|
Iraqi Kurdistan: Sulaimaniyah protest
leader abducted and tortured
28.5.2011 |
|
|
|
May
28, 2011
SULAIMANIYAH,
Kurdistan region 'Iraq', — Armed men on Thursday
abducted and tortured one of the leaders of the
protest movement in Sulaimaniyah.
28-year old Ismail Abdulla was a regular speaker at
the rallies in Azadi Square during 62 days of
protest. He was a key member of the Azadi Square
council became a symbol of a peaceful uprising.
After Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) forces
violently occupied the Square on 19 April,www.ekurd.netIsmail
and many his colleagues went into hiding and he was
communicating with friends through Facebook.
The PUK of Iraq's President Jalal
Talabani.
Last night militia men seized Ismail and subjected
him to three hours of beating and stabbing before
dumping him on the outskirts of the city.
|
28-year old Ismail Abdulla was a regular speaker at
the rallies in Azadi Square during. Photo: Lvin
press |
Ismail managed to contact a relative who took him to
hospital. He was discharged from hospital today and
told local Lvinpress that he holds PUK forces
responsible for the attack. He has been threatened
previously by phone calls and text messages.
This development is surprising given the two ruling
parties’ request for meetings and dialogue with the
opposition.
Amnesty International has been contacted and asked
to investigate the case.
Since February till middle April, thousands of protesters
gathered daily
in Sulaimaniyah and other parts of Kurdistan against
corruption and the lording over Kurdistan region by
two main parties KDP and PUK. Kurdish
protestors demand the ouster of the local Kurdistan
government KRG,www.ekurd.netcalling for improving services and
living conditions and fighting corruption.
After 62 days of protests, the Governorate of of
Sulaimaniyah has banned unlicensed demonstrations in
the city. Heavy Kurdish forces
deployed
in the Sulaimaniyah city to prevent any
demonstrations, and occupied the city center and other parts of
Sulaimaniyah. The Security Committee in Sulaimaniyah
banned on April 18 all sorts of protests.
Most of the demonstrators opposed Massoud Barzani, and the ruling
Kurdistan Democratic Party KDP. Ten people
were
killed and more than 700 others wounded and 220
more have been arrested in clashes between
demonstrators and Kurdish security forces during a
wave or protests that swept Sulaimaniyah. The
Kurdish security forces (Asayish) arrested and
tortured a lot of activists and
journalists.
The protesters demand the Kurdish government and
parliament resign to give way for “early transparent
elections”. They complain about “monopolizing the
economic and political authority,” by the two major
parties of Kurdistan. Many observe allegiance to
either of the two ruling patties a must to get
employed and hence were deprived of the right. Kurdistan suffers from
electric power deficiency but after almost 20 years
of semi autonomy.
For decades, the KDP
of regional president Massoud Barzani and the
PUK of Iraq's President
Jalal Talabani have lorded over the region.
Massoud Barzani and his relatives control a
large number of commercial enterprises in
Kurdistan-Iraq, with a gross value of several
billion US dollars. The family is routinely accused
of corruption and nepotism by Kurdish media as well
as international observers.
Iraq's Kurdish regional government has near
total autonomy and is funded by a share of the
country's oil revenue. The two parties that share
power each command former guerrilla militias that
have been given the status of regional security
forces.
Earlier Massoud Barzani told an Italian newspaper that if
50,000 Kurdistan citizens require him to step down,
he will. Afterwards, the opposition parties led a
signature campaign and reportedly collected even
more votes to oust the president. However, the
fate of those signatures is
still unclear.
The Report from Lvinpress in Kurdish
http://www.lvinpress.com/K_Direje.aspx?Jimare=3765&Besh=Hewal&Cor=1
Copyright ©, respective
author or news agency, lvinpress.com
| kurdistantribune.com | ekurd.net
...
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the
content of news information on this page
|
®
