The local government in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq continues to commit serious violations of the civil and human rights of citizens, including civil society activists, journalists, academics and protesters. The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) documents violations from the past three months in this periodic report, and calls on local authorities to work hard to respect public freedoms, including freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful demonstration, and freedom of the press.
Organiser of University demonstrations arrested
On 13 May 2022, Zangin Abubakr, a teacher at Sulaymaniyah University (photo above), was arrested by the security forces near his home in the city of Sulaymaniyah, on charges of organising university demonstrations. The demonstrations (main photo on top) included professors and university employees, who were protesting the delay in their salaries and the neglect of their rights by the local government. It is noteworthy that Abubakr has closed the main entrance to the university, calling on its members to boycott work hours. He was released two days after his arrest. Abubakr uses his Facebook page to express his personal views and defend prisoners of conscience in the Kurdistan Region.
Doctor arrested for expressing his opinions
On 24 August 22022, Dr. Hazar Maarouf, a neuroscientist, was detained at Azmar Police Station, due to a complaint filed against him by the Sulaymaniyah Health Directorate, following an article he published in which he expressed his views on what is happening in Sulaymaniyah Teaching Hospital. He was released on bail after several hours of detention, awaiting trial on an charge of alleged defamation.
Arrest of a number of civil society activists for their role in the demonstrations
On 22 August 2022, the security forces in the city of Erbil arrested five civil society activists, Saber Zindi, Laysan Bakr, Hawari Kurdi, Hooker Birbal and Murad Salie on charges of organising and participating in popular demonstrations to condemn the Turkish attacks on civilians and tourists, including the attack that took place on 20 July 2022, when fierce artillery bombarded a tourist resort in the village of Barkh, located in Zakho district, Dohuk Governorate, killing nine citizens and wounding more than 23 people, including women and children.
One day later, all of them were released, except for Murad Salie, who was released on 16 August 2022, after 25 days of detention, while Hooker Birbal’s fate is still unknown.
On 15 August 2022, the security forces in Zakho district arrested civil society activist Khurshid Faraj Koli after an allegation made against him by a Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) official in Zakho, Ali Awni, for using his Facebook page to criticise the views of the leaders of the KDP Party on the headscarf and others topics. He was released on bail two days after his arrest, pending a date for his trial. Koli is a well-known defender of the social traditions of the Kurdish people, as well as an opponent of endemic corruption in the region.
On 06 July 2022, the security forces in Zakho district arrested civil society activist Khakvin Mohammed Koli (photo on the left) based on the lawsuit filed against him by a KDP official for publishing his criticism of local officials and the mismanagement of the region by the local government. It is worth noting that two months before his arrest, the security forces arrested his father, Mohammed Koli, and imprisoned him for seven days because of his criticism of the regional government and his allegations of corruption in it.
On 10 June 2022, the security forces in the city of Sulaymaniyah arrested a number of civil society activists and demonstrators who participated in a peaceful gathering against the Turkish attacks on the territory of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Among the detainees were three members of the Freedom Movement for Kurdistan Society (Tafekri Azadi), which is a political party. One of the three detainees was lawyer Mustafa Omar Rashid. After nine days, all detainees were released on bail.
During the night of 03 June 2022, the Anti-Terrorism Force raided the house of civil society activist Mohammad Kanbi Hassan Abdullah, located in Nowruz locality in Erbil, and kidnapped him in front of his family. Two days after his arrest, on 05 June 2022, his family was informed by this force that he had died in a prison cell, and they asked them to collect his body from the forensic medicine department in the city. His father, Kanbi Hassan, works for the security forces led by the other ruling party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).
On 18 April 2022, the Erbil Criminal Court sentenced civil society activist Nechirvan Thanoun Abbas (photo in the middle) to two years in prison for publishing comments and opinions against the Kurdistan Regional Government and the ruling KDP on social media, although his views focus on anti-corruption. He was arrested at the beginning of October 2021 in Dohuk Governorate.
On 10 October 2021, the security forces arrested civil society activist Rizwar Asaad (photo on the right) in Choman district of Erbil Governorate, and he has not been released so far. It is worth noting that he was forcibly disappeared for two months after his arrest, after which his family was informed by the security forces that he was being held by them. He was not referred to a civilian court or granted bail.
Five civil society activists on hunger strike demanding their release
On 16 May 2022, the Criminal Court of Erbil city sentenced five civil society activists from the Shiladze sub-district of Dohuk Governorate to two years in prison. They are Mahmoud Naji Siddiq, Youssef Sharif Ibrahim, Kovan Tariq Gabriel, who were arrested on 09 December 2020, and Ahmed Youssef Mustafa and Nechirvan Badi Haji, who were arrested on 14 December 2020. The five activists mentioned before the court that they were tortured in prison where they were beaten with pipes and tortured with electricity and other means, and that their statements were written in Arabic despite their lack of proficiency in it.
