Draw:

Policies of repression and violations continue, including arrests of civil society activists and journalists, and even ordinary citizens who express their opinions contrary to those of the local government and security authorities in the Iraqi Kurdistan region, according to this latest periodic report by the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR). The security forces have used various means against people protesting about the poor conditions in the region. Severe resentment prevails among society as a result of rampant corruption in government facilities, deterioration of public services, delays in paying employees’ salaries, and decisions related to increasing fees and taxes on citizens.

The security forces also targeted the media and prevented them from covering current events. They also beat journalists in several cities in the Kurdistan Region, including with electric batons. According to the annual report of Metro Center for Defending the Rights of Journalists, the local authorities committed 353 violations during 2021 against 260 male and female journalists in the Kurdistan region.

Civil society activist and journalist imprisoned

On 26 January 2022, a member of Community Peacemaker Teams in Iraqi Kurdistan announced that 16 months after her arrest, civil society activist Nirivan Ayoub Hassan Dershi, a resident of the city of Dohuk, will be brought to court for the first hearing in her trial on 14 February 2022. She was arrested on 13 October 2020, after organising and participating in the peaceful demonstrations that took place in Dohuk Governorate and the rest of the region to demand full reforms in the region. She will be tried in accordance with Article 1 of Law No. 21 of 2003, which is related to undermining the national security of the Kurdistan Region. Dershi is a 36-year-old mother of five who was divorced by her husband after her arrest and imprisonment. Her court hearings were postponed several times and as a result she went on hunger strike six times. Press reports confirmed that she developed diabetes after entering prison.

On 09 December 2021, Kurdish newspapers and media websites published an appeal sent by journalist Kohdar Mohammed Amin Zebari from prison, in which he mentioned the poor conditions suffered by prisoners of conscience, in addition to the physical and psychological torture that detainees from the Shiladze sub-district of Amadiya district in Dohuk Governorate continuously face. He called on the international community and civil society organisations to put pressure on the Kurdistan Regional Government to release them. On 16 February 2021, the Second Criminal Court in Erbil had sentenced five activists and journalists, including Zebari, to six years in prison on charges of endangering Kurdish national security.  

Clerics silenced and arrested over critical sermons

After his last sermon on 31 December 2021, the Ministry of Awqaf (Religious Affairs) in the Kurdistan Region issued a decision banning cleric Dr. Sayed Ahmed Penjwini, an imam and preacher from a mosque in Erbil, from giving sermons in the mosque due to his criticism of the security authorities and the local government in relation to their mishandling of the file of student protests and their arrest of innocent citizens. The Ministry of Awqaf also asked the Ministry of Culture in the region to prevent the publication of his sermons in the media.

On 11 December 2021, the security forces arrested a young cleric, Mullah Bukhari Sirkotki, in Zakho district of Dohuk Governorate because of his criticism of the local government regarding the mismanagement of services and the spread of corruption in the state hierarchy. Mullah Bukhari runs an association for memorisers of the Holy Qur’an and has an official permit from the authorities to carry out his work.

On 10 December 2021, the security authorities prevented a young cleric, Sheikh Radwan Brushki, from delivering religious sermons on the pulpit of a mosque in the city of Dohuk, after a decision was issued by the Directorate of Awqaf in Dohuk Governorate to ban him from giving sermons because of his criticism of the government and administration in his sermons in which he urged people to demand social justice.

Political activists arrested and sentenced

On 01 December 2021, the security forces arrested political activist Hiwa Haji Agha, a fifth-year student at the Choman Private Institute in Choman District of Erbil Governorate. He is one of the cadres of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), as local reports confirmed that the reason for his arrest was his continuous criticism of the local government on his Facebook page.

On 20 December 2021, the Advocates for Prisoners of Conscience in the Kurdistan Region announced that the Court of Appeal had received the file of the preliminary ruling issued by the Second Erbil Criminal Court on 08 November 2021, which included prison sentences against two political activists among the Badinan detainees, who are residents of Dohuk Governorate. After being convicted of charges related to the national security of the Kurdistan Region, they were sentenced as follows: Shirwan Taha Cougar, imprisoned for two and a half years, and Masoud Ali Sinjari, imprisoned for three and a half years. 

On 07 January 2022, a security force in the city of Sulaymaniyah arrested political activist Ghazi Kirkuki, and took him from his home to an unknown destination. Kirkuki is a leader in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and local sources say his arrest comes as a result of internal political disputes.

Peaceful protesters arrested

On 07 December 2021, the security forces arrested two peaceful demonstrators, Duran Mahmoud and Arian Mustafa, after their participation in the student protests that erupted again on 06 December 2021, in front of the doors of some colleges at the University of Sulaymaniyah, demanding the implementation of the authorities’ promises to provide monthly allowances for students and improve the conditions of the internal housing departments. They were released after five days of detention.

On 07 December 2021, the security forces in the city of Dohuk arrested the young citizen Halkaft Abdulsattar Ashoyi, who was working as an employee in the Foundation of Mine Action in the city of Dohuk, and took him to an unknown destination. His work contract in this directorate, along with dozens of his colleagues, was canceled recently. They organised a protest in front of the building of this foundation, demanding that they be allowed to return to their work, and they made statements to the media against the officials who issued the decision to dismiss them.

On 16 January 2022, the security forces in Erbil arrested a young citizen, Karwan Abdulrahman, after he criticised the local government for increasing taxes for poor public services, during an interview with one of the local channels. Clips from his interview were posted on social media. He was released on 25 January 2022, after nine days in detention.

Two TV channels banned from attending official press conference

On 11 January 2022, the coordinator of international recommendations in the regional government, Dindar Zebari, held a press conference, which was attended by a large number of journalists, including representatives of media institutions loyal to the regional authorities. Both Rudaw and NRT were prevented from attending the press conference in contravention of all local laws that affirm the right of journalists to practice their work without harassment.

Recommendations

GCHR calls on the Kurdistan Regional Government to immediately and unconditionally release all 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.