Posted on 12/06/2016 7:37:24 PM PST by odds
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) issued a report on Monday responding to allegations by the US State Department that ranged from press violations to torture in the Kurdistan Region.
The report by the KRG’s High Committee to Evaluate and Respond to International Reports comes after nearly a year of investigations that examined various points addressed in the 2015 US Department of State’s annual report on Human Rights Practices in Iraq, which also examined the rights situation in Kurdistan.
Among other things, the US report contained allegations that the Peshmerga were systematically destroying Arab homes in towns and villages they had liberated from ISIS.
The Kurdish report found that Erbil’s own investigation “did not reveal a systematic effort by the KRG or its security apparatus to purposely uproot existing communities in order to replace them with others. Nor did the visits demonstrate a united Peshmerga forces effort to destroy property in villages.”
The report responded to allegations of torture in the KRG by pointing out that torture is outlawed under the Iraqi constitution, meaning that, “any person held in prison or in detention, who suffers torture during the investigation period prior to a court hearing, has the right to file a complaint against the officer who tortured him.”
“The KRG emphasizes that there are no such prisons or detention centers within the Kurdistan Region,” the report added.
It also addressed concerns about media freedom in the region by pointing out that, “Freedom of expression and opinion is sacrosanct for all members of the Kurdish community according to the laws of the Region.”
On the problem of so-called honor killings, the report noted that the Kurdistan parliament “amended Article 409 of the Iraqi penal code, increasing the punishment for honor killings and considering them willful murder.”
Similarly, regarding female genital mutilation (FGM) in the region the report acknowledged the illegal practice but also cited a survey of 827 homes in the governorates of Erbil and Sulaimani, which “suggests the practice of FGM has noticeably declined in the Region.”
“Education on FGM has increased in the surveyed areas, awareness campaigns seem to be working as many people are being exposed to them and more people believe FGM should be eradicated,” the report said.
It added that the KRG intends “to continue to improve our relations with international counterparts, both governmental and non-governmental, to ensure that any outstanding shortcomings are remedied.”
Another example of our communistic state department gone rogue
They basically said...
F*ck off obama. January 20th is not too far away.
I see that John Kerry’s State Department is still attacking the only reliable allies (other than Israel & possibly Egypt) we have in the region — the Kurds.
I guess it keeps State Department staffers too busy to attack the Saudis & the Qataris who have financed Islamic Jihadis throughout the Middle East.
42 days...but who is counting?
Just when the Kurds were gaining some traction against Obama and Saudi Arabia’s jihadist allies, Fed.gov decides to knock them back a little.
I have no idea what’s specifically going on between Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq and the U.S. State Department.
I know for a fact what is mentioned in the article about FGM, Honor Killings is accurate.
I should think “Freedom of Speech” is also allowed (within reason), as is “Freedom of Religion” (Kurds by majority are ‘officially sunni muslims’, but a couple of months ago a Zoroastrian Temple, first of its kind for over a 1000 years, was officially permitted and recognized in Iraqi-Kurdistan).
I don’t think the Kurds are that good. They’re just not as bad as the others. I hope Trump arms them to the teeth.
No one is "that good", and being good is all relative to what was.
What I know is the Kurds and Peshmerga in particular are still living & operating under tremendous constraints and strain since 2 years ago, at least.
Point is they are trying very hard, have made significant progress meantime in the right direction all around, and one can't change an entrenched culture in a couple of years, if that's the real issue for the State Department.
fyi
In regards to “allegations that the Peshmerga were systematically destroying Arab homes in towns and villages they had liberated”, a bit of context is important.
Saddam had instituted a massive ethnic cleansing operation to “Arabize” traditionally Kurdish areas, where there was oil (Kirkuk), or that were near strategic areas like major cities or border areas.
Lots of the Kurds liberating areas from ISIS personally lived through being expelled from those areas by the Ba’athists.
I see. Thanks.
Do you think a partitioning of Iraq will be warranted or in the pipeline, in the foreseeable future?
“Do you think a partitioning of Iraq will be warranted or in the pipeline, in the foreseeable future?”
So hard to guess - the Trump Administration is a major new wildcard.
The Kurdish population would like independence, but they know that they are more vulnerable to Turkish aggression on their own.
The Sunnis have kind of lost their vote for a while, after the atrocities of the ISIS takeover. They are (or soon will be) a conquered people. The Shi’ite majority are unlikely to let them leave with the oil in the Sunni areas.
Any partitioning is their job, not ours.
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