KHRP condemns aerial bombardment of Northern Iraq
KHRP is concerned by the continuing aerial bombardment of the Khandil and Zap regions of Northern Iraq by the Turkish military and that began last week for the first time in over a year. Coupled with mortar fire from Iran, these actions have reportedly resulted in the loss of civilian life.
Whilst this violation of Iraqi sovereignty, and the death and destruction which accompanies it, is to be condemned in its own right, these actions also exacerbate already difficult humanitarian and human rights challenges in the region including displacement and environmental degradation. KHRP is currently representing over 80 villagers from Northern Iraq as a result of Turkish bombardments. It has previously reported on the creation of thousands of displaced persons within Northern Iraq as a direct result of the bombardments. Read more
Support an Independent Kurdish State
Responsible department: Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The question of establishing an independent Kurdish state has been one of the thornier questions confronting the Middle East since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Following the coalition liberation in 2003, the political dynamics have changed drastically in Iraq, while Iran is currently simmering and Syria is teetering on the brink. We urge the British government to support the Kurdish national ambitions in establishing an independent Kurdish state: click here - Support an Independent Kurdish State – e-petitions
epetitions.direct.gov.uk
Kurds launch a hunger strike in Ireland
Kurdish Association of Ireland launches a hunger strike in Dublin to protest against the division of Kurdistan and the oppression of Kurds by Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq.
The hunger strike will take place on Wednesday 20th July outside of European Union House, Dublin 2.
The hunger strike will mark the 88th anniversary of Lausanne Treaty signed on 24th July 1923 which officially divided Kurdistan between Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. The Treaty denied the very existence of the Kurds and exposed them to the most horrendous state terror that one nation could ever be subjected to. It rendered Kurds devoid of identity and aimed to wipe them off from the earth. Lausanne Treaty divided Kurdistan in a way that no other nation in the world has been divided; it surrounded it by its enemies from each sides! Read more
Iranian army crosses the border with Iraq to assault Kurdish guerillas
Various agencies report that on Saturday afternoon, 16 July 2011, in Iran there were intense clashes between the Iranian army and PJAK guerrillas in Sino where Iranian soldiers were killed and many more wounded, and other fighting in Serdest. Wounded Iranian soldiers have been taken to the State hospitals in Piransehir and Urmiye.
Also on 16 July at around 10:00 a.m., the Iranian Army crossed 1km inside the Iraqi border. Since then heavy clashes have continues in between the PJAK guerrillas and the Iranian army. The Iranian army is intensively bombarding the border areas of Sehit Harun and Dola Koke/ Zele, inside Iraq Read more
KHRP Wins Prestigious Gruber Prize for Justice.
Congratulations to Kurdish Human Rights Project: The U.S.-based Gruber Foundation’s International Justice Prize has been awarded to the Kurdish Human Rights Project. As one of five recipients this year who have challenged the world’s more common forms of intolerance, KHRP is being recognised for our work in protecting the liberty and human rights of all people in the Kurdish regions, with our belief that justice should be available for all reflected in the Gruber Foundation’s awarding of the prize to recipients who pursue justice as a universal concept. Read more
Iraq:Stop the Violence Against Demonstrators in Kurdistan
Demonstrations in Kurdistan are being violently repressed by militia forces from the ruling parties.
Yesterday militia forces from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) violently attacked demonstrators in central Sulaymaniyah. Shots were fired into the crowd in ‘Freedom Square’. Tear gas, stones, knives and batons were used against the people. They then burnt demonstrators’ tents. More than 100 people were injured, some are believed to be in a critical condition. In Erbil, students from Salahaddin University and others in the centre of the capital were attacked by the other ruling party the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Opposition activists, journalists and students have also been arrested, kidnapped and beaten. Read more
Newroz Piroz Be!
A long time ago in between the two great rivers Euphrates and Tigris there was a land called Mesopotamia. Above a small town and tucked into the side of the Zagros Mountains, there was an enormous stone castle with tall turrets and dark high walls. The castle was cut out of the mountain rock. The castle gates were made from the wood of the cedar tree and carved into the shapes of winged warriors.
Deep inside the castle lived a cruel Assyrian king called Dehak. His armies terrorised all the people of the land. Read more
Halabja Genocide to be remembered at European Parliament
Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) and GUE/NGL Group in the European Parliament in cooperation with European Parliament – Kurds Friendship Group, Kurdocide watch, CHAK Kurdish Institute of Brussels, KIB, The Confederation of Kurdish Association in Europe-KONKURD organized on Wednesday 16 March the conference named, “The Halabja Genocide and the Anfal campaigns”. The conference at the European Parliament aims to remember the Halabja genocide and the use of chemical weapons against Kurds in Iraq. It was 16 March 1988 when Saddam Hussein ordered to gas Kurds. Thousands of people died. Read more
Iran/Iraq: Iranian Attacks Should Not Target Iraqi Civilians
Villagers Allege Artillery Shelling, Attacks on Livestock Intended to Clear Border Are
(New York) – Iran needs to take all feasible precautions to spare civilians at risk of serious harm from artillery bombardment and other military operations in an area that includes dozens of Kurdish villages inside northern Iraq, Human Rights Watch said today.
The Iranian attacks, directed against the Iranian Kurdish armed group Party for Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK), intensified in late May and have led to the displacement of more than 500 families, wounded an unknown number of villagers, and killed a teenage girl. Iraqi villagers also told Human Rights Watch, which visited the area in late June, that Iranian border guards have targeted their livestock and sometimes fired at the villagers themselves. Read more
IRAQ: Hundreds displaced by Iranian, Turkish bombardments of Kurdish rebels
Hundreds of Kurdish civilians in the far north of Iraq have fled their homes because of the recent bombardments by both Turkey and Iran against Kurdish rebels based in the remote Qandil mountain area.
Aid workers say more than 650 families have fled their villages, and many are now living in primitive conditions without shelter or sufficient food in a humanitarian crisis that has drawn little attention from the authorities in Baghdad.
At the Dara Kouta camp at the foot of the mountains east of Su, 530 families are living huddled together, some without tents because resources are limited, said Hoshyar Mustafa, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Iraqi government has given each family 1 million dinars – about $850 – but the sum is not enough to cover the needs of the families, he said. Read more
