Northern Iraq as “an island of democracy and peace”
It seems that wherever there is fighting in the Arab
world, somehow you see French Bernard-Henri Levy. One is tempted to think that
Levy is a man interested in visiting conflict zone to advocate for human rights
and rally support for those rising against authoritarian regimes. Not so.
In a column in the Wall Street Journal of 10/10/2017
Levy writes* defending the Kurds right to secede from Iraq. He wrote that the
Iraqi Kurdish Northern region is being denied the right to “be free, to
flourish as an island of democracy and peace.” This is after the Kurdish Iraqi
separatists have engaged in a violent land grab and ethnic cleansing of
territory clearly beyond the boundaries of the Kurdish-controlled province. [Not
too long ago a writer in the Wall Street Journal wrote a column critical of
Catalonia’s referendum on secession. That writer made a compelling argument
against secession. That very same paper provided space for Levy to advocate for
Kurdish separatism.]
No serious person would call Northern Iraq’s Kurdish
province “an island of democracy and peace.” There is overwhelming evidence of
the authoritarian rule of the Barzani faction and the Talabani faction that divide
among themselves the spoils of the Kurdish province. Barzani’s term has long
expired and was extended making him a de facto president for life. Barzani has
announced that he would not run for president in the upcoming election this
November. We will see. If he does not run again, he will probably have another
Barzani lord over the Northern fiefdom.
So much for democracy, as to human rights, there is
an ample record of human rights abuses and authoritarian rule as documented by
the US State department, human rights organizations and others. Excerpts and
links below:
I.
On unlawful detentions without any fair
process:
Human Rights Watch:
The authorities should release all children who have
not yet been formally charged, as international law allows authorities to
detain children before trial only as a last resort and for the shortest
appropriate period of time, and only if they have formally charged the child
with committing a crime. Authorities should ensure that children detained
solely for suspected ISIS affiliation are rehabilitated and reintegrated. KRG
authorities should ensure prompt independent judicial review of detention and
allow detainees to have access to lawyers and medical care and to communicate
with their families.
II.
On ethnic cleansing of non-Kurds in
areas Kurds take over and the destruction of the property of non-Kurds to
destroy their hopes of return to the homes the Kurds want to incorporate into
their future state.
Human Rights Watch:
“In village after village in Kirkuk and Nineveh, KRG
security forces destroyed Arab homes – but not those belonging to Kurds – for
no legitimate military purpose,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at
Human Rights Watch. “KRG leaders’ political goals don’t justify demolishing
homes illegally.”
III.
The US State department 2017 Country
also criticized the human rights record of the Kurdish-controlled region and
outlined the violations of the human rights of detainees and the rights of
journalists, among other violations. Excerpts from the report:
Abusive interrogation under certain conditions
reportedly occurred in some detention facilities of the KRG’s internal security
unit, the Asayish, and the intelligence services of the major political
parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) Parastin and the Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan’s (PUK) Zanyari. During monitoring visits to IKR prisons and
places of detention between January 2015 and June 2016, UNAMI reported 70
detainees had raised allegations of torture or other ill treatment during the
interrogation phase, or both.
Both the government and the KRG operated secret
detention facilities during the year, according to international observers and
to the head of the KRG parliamentary Human Rights Committee. There was no
information available to verify whether--or the extent to which--they remained
in use.
The two main Kurdish political parties, the KDP and
PUK, had their own security apparatuses. Under the federal constitution, the
KRG has the right to maintain regional guard brigades, supported financially by
the government but under the KRG’s control. Accordingly, the KRG established a
Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs. There are 14 infantry brigades and two support
brigades under the authority of the Ministry of Peshmerga Affairs, but the PUK
and KDP controlled tens of thousands of additional military personnel. The KDP
had its own internal security unit, the Asayish, and its own intelligence
service, the Parastin. The PUK also maintained its own internal security unit,
known also as the Asayish, and its own intelligence service, the Zanyari. While
the PUK and KDP took some nominal steps to unify their internal and external
security organizations, they remained separate, since political party leaders
effectively controlled these organizations through party channels. The KRG
Independent Human Rights Commission routinely notified the Kurdistan Ministry
of Interior when it received credible reports of police human rights
violations. Local NGOs reported a sense of impunity among KRG security force
officials; local human rights monitors reported an allegation of rape and
manslaughter by mid-ranking officers during the year
KRG authorities also reportedly held detainees for
extensive periods in pretrial detention. According to local NGOs and the head
of the Iraqi Kurdistan parliamentary Human Rights Committee, prisoners held in
regional governmentadministered Asayish prisons sometimes remained in detention
for more than six months without trial. According to IKR judicial officials,
IKR law permits extension of pretrial detention of up to six month under court
supervision.
KRG officials noted that prosecutors and defense
attorneys frequently encountered obstacles in carrying out their work and that
prisoners’ trials were unnecessarily delayed for administrative reasons.
According to the IKR’s Independent Human Rights Commission, detainees have
remained in KRG internal security service facilities for extended periods even
after court orders for their release.
On April 9, security forces wearing civilian
uniforms reportedly attacked a Kurdistan News Network (KNN) cameraman in an
Erbil mosque while the KNN crew was covering a protest there. As the cameraman
attempted to film the protest, one of the uniformed security force members
placed a weapon against the cameraman’s head to force him to stop. In the IKR,
government authorities continued to try, convict, and take legal action against
journalists, despite a 2008 law that decriminalizes publication-related
offenses. According to Kurdistan Journalist Syndicate officials, the 2008 law
is the sole basis for prosecution of journalists for publication offense under
the regional counterterrorism law, for public morality violations and other
crimes. While in December 2015 the KRG reopened Nalia Radio and Television
(NRT) offices that it originally closed in October 2015, Gorran-affiliated KNN
offices in Erbil and Dahuk Governorates remained closed because of KRG
pressure.
Comments