A new song was playing on Iraqi Kurdistan radio yesterday, 18 April, 2011, which included the lines, "Don't kill this generation" and "don't kill the future."  While the song played, guns were blasting and tear gas filled the streets in both Suleimaniya and the KRG capital city, Hawler (Erbil).

Day 61 of Suleimaniya's daily demonstrations against corruption in Iraqi Kurdistan started early this morning.  The CPT team arrived at 11:00.  Music was playing from the stage and small groups of people were gathering.  Two CPTers decided to use the quiet time to grab a cup of coffee and juice in a cafe next to the square.  A few of the demonstration organizers were doing the same.

Meanwhile armed soldiers, the anti-terrorism unit, and police were positioning themselves around the square., with guns, tear gas, water cannons, and riot gear.

On 1 April 2011, the nonviolent nature of the demonstration at Freedom Square in Suleimaniya Iraq deteriorated quickly.  Two young male provocateurs later alleged to have ties to the PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) and KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party) security forces, led a group of demonstrators to the outskirts of the square and began throwing rocks at the armed forces who were positioned in large numbers on street corners.  April 1 was the forty-third day of ongoing demonstrations and the government has done little to recognize the demands of the demonstrators or negotiate with them.

Police and security forces in Suleimaniya have arrested and tortured many organizers of and participants in the daily anti-corruption protests in recent days. Several organizers have also disappeared or received death threats.  In a marked increase of tensions, an unknown number of additional security troops have deployed to the city, but apparently refrained from taking the protest site by force.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani threatened yesterday, 12 Marchto “deal” with the protests if they do not end by 21 March 2011.  Rather than complying, protest organizers have announced more visible actions in the coming week. 

“The truth has been unleashed,”  a young protester told CPTers today (Sunday), “and cannot be silenced, not even by more soldiers.”

On 5 March 2011, thirty-five-year-old Ayoub joined with approximately 200 young people for an all-night vigil at Freedom Square in Suleimaniya.  At midnight, he lay down in his tent to rest.  Ayoub had been on a hunger strike for the past twelve days and planned to continue until the government answered the demands of the people who had been demonstrating for eighteen straight days.

 At 2:30 a.m., the morning of 6 March, Ayoub heard people yelling “Wake up, wake up” For a moment, he thought, “Parliament has come with good news.”  Within seconds, he knew there was trouble.  “When I woke up, I didn't want to believe the Kurdish authorities would do this,” Ayoub said.

26 February 2011

Dear all,

Today was not a good day in Suleimaniya.  The team joined the White Group this afternoon after returning from Halubja.  Today was the day for engineers, doctors, and other professionals to raise their voices for change.  

The demonstration was going along fine when suddenly an explosion occurred from behind the stage.  Black smoke filled the air.  For a moment, everyone seemed to be stunned and frozen.  Then the crowd panicked and started running in different directions.  Someone announced that the explosion was just an electrical explosion from a generator.  The White Group raised their hands in an attempt to calm everyone down and gestured to the soldiers standing behind the White Group that everything was okay.  Within five minutes, hundreds from the crowd broke through the White Group line and ran directly up to the soldiers screaming at them and blaming them for what happened.  Shortly after, demonstrators told the White Group that a percussion bomb went off behind the stage.  Accusations that the sound bomb was set the night before by people who want to destroy the demonstrations and Suleimaniya began to circulate.

The seventh day of anti-government protests in Suleimaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan ended peacefully, today.  The "White Group," a non-violent group of citizens sympathetic to reform including actors, writers and lawyers, again deployed itself between the protesters and the security forces.  Towards the end of the protest, the group, together with other protesters, managed to avert a riot.  A small group of protesters sought to assault the soldiers and march on the KDP office, where security guards had opened fire on protesters last Thursday, killing at least two, and wounding dozens.  The White Group organized several human chains to prevent a confrontation with the military, and talked to the violent group to de-escalate the situation.  CPTers stood with the White Group today. 

Thursday, 17 February 2011

Hi all

You may have heard about the recent riot and deaths in Suleimaniyah (see http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/17/iraq.protests.)

I have talked to the team and everyone is well. Marius van Hoogstraten and Allan Slater were at a demo of 3,000 people which ended peacefully and those attending were dismissed… After the demo, Marius and Allan went off for some tea. In the meantime, a group of 200 demonstrators left as a block and attacked the KDP party headquarters and were fired on by Peshmerga militia defending the building.  When Marius and Allan came out on the street there was gunfire in the distance and ambulances everywhere.  … It seems around ten people were killed and dozens injured…

Suleimaniya, Iraq—The future of Iraq is more complex and uncertain than the current U.S. narrative claims, according to a report just published by Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) in Iraq (download here in pdf format.)

The report quotes Iraqis who express doubt on the effects of the U.S. military “surge,” the trustworthiness of the Iraqi military, and the reliability of Iraqi public figures and institutions.

“Iraqis in this report challenge the simplistic success story that the U.S. is telling about Iraq,” says CPTer Marius van Hoogstraten.

The report, entitled “Iraq after the Occupation – Iraqis speak about the state of their country as the U.S. military withdraws,” is based on extensive interviews with Iraqi citizens in various parts of the country.  It recommends that the U.S. “think creatively” about ways to support Iraqi society before the U.S. military withdraws entirely at the end of 2011.

The signs read, “Stop killing journalists” and “End Terrorism.”  Women and men, young and old, shouted, “Freedom, Freedom, Freedom,” as more than a thousand people rallied together on a crowded street in the heart of Suleimaniya, a city in the Kurdish region of Iraq.

On 5 May, twenty-three-year-old journalist and university student Sardasht Osman was kidnapped outside his school in the capital city of Erbil.  Two days later, his body was discovered fifty miles away in the city of Mosul.  Osman’s abduction is just one of many recent kidnappings throughout the region of Kurdistan. 

The demonstration on Wednesday, 12 May, brought together politicians, lawyers, students, media representatives and everyday citizens and supporters.  Many signs had a picture of the young journalist with the message, “Sardasht was our voice, and we will never be silent.”

The people of the Zharawa Internally Displaced People's (IDP) tent camp fear for their lives as temperatures begin to exceed 38 degrees Celsius/100 degrees Fahrenheit. The camp has no shade trees or structures and no electricity for refrigeration of food. One hundred thirty-seven families share forty-five tents. Many of the people are elderly and children, who are most susceptible to disease.

Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) will move into the IDPs tent camp on 14 June 2009.  They will join voices with camp members to ask the local, national and international communities to help relocate the IDPs to a more livable and humane environment.