Geneva/Baghdad: Over the last year, journalists, human rights activists and protesters who questioned or criticized actions by the Kurdistan Regional authorities in Iraq have faced intimidation, threats, and harassment as well as arbitrary arrest and detention. Critics have also faced criminal charges in relation to the legitimate exercise of their freedom of expression, followed by trials in which basic rights and procedural safeguards were not, or not sufficiently, respected.
Between March 2020 and April 2021, the Human Rights Office (HRO) of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) received “consistent and credible” allegations of unlawful restrictions of the rights of those raising critical voices against Kurdistan Regional authorities or its policies.
Freedom of Expression in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, prepared by the Human Rights Office (HRO) of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), claimed journalists, activists, and others were subject to arbitrary arrests and violations of procedural guarantees, the use of threats and/or other forms of pressure and intimidation.
The report focuses on the actions taken by public authorities in response to dissent and criticism of their handling of the health and socio-economic challenges in the Kurdistan Region. The report and its recommendations, prepared pursuant to United Nations Security Council resolutions, covers the period between 1 March 2020 and 30 April 2021.
“The pattern of repression documented in this report is deeply worrying, highlighting not only the threats and intimidation of critics, but also the chilling effect such actions can have on others seeking transparency and to hold public authorities to account,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, said here today.
“Recent years have seen progress towards a democratic Kurdistan Region where freedom of expression and the rule of law are valued. But democratic societies need media, activists and critics to be able to report on public issues without censorship or fear, and citizens also have a right to be informed,” Bachelet stressed.
During interviews conducted by UNAMI HRO in Erbil, Duhok and Sulaymaniyah from March 2020 through April 2021, the publication mentions that media workers, human rights defenders and activists in the Kurdistan Region consistently recounted a marked reduction in the enjoyment of the right to freedom of expression in the past year.
Since March 2020, UNAMI/OHCHR documented several cases of targeted criminal proceedings initiated against journalists from various media outlets, as well as activists posting on social media, who had either reported on antiGovernment protests or been critical of the Kurdistan Regional authorities. Increased use of the legal and security apparatus to target media organizations critical of the Kurdistan regional authorities was also observed. UNAMI/OHCHR has documented at least three incidents where journalists covering protests were arrested at demonstration sites, despite being identifiable as representatives of the media.
They further documented at least eight incidents where security forces prevented television journalists from accessing demonstration sites in order to report on events, thereby violating their rights to both freedom of movement and freedom of expression.
UNAMI/OHCHR have recorded repeated instances of actions by the authorities which appeared intended to prevent the coverage of protests against the KRG’s failure to pay public servants salaries, corruption by Government officials, the levels of unemployment in the Kurdistan Region and the KRG’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, by hampering the free movement of journalists travelling to cover demonstrations and suppressing the dissemination of information, while invoking the ‘justification’ of national security.
Most of these incidents were documented between March and August 2020. UNAMI/OHCHR documented 33 cases, all male, where journalists, activists or human rights defenders were arrested without being provided information on the reasons for the arrest, were denied access to their lawyers, did not receive information on the charges, and whose families were not informed of their whereabouts in a timely manner. Many of those arrested were held in detention for lengthy periods of time – in some cases for several months – and others were held for periods of up to ten days without being brought before a judge, in violation of the Criminal Procedure Code, 30 only to be released without charge.
One typical example is the case of a reporter who was arrested without a warrant on 19 August while covering a truck drivers’ protest at a border crossing point in Duhok. The reporter was held for 10 days by the Kurdistan Regional security forces in their detention facility without being brought before an investigating judge and was not able to communicate with his lawyer or his family during the entire period of his detention. He was eventually released without charge on 30 August.
In another representative case, in August 2020 a radio journalist working for a local radio station was arrested by Kurdistan Regional security forces without being provided information on the reasons of arrest, after she interviewed members of the public on their perceptions of the security forces, including Asayish. The journalist was taken to a separate location where she was warned by the security forces who had arrested her (without reference to any specific legal provision) that she needed authorization to carry out such interviews. She was released on the same day without charge.
Although the majority of those arrested were eventually released, the study says that the process of arrest and interrogation by agents of the state contributes to a climate of intimidation. Moreover, the failure of the authorities to uphold basic procedural safeguards of those detained – including denial of access to legal representation and the lack of judicial oversight – increases the risk of ill-treatment and may in some cases amount to incommunicado detention.
Taking a serious note of such harassments to journalists, UNAMI/OHCHR publication has, among other recommendations, asked the Kurdistan Regional authorities to take immediate steps to end the practice of harassment, intimidation and reprisals against journalists, human rights defenders and activists; to uphold the right to effective remedy for assaults and threats against journalists through prompt, effective, thorough, independent, impartial, and transparent investigations of complaints, and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice; and to take immediate steps to promote the free operation of media organizations, including by publicly promoting their critical role in society, ensure journalists and others seeking to exercise their rights to freedom of expression are properly protected.
While recognizing that the Kurdistan Regional authorities are facing uniquely challenging domestic, regional, and international circumstances, the key findings of this report are of serious concern, particularly the behaviour of the security apparatus, the selective application of laws, and the lack of compliance with relevant legal procedures and international human rights standards, including fair trial rights.
The Iraqi Constitution protects the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and peaceful demonstration, the rights to freedom of association and communication, including electronic communication, and the right to a fair trial. In addition to the constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression, the ‘Press Law in the Kurdistan Region’ (Law No 35 of 2007) prohibits press censorship, guarantees freedom of expression and of publication to every citizen17 and explicitly provides that “opinions given, or information disseminated by a journalist may not be used as a justification to cause injury to his person or violate his rights”.
The High Commissioner and the UN Iraq Special Representative both said that they are encouraged by the continuing cooperation of the Kurdistan Regional authorities with their offices, noting that the report and its recommendations are part of an ongoing dialogue with the KRG to promote human rights, in particular the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, and liberty and security of person, and to encourage both accountability for human rights violations and redress for victims, including effective remedies for all victims. “UNAMI/OHCHR recognize efforts taken towards implementation of the report’s recommendations,” they said.
– global bihari bureau
