it as a civil society organisation that seeks to urge the Iraqi authorities to develop an effective national strategy to confront climate change and its harmful effects, as well as to protect environmental human rights defenders.

Human rights violations in the Kurdistan region of Iraq

Peaceful protester arrested for publicly expressing his personal views

On 08 January 2024, young citizen Idris Masoud, the owner of a bakery in Erbil, participated in a demonstration organised by bakery owners in the city in protest against the Kurdistan Regional Government’s decision to reduce bread prices without providing support to bakers or reducing the prices of fuel and flour for them, in addition to keeping the same level of taxes imposed on them. Masoud spoke during the demonstration, as shown in this video, and among other things he said, “If the Prime Minister really wants reform, why doesn’t he start with his brothers, cousins, and family? And why doesn’t he prevent all the oil tankers that are smuggled daily to other countries?” Only hours passed until a force affiliated with the Asayish (Kurdish internal security forces) arrested him.

His arrest caused a huge uproar among the Kurdish people inside and outside the region, and dozens of lawyers came forward to defend him, forcing the local authorities to release him the next day.

Educational & teaching staff in the Kurdistan region continue to demonstrate in Sulaymaniyah & Baghdad to demand their rights

On 07 January 2024, a mass demonstration of teachers was launched in the city of Sulaymaniyah, protesting against the non-payment of their salaries and the non-tenure of lecturers who work for free. The protesters rejected the invitation of the Minister of Education in the Kurdistan Regional Government for them to return to classrooms to resume the new academic year, and stressed that their strike will continue until their demands are met and their salaries and other entitlements are paid.

The 2023-2024 school year began in the Kurdistan Region on 13 September 2023, but teachers, teachers, and lecturers in schools in Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Halabja Governorate, and the Garmian and Koysinjaq administrations decided to go on strike from work (except for classes of the final year), due to the delay in their salaries and the failure of the authorities to fulfill their other demands.

On 26 November 2023, dozens of educational and teaching staff working in the Kurdistan region demonstrated in Al-Tahrir Square, in the centre of the capital, Baghdad.

The demonstrators raised many banners, including their demands for the authorities to pay all their previous unpaid monthly salaries, return the amounts deducted from their salaries since 2014 under what was called ‘the compulsory savings program’, reinstate the employee promotion law that has been suspended for seven years, and to appoint lecturers as permanent staff. They called for a radical solution to the problem of salaries that ensures that they are paid regularly on a monthly basis like other employees in other Iraqi governorates, in order to guarantee their rights and the rights of their families to live in dignity and build a prosperous future for them.

Reliable press reports stated that, on the same day in the morning, the security forces prevented a large number of male and female teachers coming from various areas in the Kurdistan region from crossing the Jimen check-point on the Sulaymaniyah-Kirkuk road, as well as the Tuz check-point, to prevent them from participating in the demonstration that took place in Al-Tahrir Square in protest of delayed salaries.

Academic and media personality targeted using the judiciary

On 24 December 2023, academic and sports media personality Nala Super was released after she was targeted by the judiciary in the Kurdistan region, and multiple prison sentences were issued against her on false charges.

On 07 December 2022, the Second Criminal Court in Erbil city issued a sentence against her of five years and one month in prison after convicting her of a charge of allegedly forging a car’s annual registration document.

Super appealed the verdict to the Court of Cassation in Erbil, which issued its ruling at the end of January 2023, overturning the initial ruling, recognising the illegality of the measures taken against her, and ordering a retrial. The Court of Cassation found that the car was not registered in her name, so no fraud had occurred on her part in the first place.

On 25 June 2023, she was retried by the Second Erbil Criminal Court, which decided to release her; but instead of releasing her, they convicted her on a new charge, which was using a forged car registration document without her knowledge, and, on the same day, sentenced her to prison for five years and one month under Article 298 of the Iraqi Penal Code.

Once again, Super appealed the decision to the Court of Cassation, which decided in early August 2023 that this sentence was very harsh because she did not know about the forgery and did not commit it, so it issued its ruling, reducing the sentence to one year and three months, and releasing her immediately on 12 August 2023.

On the day of her release, the authorities charged her before the Third Misdemeanor Court in Erbil with a new charge of alleged possession of weapons, and issued a new three-month prison sentence against her.

It was hoped that she would be released on 12 November 2023, the date on which she finished the new sentence issued against her, but instead of releasing her and without any prior notice, the authorities took her again, on the same day, to the Second Criminal Court in Erbil, this time charging her with a new charge of espionage and contact with international institutions for the benefit of an unknown country and against the interests of the Kurdistan region. Once again, the Second Criminal Court sentenced her to five years and one month in prison.

