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“We cannot hide from these issues any longer”, British MP John McDonnell told a public meeting about human rights abuses in south Kurdistan. Monday night’s meeting at the House of Commons was called by the Freedom Umbrella (Chatri Azadi) and chaired by Gona Saeid.
Asos Hardi, of Awena newspaper, gave a detailed report with facts and figures on the numbers of journalists who have been attacked, imprisoned and murdered because of their work. Asos, himself recently the victim of a serious assault, spelt out the dangers that independent journalists constantly face in south Kurdistan.
Bashdar Ali, brother of murdered young journalist Sardasht Osman, reinforced this. “The repression of free speech in Kurdistan is not fiction but fact and reality”, he said. “We can see this in everyday life”.
Mufid Abdulla, chief editor of The Kurdistan Tribune, accused Western governments of supporting the suppression of democracy in south Kurdistan. He said human rights abuses occur because the two ruling parties want to hang on to power forever. We will only learn the full extent of these abuses when Barzani and Talibani fall from power.
Hozan Mahmud reported on abuses of women’s rights – such as honour killings – which still drive thousands of women in south Kurdistan to burn themselves to death.
About a hundred people attended this successful meeting, including a few KDP and PUK supporters who handed out material trying to discredit the speakers – which only goes to show how worried the ruling parties are about the true story of the Kurdistan region being told to international audiences.
Mufid Abdulla called for the meeting to be followed by an international conference on human rights issues in south Kurdistan – and he urged the British government to sponsor this.
No matter what we look like, where we come from, or who we are, we are all equally entitled to our human rights and dignity.