The end of the pretence of Kurdish democracy

By Kamal Chomani:

The Kurdish leadership has often talked about a ‘thriving democracy’ in Iraqi Kurdistan, and through this they secured increased Western support. We saw hundreds of articles about ‘The Other Iraq’, but now such claims are being disproved.

Many Kurdish journalists, intellectuals, scholars and opposition leaders have declared – hundreds of times – that the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) ‘democracy’ is a mask – like that worn by many dictatorial regimes. However, because of the instability in the rest of Iraq, neither the international media nor western diplomats would accept this.

Democracies do not use violence against civilians who are protesting against corruption and calling for better public services, equality and an expansion of democracy and freedom of expression. But the Kurdish authorities brutally suppressed the protests that grew after 17^th February.

In Egypt, the protesters could dissolve the government and topple the regime in just 18 days. Unfortunately, the Kurdish protesters could not achieve their demands after 64 days of demonstrations in the Sulaymaniya province, the stronghold of opposition politics and free media.

In democratic countries, political parties do not have armed forces. But the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) – led by Masoud Barzani, the KRG president – and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) – led by Jalal Talabani, the president of Iraq – have their own, separate Peshmerga forces. These two ruling parties also have their own security and intelligence forces: Zaniyari (Information Establishment) for the PUK, and Parastn (Protection Foundation) for the KDP.  And they control much of the media, just like the former regime of Mubarak in Egypt.

Iraqi Kurdistan is in danger of becoming a police state. The KRG is moving towards dictatorial rule, rather than towards improving Kurdish democracy. The Demonstration Law revealed where the Kurdish leadership is heading. Several demonstrations took place last winter against this repressive law but no one paid attention. Barzani said that, because a majority in Parliament had passed the law, he had to sign it. However, this parliamentary majority acted from totalitarian tendencies.

The KRG’s representatives in western countries, especially the US and UK, can no longer speak of a thriving Kurdish democracy. The foreign diplomats and scholars, who are often invited to write about Kurdistan, can no longer mislead the public with descriptions of a ‘booming democracy’.

Until recently,  foreign visitors – diplomats, journalists, scholars and ordinary people – always spoke after their travels about the barbarian acts of Saddam Hussein’s regime against innocent Kurdish people. Now the same people are talking of the Kurdish authorities’ barbarian acts against civilians, intellectuals and journalists.

Violations of human rights and freedom of speech in the KRG have reached shocking levels. When I saw on TV a Swedish member of parliament crying for a mother in Chamchamal whose son was killed by the KDP militia, I felt ashamed. Yesterday Swedish MPs cried for us because of Saddam. Today they cry for us because of our own government. In the past, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, many other organisations, and indeed the international community told Saddam’s regime to stop using violence against the Kurds. Now these organisations are demanding – or, at least, they should be – that the KRG stops attacking its own civilians.

17^th February 2011, the first day of Kurdish protests in KRG, was an awakening moment. The political situation must not go back to before 17^th February. The KRG has to do just one thing to resolve the political, social, and media crisis: accept the people’s demands and the game of democracy.

The days of a pretend Kurdish democracy are over. Now we must establish an institutional democratic government. The Kurds will not be satisfied by pretence. It is better to start today than tomorrow because this is a vital issue. The era of speeches is finished; the time for action began on17^th February.

kamalchomani@gmail.com