by Joe Mueller

On 22 July 2008, the twenty-three-year old journalist Soran Hama was assassinated in front of his home in a relatively safe, Kurdish-controlled neighborhood in Kirkuk. He had received death threats after publishing an article in the independent magazine, Lvin, exposing corruption among Kurdish officials involved in local prostitution.

At a rally held Sunday in Suleimaniya, numerous Kurdish journalist colleagues and human rights and democracy advocates took the microphone to speak about Soran and his work. One speaker called upon the approximately 200 people assembled to re-read his recent work. Another claimed that the Kurdish government and party authorities should be held responsible for Soran's death, until the authorities discovered the actual murderers.

The Kurdish Parliament passed a law last year limiting freedom of speech for journalists, and several have been arrested and jailed in the past year alone. For those journalists, students, and activists who critique officials and organize outside the prescribed boundaries, the political corruption they expose morphs into political repression of their rights.

Journalists like Soran, who exposed corruption by Kurdistan Democratic Party officials, are among the few who are willing to publicly critique Kurdish authorities. Hawlati Newspaper, an independent bi-weekly in Suleimaniya, has reported in the past month on party officials who have murdered and tortured citizens with impunity over trifling disputes. Those willing to shine the light on this violence now fear retaliation.