|
Dr Kamal Mirawdeli's letter to British
Foreign Secretary
30.10.2011 |
|
|
|
October 30, 2011
Letter from Dr Kamal Mirawdeli to British Foreign
Secretary:
HE Foreign Secretary William Hague
Foreign & Commonwealth Office,
King Charles Street,
London SW1A 2AH
Dear Foreign Secretary
Human Rights Concerns in Kurdistan Region of Iraq
I am writing to your Excellency concerning the
continuous dire state of human rights and the
absence of rule of law and any sort of basic or
restorative justice available to the citizens in
|
Dr Kamal Mirawdeli, a prominent Kurdish writer and
Kurdistan Region Presidency Candidate 2009, he was
the strongest rival of the incumbent president of
the region and was the second winner in the
elections. |
the Kurdistan region. As the region lacks an
operative Constitution guaranteeing freedoms and
rights to the citizens, lacks a high court with
power to intervene and arbitrate on behalf of the
citizens, Equal Opportunity legislation and any form
of functioning legal and judicial structures,
Kurdish citizens whose human rights have been and
are constantly abused by the dominating party
apparatuses and officials, have remained in a
desperate situation. During the demonstrations of 17
February 2011-18 April 2011, 10 people were
killed by KDP and PUK militias and
dozens were wounded and since then many people have
been detained or unlawfully attacked by PUK and KDP
authorities. No justice has been done to the victims
in spite of various empty promises by the
authorities especially the president of the region.
On this occasion I write specifically regarding the
case of Kurdish patriot from Halabja, Ibrahimi Kaka
Aha.
I myself was in Kurdistan region during the
demonstrations and participated and gave speeches in
some of them. I was in Halabja where the first major
demonstration was planned to take place on 23 March
2009, PUK brought in an external military force of
500 armed men to the town who, hours before the
identified time of the peaceful demonstration at
3.00 pm, started to harass and intimidate the
citizens attacking with batons any small gathering
exceeding two people. In the previous days PUK had
used the local peshmarga and police force but they
had been very polite and supportive to people and
appreciated the presence of a popular veteran
peshmarga Ibrahimi Kaka Aha to morally support
people and participate in their peaceful
demonstrations. But PUK did not only stop using the
local security forces, they had punished them for
not shooting people and brought an external force to
do just that to prevent the demonstrations. Another
apparent aim of the deployed external force it seems
was to implement a plan to murder the veteran
peshmarga Ibrahimi Kaka Aha who as a popular
dissident was unjustifiably seen as a threat to the
authority of PUK in the town. Thus at that day the
imported external force artificially and
intentionally created a violent atmosphere as a
result of which there was a confrontation between
the suppressing force and the demonstrators and the
force was defeated. During the disturbances Ibrahimi
Kaka Aha was shot and a policeman was killed. Next
day, when the external force had been withdrawn,
there was a most peaceful and disciplined
demonstration which I attended and gave a speech to
the demonstrations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqGxqFA75mI
Then I visited the injured veteran peshmarga
Ibrahimi Kaka Aha at his home. He told me how he was
shot. He was standing in front of a shop near the
park where the demonstrations had been advertised to
start. He said: ‘an officer whom I had not known and
had never met before, came to me, shook hands with
me and mentioned my name. When I confirmed my name
to him, he looked around and made a signal; I did
not know what happened after that”. He was shot on
his head and it is miraculous that he survived as
the bullet hit sideways on the left side of his head
and did not go through his skull. (the video clip of
my visit and this short conversation is available
at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JjC8EAvoivA
This was no normal incident or accident. This was a
premeditated crime and deliberate plan for the
murder of a citizen by an authority which is
supposed as the legal government with monopoly of
power to protect the lives and rights of people
including the right to peaceful demonstration. It is
also expected from Kurdistan Regional Government to
investigate this incident independently and ensure
justice for the victim and the punishment of
perpetrators of murder. But unfortunately, but not
surprisingly,www.ekurd.net
the PUK authorities arrested Ibrahimi Kaka Aha two
weeks ago and since then he has been detained
without anyone being able to know his whereabouts or
meet him. This has shocked many people who know him
and the people of the town of Halabja who as your
Excellency will be aware, was destroyed in a
chemical attack by Saddam in 1988 and since then the
town has has had no better lot under the control of
Kurdish government. It looks more like a derelict
village with lack of reconstruction, economy,
infrastructure, jobs and services and people
suffering from the corruption and oppression of
unaccountable party officials and militia.
I appeal to you and Her Majesty’s government and
through the good offices of your consul in Kurdistan
region to intervene in this matter and ask His
Excellency Jalal Talabani, whose party is
responsible for this act of injustice, and Kurdistan
Regional Government, to free Mr Ibrahimi Kaka Aha
and all other people who have been detained during
and since the demonstration of February 2011,
conduct independent enquiry into the crimes of
murder and aggression against the citizens and
ensure justice and compensation for the victims.
Yours sincerely,
Kamal Mirawdeli (Dr)
Kurdish writer and the former presidential candidate
in 2009 elections
18 October 2011
Copyright © 2011 ekurd.net
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the
content of news information on this page
|
®
