28.05.2008 - Source: Amnesty International

Human rights violations in areas under control of Kurdish Regional Government ("Annual Report 2008") [ID 23530]

"Human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests, torture and executions, were reported in the areas under the control of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Northern Iraq. Violence against women was widespread.

Mohammad Siyassi Ashkani, a journalist from Sulaimaniya, was arrested in January by Asayish (Security) officials and detained without charge or trial for almost six months. He was held in solitary confinement for the first 55 days before being allowed weekly visits from his family, and was denied access to a lawyer. He was released on 19 July.

On 29 May, Heman Mohamed, ‘Othman Abdel-Karim, Sherwan Ahmed and Qaraman Rasul were executed in Erbil. They had been convicted in June 2006 of participating in a bomb attack in Erbil a year earlier.

Three Turkish men – Metir Demir, Mustafa Egilli and Hasip Yokus – members of the Turkey-based NGO Association for the Rights of Freedom of Thought and Education who had been arrested in June 2006, remained in detention without charge or trial until 12 September, when they were returned to Turkey. One of them told Amnesty International that they had been detained in the Asayish building in Erbil, denied access to lawyers and that two of them had been tortured and held in solitary confinement for six months. Methods of torture included beatings on the body and on the soles of the feet (falaqa) and electric shocks.

In November, the KRG Human Rights Minister stated that 27 women had been killed in “honour killings” between August and November, but provided no information on any arrests and prosecutions related to these deaths."

Document(s): Open document

22.06.2007 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Iraqi Kurdistan's parliament is considering legislation that would officially ban polygamy ("Kurdish Leaders Debate Polygamy Ban") [ID 20500]

"Iraqi Kurdistan's parliament is challenging social and religious tradition by considering legislation that would officially ban polygamy in this northern region, in a move that has divided some Kurdish political leaders and women's groups. According to Iraqi legislation concerning the individual, which is largely derived from Islamic law, men can be married to as many as to four women at the same time. The proposed legislation would make the practice illegal in Iraqi Kurdistan, and has reignited a long-standing debate among Kurds about whether polygamy hurts or helps women, and whether legal restrictions would stop multiple marriages."

Document(s): Open document

22.06.2007 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Northern Iraq: Report on universities in Kurdish regions; corruption, lack of resources and political obstructions ("Kurdistan's Universities Need Reform") [ID 20502]

"The Kurdish government has promised a bright future for its youth, with opportunities to study at excellent new universities, such as the American University of Iraq, to be built in Sulaimaniyah. At the same time, higher education has benefited from the arrival of Arab academics, who have fled sectarian violence in central and southern parts of the country, and Kurdish intellectuals, who have returned from the Europe and elsewhere. But the university system requires extensive reforms before it can serve Iraqi students. The region's universities are hindered by politics, corruption, a lack of resources and a culture that does not promote critical or independent thought."

Document(s): Open document

08.06.2007 - Source: Institute for War and Peace Reporting

Northern Iraq: Law requires women to have male guardian sign their passport application ("Kurdish Women Resent New Passport System") [ID 20675]

"For years, the authorities in Iraqi Kurdistan have overlooked a piece of Iraqi legislation which states a woman who applies for a passport first has to have her father, uncle or brother’s written permission. In the past, women in this part of the country simply applied and were given a passport without fuss. But the introduction of the new G edition passport in March 2007 – which is electronically read and difficult to forge - means that all passports are now issued on a special printing machine in Baghdad where the law is enforced."

Document(s): Open document

06.2007 - Source: Freedom House

Discrimination of minorities in northern Iraq ("Freedom in the World 2007") [ID 20743]

"Minorities in northern Iraq—Turkmen, Arabs, Christians, and Shabak—reported instances of discrimination and harassment at the hands of Kurdish authorities in 2006."

Document(s): Open document

30.05.2007 - Source: BBC News

Northern Iraq: Turkey deploys extra troops to Iraq border; forces ready for action against PKK; fear of regional instability as US forces pull back ("Turkey-Iraq border tension grows") [ID 20684]

"A Turkish military build-up on the northern Iraq border is fuelling fears of a confrontation between Ankara and Kurdistan's semi-independent government that could further destabilise the region as US forces begin to pull back. Turkey's armed forces chief said yesterday the army was prepared at any time to start cross-border action to halt attacks inside Turkey by the separatist Kurdistan Workers' party, which has bases in Iraq. [...]

Mr Barzani, head of the Kurdistan regional government (KRG), which enjoys considerable autonomy from the Shia Arab-led Baghdad government, has warned that any Turkish intervention could meet with resistance, both in northern Iraq and in south-east Turkey."

Document(s): Open document

12.12.2006 - Source: Integrated Regional Information Network

Kurdish region: Health officials said they lack anti-retroviral drugs and the necessary equipment for testing for the HI virus and that they are instructed by health authorities in Baghdad to deport foreigners who are found HIV-positive ("Shortage of anti-retroviral drugs in Kurdistan") [ID 18198]

Document(s): Open document