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Iraqi Kurdistan: Kurdish Press Freedom
Abuses
2.9.2006
By Wrya Hama Tahir in Sulaimaniyah (ICR No. 192)
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The authorities in Iraqi
Kurdistan are coming down hard on probing
journalists.
Sulaimaniyah, Kurdistan-Iraq,-- Hemin Baba
Rahim, 26, a reporter with the reputable Kurdish
newspaper Hawlati (Citizen), and his wife were sound
asleep when security forces raided their home in
Kifri, 220 kilometres southeast of Sulaimaniyah.
Baba Rahim was arrested, dragged to a car and taken
to the offices of the security services where he had
to spend a sleepless night with 18 people in a small
room. He was released the following day, without
charge
"I was shivering. To raid people's home in the
middle of the night is behaviour you’d expect from
Baathists - but not from Kurdish security forces,"
Baba Rahim said of the recent incident.
The young journalist was arrested for allegedly
organising demonstrations in protest over the
authorities’ failure to provide basic municipal
services - this in a region regarded as the
torchbearer of democracy in the new Iraq.
In recent weeks, Kurdish cities have been racked by
unrest triggered by the lack of electricity, water
and petrol. The security forces have come down
heavily on participants, including journalists
covering the demos - according to media reports, 28
have been arrested.
Physical and legal harassment of journalists is on
the increase in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Some claim to have been beaten by security forces;
others have complained of their equipment being
broken or seized. Many are reluctant to go public
about the problems they’ve faced for fear of
retaliation from the security services.
Officially, there is no censorship in Kurdistan, but
the authorities seem to be broadening their
definition of libel and slander to deter probing
reporting. Journalists who’ve written stories on
corruption and cronyism in the two governing
parties, KDP and PUK, often face unspecified
defamation charges.
In response to the growing pressure on the media, 35
media outlets in Kurdistan recently published a
joint statement in Awene, an independent weekly
based in Sulaimaniyah, demanding the government
investigates press freedom violations.
Adil Ali, spokesman of the Kurdish regional
government’s interior ministry in Erbil, insisted
that detained journalists had been arrested under a
judge’s warrant, but acknowledged that a number of
members of the security forces are being questioned
in connection with the mishandling of some cases.
The harassment and arrest of journalists by the
Kurdish authorities reached a pitch in March in
Halabja, when residents took to the street on the
anniversary of the infamous 1988 poison gas attack
to protest against the lack of health care and
public services.
Security forces opened fire, killing a teenager and
wounding dozens. They also seized tapes and film
from journalists covering the event and arrested
several.
Later, the authorities demanded that the journalists
use their notes and pictures to help officials
identify the demonstrators - a request many turned
down.
Journalists fear the press freedom situation could
worsen if a proposed new censorship law gets onto
the statute books.
The draft legislation, ironically put forward by the
Kurdistan Journalists Syndicate, a professional
federation, prohibits the publication of
confidential military information; and writings,
cartoons, advertisements and news deemed to offend
religious groups and local customs.
Many journalists, especially those working for
independent media outlets, accuse KJS of being a
wing of the dominant Kurdish parties, the PUK and
KDP, and have criticised the proposed law. The new
draft of the bill was published in July, but few
amendments were made.
Twana Osman, editor-in-chief of Hawlati newspaper,
who said four of his reporters have faced harassment
and arrest, says the KJS is no advocate of the free
press, “The syndicate has a party structure. It
cannot protect the safety of journalists."
Osman acknowledges that some journalists may have
been out of order during the recent disturbances,
but says it’s important that a new law be introduced
setting out ground rules for security forces and
journalists in such situations.
Wrya Hama Tahir is an IWPR trainee journalist in
Sulaimaniyah.
iwpr net
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