CPTnet
26 July 2010
IRAQ UPDATE: 1-15 July 2010

On team during this period were Peggy Gish, Marius van Hoogstraten, David Hovde, and Chihchun Yuan.

Advocating for People Displaced by Border Bombings

At the request of the leaders of the Basteson Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp in Zharawa, CPTers were present at a meeting between the camp leaders and the mayor of the district.  At the meeting, the leaders requested permission and financial assistance from the government to build houses on the land where the camp is located, which the people in the camp have purchased.  The mayor said there was some financial assistance available and that they should start the process of getting the legal ownership documents ready.  At the camp leaders' request, CPTers were also present at a meeting with the camp leaders and a leader from the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

Meeting with Basoz's Family and Attending Commemoration

Yuan and Gish visited the family of Basoz, a fourteen-year-old killed by Iranian shelling while she visited relatives in the village of Weza.  Her parents said she was preparing tea for those working in the fields when she was killed.  Basoz' parents gave them photos of Basoz that Chihchun made into a slideshow (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqNPnmWdA28).  The team also attended a public event honoring Basoz, made a statement there, and showed a video about the IDPs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmz6BibojGw).

Staying a Night in Basteson IDP Camp

After attending Basoz' commemoration event, people at the Basteson camp hosted the team for dinner and the night.  The hospitality was wonderful and the team had a great opportunity to practice Kurdish.

Visiting and Interviewing People in New IDP Camps

Sporadic Iranian and Turkish bombardment over the past three years along the border villages in the Sangasar and Zharawa sub-districts intensified again in early June.  The bombardment struck inside villages and displaced about 400 families who now live in the Doli Shahidan camp near Sangasar, and 64 families who now live in the Gojar camp near Qaladza.  A 91-year-old woman
in the Doli Shahidan camp expressed fears to CPTers about the beginning in mid-August of the month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from food and drink during daylight.  "We need to pray and fast," she said.  ”If we were in the village we would have more to eat and cool places to rest.  I'm afraid people will die here."

The leader of the Gojar camp drove CPTers to the nearest abandoned village, Sarkhan.  There they saw craters caused by bombs, blackened fields that had caught fire from shelling, and an abandoned house with windows broken by shrapnel.  The owner of the house showed them inside.  A number of his children had lived in adjacent houses. "Our neighbors are not our friends," the camp leader said, referring to Iran and Turkey. "It's because we're Kurds.  The gods made us that we're Kurds.