They were convicted of several charges, including attempting to form armed groups and organising acts of violence according to Article (1) of Law No. 21 of 2013 of the Parliament of the Kurdistan Region. The court decided to release them conditionally a month after the sentencing, in order to complete 18 months out of the two-year sentence, according to the legal procedures for conditional release in force in the region. Despite that, they have not yet been released, due to political pressures on the judiciary and the Reform Department of Adults in Erbil Governorate preventing them from implementing the decision to release them. On 19 July 2022, they started a hunger strike protesting that they were not released and included in the conditional release decision in accordance with the law.
Political activist sentenced to prison
On 12 June 2022, the Second Criminal Court in Erbil sentenced imprisoned political activist Tahsin Yassin to two years and three months in prison, on charges of violating the national security of the Kurdistan Region, and for his participation in the popular demonstrations that began in 2020 against the government’s poor performance and corruption in the region. Yassin is a prominent member of the Freedom Movement for Kurdistan Society (Tafekri Azadi), who was arrested more than two years ago in Erbil during protests against the local government.
Two well-known women activists arrested
On 16 June 2022, the security force sin Erbil arrested at the same time a social media activist and fashion model in the Kurdistan Region, Sonia Bitoshi (photo on the left), on charges of drug abuse and trafficking, and the exploitation of her work in promoting this trade, and Kurdish journalist Nalia Sober (photo on the left), a sports journalist who works in the field of commercial advertising. Sober was the first Kurdish woman to open a men’s barbershop. The reason for her arrest is not known.
Bitoshi was born in Iranian Kurdistan in 1991, and moved with her family to Tehran, where she grew up. She graduated from the Faculty of Computer Engineering at Azadi University, and also studied design arts. She succeeded in displaying various collections of fashion in the markets, and was chosen as Miss Iran for the year 2016.
In a phone call on 30 August 2022 to GCHR, lawyer Nazi Nabz confirmed the following, “The charges currently brought against my client, Bitoshi, came in accordance with Articles 289/298 of the Iraqi Penal Code of 1969, and the Investigation Court has refused to release her on bail.” These two articles relate to forgery of official documents.
Numerous journalists arrested
On 06 August 2022, the security forces in Erbil arrested a number of correspondents and journalists of the Kurdish satellite channel (NRT) affiliated with the Nalia Media Foundation, in order to prevent them from covering the popular demonstrations organised by the New Generation Movement, apolitical movement, in various regions and cities of the Kurdistan Region, in protest against the poor public services, lack of water and electricity, increased taxes imposed on various segments of society, and delayed salaries. The arrested correspondents who work in the Erbil office of NRT are Rizgar Cougar, Omid Jomani and Hirsch Qadir. The security forces confiscated all the devices in the office, including cameras and mobile phones, and took the journalists to an unknown destination. They did not release them until the next day.
On 06 August 2022, the security forces in Chamchamal city of Sulaymaniyah Governorate arrested a number of NRT correspondents and journalists, including Soran Mohammed (photo on the left), Diyar Mohammed (photo in the middle), and the channel’s cameraman, Mahmoud Rizkar. They were prevented from covering the mass protests that took place that evening. They were released the following day.
On 06 August 2022, the security forces in Soran district of Erbil Governorate arrested journalist and NRT correspondent Kefi Karim (photo on the right), and prevented him from covering the popular protests in the city, and all his equipment, including the camera, mobile phone and other devices, were confiscated. He was released on the same day in the evening.
On 05 August 2022, the security forces in Dohuk Governorate arrested two journalists, Briar Nerwie and Taief Curran, who work in the office of the NRT satellite channel in the city of Dohuk. The security forces have also closed the office and confiscated its devices and equipment. They were released on bail after being held for eight hours.
On 01 August 2022, the security forces in the city of Sulaymaniyah arrested journalist Karzan Tariq, a correspondent of the Kurdish satellite channel (NRT), and the channel’s photojournalist Jenner Ahmed, while they were working in a Sulaymaniyah market, where they were covering the problem of the lack of public services in the city due to government neglect.
The Nalia Foundation, which includes a group of NRT satellite and radio channels, announced in a statement that the decision to arrest them was issued by the Vice President of the Region, Qubad Talabani, without any justification for their arrest, in addition to the absence of a judicial order. The statement called on the security authorities to release the journalists, and placed the responsibility for their safety on the shoulders of the parties that arrest journalists and correspondents despite the fact that they were carrying out their journalistic and media work which conveyed the suffering of citizens as a result of mismanagement, corruption and the deterioration of public services. The journalists were released later the same day in the evening.
On 18 July 2022, the judge of the Erbil Investigation Court issued a decision to arrest journalist Ayoub Ali Warti, a correspondent of the Kurdish satellite channel (KNN), on charges of publishing media investigations that insult the local government and criticise public services provided to citizens. Lawyer Bashdar Hassan from the team of defenders of activists and journalists said in a statement to the Kurdish media outlets that his client had been detained and imprisoned in accordance with Article (434) of the Iraqi Penal Code, and not Law No. (25) for the year 2007 regarding journalistic work in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which is applicable, but the Investigation Court did not take this into account. Several hours after his arrest, he was released at night by a decision of the Erbil Investigation Court. Several hours after his arrest, Warti was released at night by a decision of the Erbil Investigation Court.
