|
Open letter regarding events of 17th February, 2011, Iraqi
Kurdistan |
|
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the
content of news information on this page |
|
Open letter regarding events of 17th
February, 2011, Iraqi Kurdistan
19.2.2011
By Dr Rizgar Amin, Dr Rebwar Fatah and Dr Shirwan
Mufti - London |
|
|
|
February 19, 2011
To: the Kurdistani, Iraqi and international decision
makers, human rights and civil organisations and
public opinion.
As a group of independent and non-partisan
individuals, we are obliged to provide our opinion
on the events of 17th February, 2011 (the Event),
where protesters were shot with heavy weapons from
the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)
in the city of Sulaimaniyah.
The following issues are among those that need to be
investigated and addressed by the relevant parties.
1. The events in
Kurdistan were the accumulation of years of
corruption and social injustice, and the Kurdistan
Regional authorities ignoring the people’s voice.
This Event shall be remembered as the day that the
blood of Kurdish youths was shed as a result of the
actions of one of the two main parties that control
the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. The Event must be
investigated and the perpetrators must be brought to
justice. No crime should go unpunished.
2. The KDP leaders, after the Event, attempted to
divert the attention away from themselves by
accusing the opposition (Gorran i.e. the ‘Change’
party) and justifying the violence, in which over 50
were killed or wounded. There can be no
justification in killing teenage boys, wherever it
occurs. The KDP, as one of the main political groups
of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), should
have acted more responsibly and restrained itself.
The KDP should apologise for this unnecessary use of
force, rather than attempting to justify its
disproportionate actions.
3. Unfortunately the most irresponsible statement
came from the head of the KDP and current President
of the KRG, Mr Massoud Barzani, who is currently
outside the country. His written statement began
with the fact that the KDP headquarters was attacked
in Sulaimaniyah. Of course, this is an attempt to
confuse the situation.
4. The peaceful protest began in Sulaimaniyah
against corruption, abuse of power and social
injustice of the KRG. In addition, the protesters
wished to express their solidarity for the people of
Tunisia and Egypt. However, during the protest, a
group of youths passed by the headquarters of the
KDP and started throwing stones. The youths, as the
objective evidence shows, did not constitute any
threat to the lives of those who were inside. The
KDP members,www.ekurd.netas
can be seen from the objective evidence, started
shooting at the youths from the top of the building,
using heavy machine guns, which led to the
bloodshed. Rejwan was a 12 year old boy who was
killed by KDP during the Event. We must question
whether a 12 year old teenage boy can constitute a
threat to heavily armed, experienced party members
inside a building.
5. Mr Barzani should have expressed his support for
the protesters and should have promised reforms to
eliminate corruption, abuse of power and social
injustice, not condemning them or labelling them as
the “enemies of the people of Kurdistan”. This is
truly an unfortunate statement from the President of
the region.
6. Furthermore, Mr Barzani’s statement failed to
address the KDP’s attacks on the headquarters of the
main opposition group, Gorran, in areas under the
control of his party, Erbil and Duhok. The
headquarters of Gorran were attacked in these areas
and burned by, allegedly, the KDP. Does Mr Barzani
also regard members of his party, who attacked the
Gorran headquarters, as “the enemies of people of
Kurdistan”?
7. The President of Kurdistan, Mr Massoud Barzani,
has not yet made a verbal statement and, as it has
been reported by the media outlets, he is abroad. He
should have cut his trip short and returned to
Kurdistan. This shows his lack of good governance of
Kurdistan. In addition, Mr Barzani’s statement is
biased towards the KDP, his own political party. He
cannot be independent. The president of Kurdistan
should be an impartial person who can become the
symbol of unity and partnership for the people of
Kurdistan. Mr Barzani, we believe, has failed his
obligations as President.
8. If the occupants of the KDP headquarters believed
that they were under serious attack from the
protesters, we must question why they did not
contact the police, interior ministry or security
services? Why did they take the law into their own
hands? Why does the KDP headquarters keep heavy
machineguns inside, when this is the duty of the
interior ministry? Why did the party militants
decide to control the headquarters? All these
questions must be answered.
9. While the President of Kurdistan and the head of
the KDP, who is also the Commander in Chief of the
armed forces, is not in Kurdistan, we hear that one
of the KDP’s forces, known as Zrevani, has moved to
control Sulaimaniyah. This raises a number of
further questions. Firstly, who is currently in
charge of the armed forces in the absence of the
commander in chief? We know that the President of
Kurdistan does not have a deputy; his own inner
circle manages all the affairs of the party and
government. Secondly, why has the PUK, led by Mr
Jalal Talabani, been unable to maintain order in the
city that it controls? Does this mean that the PUK
looks upon the KDP to protect Sulaimaniyah? Of
course, this has serious consequences on maintaining
unity in Kurdistan, because the members of Barzani
Clan can be perceived as an oppressor of the people
of Sulaimaniyah.
10. The statements by the leaders of KDP – namely,
Mr Massoud Barzani, Mr Fazdhil Mirani, the head of
Sulaimaniyah branch of the KDP and others - clearly
undermines the authority of the KRG and Kurdistan
Parliament. It seems that the KRG has no authority
and Kurdistan is run by KDP. If this is the case,
then the KRG should be dissolved.
11. We suggest that the Kurdistan parliament should
organise a meeting to discuss the dissolution of the
presidential and ministerial councils, and put a
plan for independent and impartial elections in 9-12
months time, because they have all failed in
conducting their duties.
12. The Event must be investigated by an independent
and impartial judiciary. As this is very difficult
to find in Iraqi Kurdistan, we suggest that
independent, international organisations should be
involved in conducting this investigation. In this
way, all parties involved can receive justice.
Dr Rizgar Amin, Dr Rebwar Fatah and Dr Shirwan Mufti
17th February, 2011
Copyright ©, respective
author or news agency, kurdishmedia.com
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the content of news
information on this page
|
|
|
®
