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after he was dropped
off on Tuesday morning, 4th May 2010, by his brother
Sardar Osman opposite the main entrance of the
liberal arts college of the University of Salahaddin.
He was to have graduated from the university in June
with a degree in English.
Sardar Osman, who said he did not see the
kidnapping, said that his brother got out in front
of the Fine Arts Institute, where at least half a
dozen soldiers from the well-trained Zerevani unit,
which is under the control of the Kurdish Democratic
Party (KDP), guard the gate at all times.
Another brother, Beshdar Osman, said that his
brother received a threatening phone call in
January, telling him to leave Erbil. “The reason was
his writing,” he said.
On Thursday, 6 May 2010, Bashdar found the remains
of this brother, bearing signs of torture and
gunshots in the head, in the suburbs of Mosul
province, which is outside the control of the
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), but where KDP
maintains an influential presence.
The pieces of the puzzle
First: Is Iraqi Kurdistan
penetrated by terrorists?
“This work is beyond the capability of one person or
one small group,” read a statement issued on
Thursday, May 6th, 2010, and signed by 75 Kurdish
journalists, editors and intellectuals.
Can an external group penetrate the city, kidnap a
journalist student during the daylight in a public
area and transfer them across the KRG borders? The
New York Times on May 7th, 2010 elaborated further:
Some Kurdish journalists and Mr. Osman’s friends
accused members of the security forces, which are
controlled by the parties, of direct involvement in
the crime. Reporters without Borders on May 6th,
2010 provided another explanation: The city of
Erbil, where Osman was kidnapped, is mostly
controlled by the KDP, whose leader, Massoud
Barzani, is Kurdistan’s President. His son, Masrur
Barzani, heads the KDP’s security services.
Second: Are vehicles
unchecked during inter-governorate travel?
Kidnappers will have to travel through security
checkpoints to reach Mosul from the regional capital
Erbil. Can an external group pass a kidnapped
individual in a vehicle and move via all the
security checkpoints, including the main one, which
is on the regional border with Iraq? The simple
answer is this: it is almost impossible. The
statement by 75 Kurdish journalists gets close to
answer this questions: “To kidnap a journalist in
the regional capital; taking him outside the
Kurdistan region; and killing him,www.ekurd.netraises
serious questions. This act cannot be done by one
person or a small group of people. We believe the
Kurdistan regional government and its security
forces are responsible first and foremost and they
are supposed to do everything in order to find this
evil hand.”
Third: Who controls the KRG
capital, where the abduction occurred?
Erbil and Duhok and controlled by Kurdistan
Democratic Party, which is led by the president of
Kurdistan region, Mr. Masoud Barzani.
Fourth: Why was Sardasht
Osman murdered?
The Committee to Protect Journalists provided the
answer: Osman’s brother, Bashdar, told CPJ that he
was convinced that Sardasht was killed because of a
critical article he wrote in the independent daily
Ashtinam in April about a high-ranking Kurdistan
Regional Government official. “In the last few
months my brother received a number of phone
threats, demanding that he stop meddling in
government affairs,” he added.
Four: Are KRG officials
honest to their constituents?
There is a discrepancy in the statements of Abdul-khaliq
Ta’lat, the chief of Erbil police. After receiving
threats, the late Sardasht Osman wrote that he
contacted the officer Abdul-khaliq Ta’lat, the chief
of Erbil police about death threats he was
receiving; and yet the very chief of the police, on
04 May 2010, told the pro-KDP website rudaw.com
that, “up to now, we have not information about
kidnapping of Sardasht [Osman], and we did not know
that he was threaten before”.
But Sardasht Osman wrote an article on 21 January
2010, entitled ‘The first bell of my murder rang,’
stating: “Yesterday, I informed the dean of my
college about the insult and death treats that I
received last night [on my mobile]. The dean
informed me that this is a police issue. I wonder
whether there is a country on this planet that
students receive death threats and yet the college
[staff] don’t care, and sit pathetically. I was not
shocked as I have known for sometime that the
colleges in this country are not our place of peace.
After that, I contacted the officer Abdul-khaliq
Ta’lat [chief of Erbil police]. He told me, “the
mobile number [from which your receive threats] is
perhaps from overseas, or you have a personal issue.
Is it possible that [these threats] may be repeated
for a number of times, while Erbil is calm, and
these things hardly happen in Erbil? In humorous
smile, I wondered if these threats are from [French
President Nicolas] Sarkozy. How could I be reassured
when it is only few days when a friend of mine was
assaulted and forced out of the city?”
But still, the Chief Tal’at claims that he was not
aware of the threats that Sardasht Osman was
receiving via his mobile.
Five: Why the silent in the
official media outlets?
There was hardy any report in the official or party
media outlets. The daily Khabat newspaper, which is
backed by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)
reported on its 3465 issue, dated: 07 May, 2010 that
the remains of the Kurdish student were found in
Mosul province on the 6th of May, 2010.
