Kurdistan is one of Iraq's most prosperous and
westernized regions. And, thanks to an American
military shield, it got a 12-year head start on the
post-Saddam Hussein era. Kurdistan's leaders ought
to be setting a positive example for the rest of the
country in expanding the boundaries of political
criticism. Instead they are making an example of a
Kurdish journalist who dared to criticize leaders of
the inaptly named Kurdistan Democratic Party and its
secret police, the Parastin.
Kamal Sayid Qadir has been a harsh and persistent
critic of the powerful Barzani family, which runs
the K.D.P., and through it, the western part of
Kurdistan, like a family fiefdom. Mr. Qadir's
language has been intemperate, by conservative
Kurdish cultural standards, and his accusations have
not always been adequately substantiated. But these
journalistic excesses are not unheard of in the rest
of the world and are certainly no justification for
the 30-year jail sentence he is now serving —
imposed, he says, after a trial that lasted only 15
minutes. |
Dr Kamal Said Qadir, Austrian citizen, an
international legal expert, writer and human rights
activist |
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