During the past year, popular mass demonstrations took place across the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, in which people from all walks of life participated, especially employees and those with limited income, to protest against poor living conditions, delayed payments to employees of benefits and salaries, the continuation of the financial crisis, and rampant corruption in the region. The security authorities in the Kurdistan Region, especially in the Governorates of Erbil and Dohuk, have subsequently arrested dozens of teachers, journalists, and civil society activists. A large group of them remain in prison months after their arrest, according to research by the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR).

One of the most prominent cases of arrest is that of teacher and civil society activist Badal Abdulbaqi Barwari, who was arrested on 18 August 2020 with a group of other activists in Dohuk Governorate. They were charged with a serious charge related to the safety of the state in accordance with Article (156) of the Iraqi Penal Code No. (111) of 1969 which states: "A person who willfully commits an act with intent to prejudice the independence, unity, or territorial integrity of the country and the act that leads to that shall be punished with death.)

The arrests did not stop in 2021, as the security authorities in the Governorates of Erbil and Dohuk continued to arrest civil society activists, beat them, and persecute them by various means.

On the night of 19 January 2021, civil society activist Hawri Kurdi was attacked in the city of Erbil, where he was lightly injured and subsequently taken to the hospital. According to reliable information, the assailants robbed his mobile phone and money. He is expected to file a complaint against the assailants.

Kurdi has a history of organising and participating in most of the civil activities against the Turkish occupation in the cities of Afrin and Sri Kanye in Syrian Kurdistan and the attacks on some areas of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, as well as the various protests and activities against corruption. Kurdi worked in a guard unit in Erbil until he was dismissed from his job last year by the head of the unit in which he was working. Since 2017, he has been receiving repeated threats from members of the security sections of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), due to his critical writings on his Facebook page.

On the morning of 27 January 2021, the security forces arrested photojournalist and civil society activist Qahraman Shukri Rikani in front of his family at his home in the Shiladze sub-district of Amadiya district in Dohuk Governorate, and took him to an unknown destination, after confiscating all his personal belongings, including his mobile phone, books and other devices. It is the second time that Rikani has been arrested. He was previously arrested last June 2020 for his peaceful media activities and his coverage of the demonstrations in Shiladze that started due to the deterioration of living conditions in the region, in addition to the demand for salaries of employees and an end to corruption. Rikani uses his Facebook page to support popular protests and call for the release of prisoners of conscience.  

 On the evening of 29 January 2021, the security forces arrested political activist Hiwa Salar, a member of the Islamic Group, a political party, after he left the Grand Mosque in Erbil during the Friday sermon. He appears in the photo above on the left carrying his prayer rug and was about to go out in a protest against the authorities imposing the topic of the Friday sermon. The authorities were surprised that dozens of worshipers left mosques and did not listen to Friday sermons to protest the use of mosque pulpits for political purposes. He was released from prison the following day.

On 02 February 2021, the security forces arrested political activist Hoshyar Mohammed Rudaini, a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Amadiya district in Dohuk Governorate, while he was visiting his village of Rudaina, located in the Jabal Karah region, a mountain area that is now under attack by the Turkish army. Rudaini works as a farmer in his village and tends his farm and bee hives there. The authorities have not released him as of the preparation of this report.   

On 03 February 2021, the authorities in Dohuk governorate released civil society activist Aaron Rashid Silivani after he spent more than 170 days in prison on charges of participating in demonstrations and criticising the local government on social media.

On 04 February 2021, the security forces arrested comedian and feminist Bayan Gharib at her workplace after a complaint was filed against her. A source in the Directorate of Combating Violence Against Women in Erbil stated that she was arrested in accordance with Article 240 of the Iraqi Penal Code related to violating people's rights. She previously worked as an actress for many films, was recently in advertisements for many shops and is currently working in a cafeteria in Erbil.

On 07 February 2021, the security forces in Erbil arrested the families of detainees in the Dohuk Governorate in front of the headquarters of the United Nations Representation in the Kurdistan Region. The families wanted to visit Erbil and submit a statement of protest to the UN Representation as their relatives and sons continue to be detained by the Asayish forces (Internal Security) without trial. The Asayish did not allow them to deliver their speech in front of the UN representative as scheduled, instead taking them to an unknown destination, where they were released after hours in detention.

At exactly nine o'clock in the morning on 11 February 2021, the security forces arrested political activist Mullah Natheer Barwari, a member of the Kurdistan National Congress, in the town of Darkar in the district of Zakho in Dohuk Governorate, and confiscated all his personal belongings, including his mobile phones. He has not been released yet.

Tables of detainees' names

Below is a list of the names of detained civil society activists, journalists and political activists, including the date of their arrest and their place of residence, who were arrested during 2020 and remain in detention. Their lawyers were not allowed to visit them at all, but their families were allowed to visit them once in the detention centre at the beginning of January 2021. The Asayish notified the spokesperson for the defense team of the detainees, lawyer Bashdar Hussain, that a trial session for only seven of the detainees was scheduled to take place on 15 February 2021.

The first list: Civil society activists and journalists

The second list: Political activists

The third list: Detainees who participated in the mass demonstrations in Dohuk Governorate

Recommendations:

GCHR calls on the Kurdistan Regional Government to immediately and unconditionally release all those detained in violation of their right to assembly. The authorities must fulfill their constitutional obligations not to violate public freedoms, including freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and freedom of the press.

-gc4hr