According to Khabat, Sardasht Osman was the student
of the English college of the University of
Sallahadin in Erbil. On Tuesday, 04 May 2010, he was
kidnapped by a group of people and was found killed
in Mosul. The security and police agencies of
Kurdistan Region have opened an investigative case
and will report the result to the authorities.
It is interesting to note that, unlike all other
news reports, the pro-KDP news item describes
Sardasht Osman as student, and not as journalist,
and additionally ignores the fact that he was
kidnapped by armed men in Erbil, the regional
capital which is under a strong control of the KDP
security forces controlled by only certain members
of the ruling Barzani clan
Six: Similarities between
the murder of Soran Mam Hama and that of Sardasht
Osman
Both the lates Soran and Sardasht are native Kurds.
They were known for their critical writings on the
KRG officials. Both received threats before slayings
occur, and both were murdered outside the KRG
region. However, the late Soran was a resident of
Kirkuk, which under the control of the Iraqi central
government, and was killed in his hometown. The late
Sardasht was a resident of Erbil, which is under the
control of the KRG, and was kidnapped and
transferred to Mosul, which is also under the
control of the central government.
Unless these issues are addressed by the authorities
in Kurdistan the current civil outrange would keep
its momentum.
The sequence of events: The
murder of Kurdish journalist in Iraqi Kurdistan 15.5.2010
Kurdistan Intelligence's statement on the ongoing
investigation on the murder of Kurdish journalist 14.5.2010
Over a thousand protesters rally
in Iraqi Kurdistan against killing of Kurdish journalist 13.5.2010
The death of Kurdish journalist poses difficult
questions for the Kurdistan govt and threatens regional stability 13.5.2010
Let my death be as tragic as my
life 12.5.2010
Kurdistan president is not a god neither is his daughter 12.5.2010
Angry protest by Iraqi Kurds over journalist killing 11.5.2010
After Sardasht Killing in Iraqi Kurdistan, journalists are being threatened
10.5.2010
I
am in love with Massoud Barzani’s daughter, a poem that kills 10.5.2010
Iraqi Kurdistan's Neda 9.5.2010
Did
Sardasht Osman had an argument with Masrour Barzani on Facebook? 9.5.2010
Kurdistan PM: New information about murdered Kurdish journalist 9.5.2010
Amnesty: Investigate attacks on journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan region
9.5.2010
Iraq's Kurds protest kidnap-slaying of journalist 9.5.2010
Sulaimaniyah: Kurdish journalists condemned murder of a journalist student
7.5.2010
Kurdistan Government, Presidency condemn attack on Kurdish journalist
9.5.2010
Kurdish journalist killed for his scathing articles against Barzani 7.5.2010
RSF
condemns the murder of Iraqi Kurdish journalist 6.5.2010
Iraqi Kurdish journalist kidnapped and killed 6.5.2010
Iraqi Kurdistan: Parties in ruling coalition agree to gag the press 6.5.2010
Press law no help in Iraqi Kurdistan 28.4.2010
Journalists assaulted covering Iraqi Kurdistan protests 28.4.2010
An
open letter from Andrew Snow to Hawlati editor in chief 22.3.2010
Legislative elections become nightmare for journalists in Kurdistan: RSF
10.3.2010
RFS: Democracy and free expression under
threat in Iraqi Kurdistan 26.2.2010
Israel Kurd Institute announcement about the transgression on editor-in-chief of Israel-Kurd magazine 24.2.2010
Iraqi Kurdish editor-in-chief of
Israel-Kurd magazine beaten up in Kurdistan 23.2.2010
Beating, kidnapping and jailing
journalists’ phenomena in Iraqi Kurdistan 23.2.2010
Bad to Worse in Iraqi Kurdistan 17.2.2010
Independent journalists harassed,
attacked in Kurdistan in run-up to elections 17.2.2010
Kurdish journalist again attacked in
Iraqi Kurdistan 12.2.2010
Backsliding freedom of press in Kurdistan
1.2.2010
More
threats and violence against independent journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan
21.1.2010
Brutal assault on a
journalist in Kurdistan, newspapers facing legal action 11.11.2009
Prominent Kurdish
journalist Nabaz Goran attacked in Iraqi Kurdistan, KDP accused 30.10.2009
Islamic Leader to Sue
Kurdish Editor in Iraqi Kurdistan 14.10.2009
Iraqi Kurdish
journalist Baxtyar Salih Saeed under killing threat asks for
protection 13.10.2009
Kurdistan President:
“Livin must accept the responsibility.” 6.10.2009
Unknown group burn a
Kurdish journalist’s car in Iraqi Kurdistan (axtyar Salih Saeed) 3.10.2009
Disappeared
Kurdish-Norwegian citizen found in Kirkuk 17.9.2009
Kurdish journalists of
Rudaw released in Iraqi Kurdistan 13.8.2009
Two jailed in Iraqi
Kurdistan for planning to kill Kurdish journalist Ahmed Mira 11.8.2009
...
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