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Anger at Koya University protest crackdown
16.3.2006
By Wrya Hama Tahir in
Koya (ICR No. 168, 15-Mar-06) |
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Recriminations follow
violent break-up of student demonstration over
government stipends.
Students are accusing police of excessive force
during a protest about the lack of services at Koya
University, in Kurdistan (northern Iraq).
About 400 students blocked traffic in front of the
university on March 8 to demand the university pay
their monthly stipends, which were two months late,
and provide better basic services such as water and
electricity.
Security forces quickly surrounded the protesters,
shooting in the air to disperse them. Some students
were beaten with rifle butts and electric-shock
sticks, according to organisers of the demonstration
and video footage taken by participants.
Security officials denied using excessive force, one
said the students were beaten because they tried to
grab police weapons and threw stones at them.
Twenty students were injured, eight of them
hospitalised, according to the protesters. Another
eight were arrested and briefly jailed. At least
five members of the security forces were injured,
according to Koya mayor Kurdo Omar Abdulla, who
studies history at the university.
The university gave students their stipends - 20 US
dollars for Koya residents and 35 dollars for
dormitory residents - later that day, leaving
organisers of the demonstration feeling victorious.
But they warned that they would continue their
protest if living conditions do not improve.
"When the power and water are cut, our lives stop,"
said Soran Kamal, 25, one of the organisers who was
arrested and treated in hospital for bruises and a
cut to his forehead. "We can't study like this."
Koya, the hometown of Iraqi president Jalal Talabani,
lies 120 kilometres east of Erbil in Kurdistan
(northern Iraq). The university is the latest in
Iraqi Kurdistan to hold protests, which have grown
among Kurdish youth since late last year.
Although Iraqi Kurdistan is sheltered from much of
the violence in Iraq, the region still suffers
shortages in electricity, water and fuel.
Many youths have accused the authorities of
corruption and nepotism and argue that democracy
does not exist in Iraqi Kurdistan, which is
dominated by two parties. They claim officials
haven't kept their promises to improve services and
job opportunities.
"It doesn't matter that we were beaten," said Jabar
Ali, 24, who studies Kurdish literature at the
university and was injured during the demonstration.
"What matters is that our demands were met."
"We were planning on giving stipends that day," said
university president Khdir Ma'ssom, who called the
protesters "rioters". "They didn't need to protest
over that."
Abdulla accused the demonstrators of throwing stones
at police and said Islamists had planned the
protest. Organisers claimed they were independent of
any party.
Asswad Haji Mala, head of Koya security, denied that
the protesters were beaten, and noted that they
didn’t have permission to go ahead with their
action. According to the interior ministry, security
forces still work under a Ba'athist-era law obliging
them to confront protesters if they don't obtain
authorisation before they hold demonstrations.
"The Kurdish people don't understand democracy yet,"
he said. "They don't know how to treat security
forces."
Organisers said they did not try to get permission
because they suspected officials would not allow a
protest that criticised the government.
The day after the demonstration the university named
20 students accused of organising the protest and
threatened to punish or expel them. The university
has yet to take action against the students, but
some expressed concern that they may be forced to
leave.
Some organisers said the behaviour of police could
prompt students to arm themselves next time they
demonstrate.
"These acts will force students in another
direction," said Kamal. "Maybe next time we will
carry knives."
Wrya Hama Tahir is an IWPR trainee journalist in
Kalar.
www.iwpr.net
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