Sulaimani, June 10th, 2025: The decision of the Erbil General Directorate of Health with the provisions of Law No. 11 of 2010 on Organizing Demonstrations in the Kurdistan Region, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights is inconsistent and an undemocratic tradition, we demand that it be abolished.

After the announcement of the boycott of resident doctors in hospitals in Erbil, Sulaimani, Koya, Raperin, Garmian and Soran, the Erbil General Directorate of Health has issued a letter signed by the director general, punishing several doctors for not complying with working hours.

The letter was issued after the director general visited Rzgari Teaching Hospital on the second day of Eid al-Adha. It has been decided to punish doctors who are not present in their places by cutting their salaries and considering them absent. The decision covers 13 resident doctors, and in a similar letter, seven doctors, in Raperin Teaching Hospital were punished for the same reason.

The law on organizing demonstrations in the Kurdistan Region defines civil activities as (public gatherings for the purpose of demonstrations, strikes, etc).

It would have been better for the Director General of Health in Erbil to accept the request of the protesting doctors and then meet with their committee for appropriate treatment within a reasonable period of time, rather than resorting to punishment.

Law No. 11 of 2010 (Law on Organizing Demonstrations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Article 8 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which Iraq ratified, protects the right to strike.

Network 19 is concerned that the punishment of doctors in Erbil will be used as a precedent to punish those who demand their rights through civil activities.

Instead of resorting to a decision that contradicts the provisions of Law No. 11 of 2010 on Organizing Demonstrations, they should implement their legitimate demands, which are the demands of 1,600 doctors.

Article 14 of the law states that "No legal text or decision will be applied، that is in conflict with the provisions of this law"

Network 19, consisting of a number of human rights organizations, is supervised by Metro Center and upholds the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments on rights and freedoms, especially Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.