Kurdistan

This is an update of an earlier published report to include the latest events. From 23 April to 30 August, Turkish Armed Forces attacks killed three civilians, injured six, and have burnt almost 5,500 acres (22,500 Dunams) of farmland in Kani Masi villages due to Operation Claw-Lightning.

In early August 2021, the Turkish Armed Forces attacked civilian areas twice in Shengal (Sinjar), Iraq, killing four civilians and injuring at least 13 more. Shengal is the Yezidi territory that ISIS brutally attacked and controlled after the security forces fled the area in 2014. The Sinjar Resistance Units (YBŞ), with predominantly Yezidi membership, was established to fight ISIS after its assault in 2014. YBŞ controls security in much of the area and is now an official part of the Iraqi Army. They have close ties to the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) after receiving support in the fight against ISIS.

Civil society in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) is experiencing a crackdown on freedom of expression; security forces have incarcerated an alarming amount of civil rights activists and journalists. Since August 2020, an estimated 76 journalists, activists and teachers from the Badinan region have been arrested by security forces and imprisoned in Erbil. On 12 and 13 July, members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) observed the trials for nine Badinan activists who were arrested in 2020 on charges of endangering national security and committing acts of espionage. They have been awaiting trial for almost a year.

Statement from CPT Regarding the Observation of Badal Barwari and Omed Barushky’s Trial. On 29 July 2021, CPT observed the court trial for the Badinan activists Badal Barwari and Omed Barushky. Badal Barwari has been a teacher for 24 years, as well as a political organizer. Omed Barushky is an independent journalist who is 21-years-old. Badal and Omed were imprisoned in August 2020 after they organized a demonstration where they demanded the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) pay the salaries of government employees. 

The family of Suleiman Kamal, one of nine Badinan Prisoners to stand trial in July, speaks about the situation and upcoming trial of their father and husband. In the upcoming weeks, nine journalists and activists will stand trial for unjust charges. The family members of these activists and journalists hope to see a just trial process and all prisoners released. One of the activists facing trial is Suleiman Kamal Suleiman, a father of four children and the husband of Fatima Haji. Suleiman's eldest son, Amed, told CPT that his father was abducted and arrested on 6 September 2020. Amed reported that his father was accused and unjustly charged with anti-state activism for working with “some of his other friends in a political party called Coalition for Democracy and Justice.”

PRESS RELEASE - 28 June 2021 Christian Peacemaker Teams – Iraqi Kurdistan condemns the final decision of Erbil’s judiciary to deny justice to Badinan activists and journalists. On 27 June 2021, the Court of Cassation in Erbil announced that it upholds the unjust sentencing of the five journalists and civil rights activists Sherwan Sherwani, Guhdar Zebari, Eyaz Karam, Shivan Saeed, and Hariwan Essa, all of whom are from the Badinan region.

On 3 June 2021, the Christian Peacemaker Teams' Iraqi Kurdistan program published a report documenting the impact of the Turkish Armed Forces’ (TAF) Operation Claw-Lightning on the civilian population living in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).  Operation Claw-Lightning is a cross-border military operation that Turkey began on April 23, 2021. This is not the first of its kind as Turkey has conducted a similar strategy multiple times since December 2017 and has advanced 6 to 35 km south of the border in some areas, expanding its territory by building bases and displacing civilians in the Kurdistan Region like Sidakan, Haftanin, and Zap.