On 15 June 2022, journalist Saleh Barjas, a correspondent of the Kurdish satellite channel (Jara), was injured along with a number of unarmed civilians as a result of the Turkish air strikes on the Sinuni district of Sinjar district, Nineveh Governorate. It is noteworthy that this is the second time that he has been seriously injured, as he was also injured in April 2021 while covering the demonstrations against the Turkish attacks that targeted the Khansur complex in Sinuni sub-district.
Media institutions raided and shut down
On 06 August 2022, security forces in Dohuk Governorate raided the office of the Rast Media Foundation and closed its doors. The Rast Media Foundation is headed by formerly imprisoned journalist Omid Haji Brushki. He is the franchisee of the institution who was recently released after spending more than two years in prison. He tried after his release to open the foundation officially, but the security forces did not allow it to work despite being an official media institution and holding an official license from the Journalists Syndicate in the Kurdistan Region. During the evening on 05 August 2022, the security forces arrested Aram Hussain, editor-in-chief of Rast, and released him two days later.
On 18 June 2022, the security forces prevented a group of media channels from covering the graduation ceremonies of the University of Duhok, namely Badinan Satellite Channel and Speda Satellite Channel, in a move that can be described as withholding the right of media outlets to cover daily events in the region.
Dutch journalist deported
On 13 July 2022, the security authorities in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region, took Dutch journalist Frederike Geerdink to Erbil International Airport and deported her from the region.
The Dutch journalist was on her way to the city of Kobani in northeastern Syria to conduct some media activities on the Syrian reality, when she was arrested immediately before crossing the border separating the region and the Syrian town inhabited by a Kurdish majority. She was previously detained for a few days in January 2015 in Turkey on charges of allegedly practicing terrorist propaganda, and then the Turkish authorities arrested her again in September 2015 while covering the clashes between the Turkish army and fighters of the Kurdistan Workers Party, which is banned in Turkey.
Head of Metro Center for Defending Journalists, Rahman Gharib, calls for investigation into media freedom violations
Journalist Rahman Garib, head of the Metro Center for Defending the Rights of Journalists, stated that, “The Center monitored 78 violations against journalists and media teams by the internal security forces in the cities of the region. These violations were against 60 journalists and media outlets, including 26 journalists who were arrested before being released after several hours. Also, 23 journalists’ equipment were confiscated, and press coverage was banned.” He added, “The security forces violated the laws of the press, the right to information, and the law on organising demonstrations.” He stressed that, “If the government is serious about its slogans to protect press freedom, it must conduct comprehensive investigations into the recent attacks and hold the perpetrators accountable. It must also realise that democracy without freedom of the press, freedom of peaceful demonstration, and freedom of expression will lose its goals and harm the reputation of the Kurdistan Region.”
New Generation Movement MPs detained
On 06 August 2022, the security forces in the city of Sulaymaniyah detained for a short period of time a number of members of the Iraqi Parliament of the New Generation Movement, namely Omid Mohammed, Rebwar Abdulrahman, Vian Abdulaziz and Badria Ibrahim, and did not allow them to participate in the peaceful demonstrations that took place against the deterioration of services, and rampant public corruption in the region.
On 06 August 2022, in the Rania district of the Governorate of Sulaymaniyah, the security forces also arrested for a short time, member of Iraqi Parliament Muzda Mahmoud, a member also of the New Generation Movement, after she participated in the protests. The security forces beat her with an electric baton, according to eyewitnesses.
Members of New Generation Movement detained
On 06 August 2022, the security forces in Dohuk arrested a young political activist Norman Kurdi, a member of the New Generation Movement, on charges of inciting people to participate in the demonstrations, and publishing on his Facebook page his anti-government views on corruption, human rights violations, and demands to release all prisoners of opinion. On the same day, the security forces in Dohuk arrested a young political activist who is also a member of the New Generation Movement, Yasser Abdulrahman, on charges of participating in peaceful demonstrations, and after he published criticism on his Facebook page of the government, poor services, rampant corruption, and restrictions of public freedoms. They were released the following day.
On 03 August 2022, the security forces in the city of Sulaymaniyah arrested a number of members of the New Generation political movement, after the movement called for mass demonstrations in the Kurdistan Region to protest against the deterioration of public services, the spread of corruption in the region and the poor government performance. The detainees are the spokesman of the New Generation Movement, Hemedad Shaheen, and members of the movement’s Supreme Council, Farouk Ghafour, Taha Ahmed, Yaqoub Kakil and Azad Karim, in addition to a number of other members of the movement itself. Reliable local reports confirmed that the arrests were made by raiding their homes and seizing their computers and phones. They were all released on the morning of 08 August 2022.
Recommendations
The Kurdistan Regional Government must ensure that all citizens, including journalists, media professionals, and all human rights defenders, including women’s rights defenders, are able to carry out their legitimate human rights work without fear of reprisals and free from all restrictions including judicial harassment.
GCHR calls on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all detained civil society activists, journalists and other prisoners of conscience whose civil and human rights, including freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly, are being violated. The authorities must fulfill their constitutional obligations not to violate public freedoms, including freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press, and to provide full protection for journalists and media professionals. Moreover, they must guarantee the rights of women and protect the rights of those who defend their rights.
