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March 12, 2011
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Demonstrations and free assembly must be allowed in Erbil and the KDP must pull out its forces from the city 

Kurdishaspect.com

According to article 20 from the Declaration of Universal Human Rights, “Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. ”According to article 4, “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.” According to article 5, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.”

According to these and other articles of the Declaration, the people of Kurdistan as well as the people of Erbil City have the right to free assembly, free speech, and expression. They have right to be treated humanely and with dignity. Furthermore, the authorities have the responsibility to protect their security and lives. 

Demonstrations and assemblies have been continuing since February 17, 2011 in Sulemani and other areas that are under the control of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), as the demonstrators demand change and action against corruption, one-party dominance and governing, discrimination, and so on. However, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the authorities belonging to the KDP in Erbil and other cities under their control have cruelly prevented people from demonstrating and assembling to express their legitimate grievances. The KDP has distributed its forces, which have different names and organization such as Zerevan (special commando forces belonging to the Barzani family), Parastn (the intelligence unit of the KDP), Qutabian (the Student Union of the KDP), Asayesh (the security forces belonging to various areas of the KDP area), and other special party forces in both military and civilian clothing, in the city of Erbil and the surrounding areas. KDP forces have detained and tortured individuals in the city who have not committed any illegal actions. The regional president of Iraqi Kurdistan, Masoud Barzani, has repeatedly said that the people have the right to demonstrate freely. What actually happens not only contradicts Barzani’s claims but is a cruel violation of human rights. 

The people in Erbil and other cities who have been killed, detained, tortured, or persecuted since February 17 by the forces of the parties of the KDP and PUK or the Asaiysh forces have been the victim of numerous violations of their human rights. Thus, the perpetrators must be found and tried for their crimes.
The facts of the actions and violations made by the KDP in Erbil in February 2011 include the following:

1.The arrest of 9 persons on February 25 2011. They have been victims of torture, humiliation, and inhumane treatment. 1. Khalid Shine Hassan 2. Sherzad Abubakr Hussein 3. Ismail Abdulrahman Abdulla 4. Pishtiwan Abdulla 5. Ibrahim Ali Bahdini 6. Shirwan Azad 7. Abubakr Jamal 8. Zyad Abas Hassan 9. Amanj Abdulla (fled from the KDP forces). Some of them are free now.
2.The closing down of the University of Salahadin and the deportation of non-erbilian students in Erbil by force. The students have not done anything wrong. Mr. Dlawar Abdulqadir, the Minister of High Education, has called for the reopening of the university and the return of the non-erbilian students to their dormitories, but the KDP has forbidden this.

The facts of the actions and violations committed by the PUK since February 2011 include the following:

1.Killing three young boys in Sulemani on February 17.
2.Killing an 11-year-old child in Chamchamal.
3.Detaining numerous people in different cities.
4.Burning and destroying the building of the independent media center of NALYA in Sulemani.
5.Destroying the independent radio channel of DANG in Kalar.
6.Burning the tents set up in Azadi Square in Sulemani.
Demonstrations are continuing in Sulemani and some other cities under the control of the PUK, which has prevented demonstrations in some other cities such as Koya.
We, as a group of Kurds living outside of Kurdistan, protest the violations of human rights that have been happening in Erbil and other cities since February 17. We demand that:
1.Without any more humiliations and delays, the people who are in the custody of the KDP and PUK must be freed.
2.The university must be reopened and the students allowed to return to their dormitories.
3.The Ministers of the Interior, Peshmarga, and High Education must resign.
4.The perpetrators of the various related crimes must be detained and tried in a court of law.
5.The KDP must remove the militias of the party (Parastn, Zeravan, Qutabian) from the city of Erbil.
6.The KDP must allow the people of Erbil to freely and peacefully demonstrate.

We believe that Erbil is in danger and the rightfully aggrieved people of Erbil may not wait any longer and rise up against the KDP authority, which have prepared its party militias and Special Forces for this moment. We are afraid that the situation could take a track that no one wishes for and end with a massacre of innocent citizens. 

We ask the international community to do all within its powers to prevent the expected clashes between demonstrators and the militias of the KDP.

Here are our names:
1.Abas Shwan, writer and journalist, Finland
2.Abdulkarim Sarkash, writer, Sweden
3.Aram Ali, writer, Sweden
4.Arez Darapur, human rights activist, Germany
5.Aso Aziz, human rights activist, Norway
6.Aso Jabar, writer, Turkey
7.Azad Karim, engineer, Sweden
8.Baban Osman, member of refugee federation, Sweden
9.Dr. Naji Gulpi, doctor, Halabja/Kurdistan
10.Goran Halabjay, writer and human rights activist, Denmark
11.Halgurd Talabany, Lawyer
12.Hassan Jodi, journalist, Sweden
13.Hawre Baxawan, writer, Holland
14.Hemn Rawf, poet and writer,
15.Hiwa Nasih, writer and human rights activist, Switzerland
16.Ihsan Mala Fuad, Journalist, Kfri/Kurdistan
17.Kamyar Sabir, writer, Australia
18.Koyar Rawf, writer, UK
19.Loqman Haji Karim, writer, UK
20.Mohsin Karim, writer
21.Mustefa Hasan Gawra, writer and human right activist
22.Naciba Mahmud, women rights activist, Sweden
23.Polay Zindan, former political priconer, Sweden 
24.Qadir Nadir, writer and human rights activist, Sweden
25.Rega Rawf, women rights activist, Sweden
26.Rizgar Salh, writer, Holland
27.Rizgar Shwani, former Peshmarga, Sweden
28.Runak Ahmad, writer and women rights activist, Germany
29.Safwat Jalal, writer, Sweden
30.Shakhawan Shorsh, writer and human rights activist, Denmark
31.Shamal Ali, human rights activist, Sweden
32.Soran Abdulqadir, writer, Norway
33.Vian Abdulrazaq, teacher, Sweden
34.Yasin Banixelani, writer, Switzerland
35.Xabat Nawzad, Journalist, Halabja/Kurdistan








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