Kurdistan Regional Government (KRI) authorities have just
hammered another nail into the proverbial coffin of free
expression in Iraq, arresting dozens in an effort to prevent
a planned protest.
According to a journalist and two teachers from the city of
Duhok in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, KRI government
employees, including teachers, have not received salaries
since February, reportedly because of crashing oil prices and
the economic fallout from Covid-19. Delayed salaries have
been a persistent issue since 2015, triggering protests that
Kurdistan authorities regularly meet with arbitrary arrests.
On May 13, a group of mostly teachers submitted a request
to the Dohuk governor’s office to hold a protest on May 16
calling for salaries to be paid. The requirement to request
permission to protest – which conflicts with international
law’s protection of the right to peaceful assembly – stipulates
that if authorities do not respond to the request within
48 hours, permission is automatically granted.
On May 15, the governornate posted a statement on its
Facebook page saying it had seen “propaganda and calls
for a protest” but that there was no permission for the
protest and threatened “legal consequences” if it
proceeded. But it did not actually respond to the formal
request, a protest organizer said, nor invoke
Covid-19-related restrictions as a reason for not granting
permission.
On May 16, security forces set up checkpoints and barriers
to close off the park designated as the protest location.
On May 15 and 16, security forces arrested dozens of
protesters – at least two from their homes and many more
who turned out on May 16. They also arrested at least
eight journalists. Authorities released most of those arrested
within five hours, but only after preventing this most recent
attempt to peacefully protest.
On May 19, Dr. Dindar Zebari, the regional government's
coordinator for international advocacy, acknowledged that
the arrests were for “organizing unauthorized demonstrations”
and justified the arrests by stating that the protests had violated
Covid-19 prevention measures, even though local authorities
had lifted almost all movement restrictions and did not mention
any gathering restrictions at the time.
Both Zebari and the Dohuk governor in a video stated that
political groups were behind the demonstrations. If this
accusation were true, so what? Since when was it illegal
for protesters to have political leanings? These statements
are dangerous in suggesting that in the KRI, you are not
allowed to publicly represent your political views if they
are different to those of the authorities in the area.
I have sat in over a dozen meetings with KRI officials
over the last four years in which they laud their compliance
with human rights, always “in contrast to Baghdad.”
This most recent incident shows the Kurdistan Region is
no bastion of peaceful assembly and free expression.
- hrw