It was a truly unjust ruling, as she is “a citizen who loves her country to the core,” she told the GCHR in a statement.

On 20 December 2023, the Court of Cassation overturned this ruling as invalid and ordered her release, which took place two days after this decision was issued.

Super told GCHR that she was treated well by the administration of the Women’s Correctional Prison in the city of Erbil, and that the prison was characterised by cleanliness and availability of health care.

Super is an academic who holds a master’s degree in sports psychology and teaches football at Saladin University in Erbil. She also worked in the field of sports media, and was the Iraqi champion who set records in the high jump in track and field games.

GCHR declares its full solidarity with academic and sports media personality Nala Super and strongly denounces her targeting using the judiciary for reasons that have not been disclosed. The authorities must carry out their basic duty, which includes protecting the civil and human rights of citizens and not targeting them.

Teacher dies in a car accident after criticising the local government

On 26 October 2023, teacher Jihan Taha posted on her Facebook page the following, “My way to death…death is calling me.” A few hours later, she lost her life in a suspicious accident after her car overturned and caught fire in the village of Haftaka in the Barzan sub-district, which is located in the outskirts of Erbil Governorate. Informed local sources told GCHR that there is no logical reason for her to be present in this area far from her place of residence, in addition to the presence of other evidence that gives more likelihood to the hypothesis that it was a planned accident.

Taha was 35 years old, and had two children. She had previously strongly criticised the local government of the Kurdistan region in a television seminar shown on Rudaw satellite channel on 11 September 2023, as part of a weekly episode of the programme “With Renj”, and defended the rights of her colleagues and fellow lecturers to lead a free and dignified life. During the programme, she had a long discussion with the advisor to the Ministry of Education in the Kurdistan Regional Government, Burhan Arkoushi, and among the things she said to him was, “I am confident that if you resign and the Minister of Education resigns, all our problems will be solved, because if we remain silent and others remain silent and you remain silent, we will face thousands of problems in the future.” She also forcefully said, “I demand my rights and I demand the rights of other lecturers.”

She then continued to speak with confidence, “I demand my right to freedom, the rights of the youth, and the rights of the poor… Let us ask those present, who among you has an old soul? (Everyone raises their hands) Who among you is left without hope? (Everyone raises their hands) If these young people are without hope, how can you hope that this country and this homeland will be built?!… How can this country succeed in living and in life?!… How can we know about ourselves as a country?!…. How can this country prove that it has succeeded in preserving its life?!”

Taha participated in several demonstrations that took place in the city of Sulaymaniyah, which demanded the rights of lecturers and the need to appoint them as permanent staff of the Ministry of Education instead of the temporary contracts under which they work, as shown in this video, which includes an interview she gave during one of those demonstrations.

She had various other interests, such as her participation in a documentary film about violence against women in 2012, which was produced by the Ministry of Culture in the Kurdistan Region.

After the tragic accident, several demonstrations were launched in some cities of the Kurdistan region, especially Sulaymaniyah Governorate. The participants expressed their appreciation for her courage, their sadness at her loss, and their great doubts about the coincidence of her death after her participation in the talk show and her interview during one of the demonstrations. The demonstrators called on the local authorities to reveal the truth.

Her family confirmed to GCHR that they have appointed a lawyer to follow up on the investigations currently underway, and they are just awaiting their results before deciding the next step.

GCHR shares the grief and sorrow of the family of the late Jihan Taha, and calls on the local government in the Kurdistan region to conduct an independent and complete investigation to examine the entire incident from all aspects, and announce the results to citizens.

Recommendations

GCHR calls on the Iraqi government to assume full responsibility in protecting all citizens, including human rights defenders, journalists, civil society and members of vulnerable minorities.

In addition, the relevant Iraqi authorities must clearly and unequivocally identify all perpetrators of the abduction, torture and killing of human rights defenders, peaceful protesters and other activists, and bring them to justice immediately.

The authorities must fulfil their constitutional obligations not to violate public freedoms, including freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and freedom of the media.

GCHR further calls on the Kurdistan Regional Government to fulfil their constitutional obligations not to violate public freedoms, including freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and freedom of the media.

We urge the regional government to pay all financial dues to teachers, confirm the jobs of all lecturers, pay their financial dues, and solve the problem of late salaries immediately and conclusively.