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The law on demonstrations in Iraqi
Kurdistan to be amended
21.10.2011
Press release by Federaysion of Civil Society
Organizations via ekurd.net |
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October 21, 2011
Kurdistan region of Iraq: Press Release — The law on
demonstrations in Iraqi Kurdistan to be amended.
It is a great honor for us to declare that the “The
Regulation of Demonstrations Bill of 2010” will be
amended. It is useful to remind every interested
stakeholder, that the federation previously
conducted various activities and issued many
statements concerning the need for an amendment of
the bill. Those activities originated from the
realization that there were a host of shortcomings
in the bill that needed careful considerations and
amendments.
The activities by the federation culminated in the
establishment of the 12/12 group, which initiated a
series of demonstrations condemning the signing of
the bill into law by the Parliament and later by the
presidency of the Kurdistan Regional Government. The
main demand voiced then and now, is replacing the
“permission” conditionality of conducting a
demonstration by a requirement to only “notify” the
authorities. This demand, in addition to other basic
human rights provisions in the bill, would, in our
view, ensure the constitutionality of the law.
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Photo: Karzan Kardozi/ekurd.net |
In a recent development, a meeting was conducted in
the parliament of Kurdistan on October 19, 2011,
between the Civil Society Committee in the
Parliament and the representatives of 13
non-governmental organizations in the governorates
of Erbil,www.ekurd.net
Sulaimaniyah and Duhok. An extensive and positive
discussion was conducted on the new bill draft for
the law of regulating demonstrations in Kurdistan.
While we are optimistic about the chances for
amending the law, we will continue our efforts to
ensure that all of the relevant international
standards of practicing demonstration as a basic
right of citizens are respected. Any amendment that
would result in different outcomes would undermine
the protection of an essential element of human
rights in Kurdistan and would result in prohibiting
demonstrations rather than regulating them.
The Federation of Civil Society Organizations
15 NGO and a group of activist in Iraqi Kurdistan
20-10-2011
Copyright © 2011 ekurd.net
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