CPTnet
December 30, 2003
IRAQ: Kurdish women students arrested in December 11 raid

by Cliff Kindy

On Sunday, December 14, four CPTers were with a family celebrating the
father's release from six months in prison. Joining the gathering were three
students from the neighborhood Islamic University. The students shared the
story of a 3am detention, by US soldiers five
days earlier, of fifteen first year Kurdish female students from a private
dormitory. "They were captured in a very bad way," said one student.

On Monday, Gene Stoltzfus and Cliff Kindy visited the Islamic University.
It was established in 1989 and now has 2500 students. In recent years
Kurdish students could not study in Baghdad because of the political
divisions in Iraq after the first Gulf War.

The fifteen students were from Halabcha (site where the Hussein regime
killed hundreds of Kurds with poison gas) but they were not supporters of
the National Kurdish Union. A spokesperson from the university speculated,
"I think someone passed on false information that led to their arrest.
Coalition forces want to send the Iranian Islamic group in that region of
the country back to Iran." He suspects that this geographical connection may
have provided justification for the detentions.

On Sunday, 1200 students demonstrated at the nearby presidential palace,
home of the US forces near the Adumiya District. The students asked for the
release of the women. Families are worried and embarrassed. "For a woman
to be held in prison in Islamic society is an assault on her reputation," a
university official told the CPTers.

Students plan to gather again at the US military base on Tuesday to continue
their appeal for the release of the students. Readers interested in further
information or wishing to express concern may write to hashim_ng [at] yahoo [dot] com?Subject=Re:%20IRAQ:%20Kurdish%20women%20students%20arrested%20in%20December%2011%20raid&In-Reply-To=<1072813034@mennolink>,
the office charged with coordinating communication at the university.