Two Kurds arrested after being questioned about making fires at Newroz
The Kurdish Organization for Defending Human Rights and Public Freedoms in Syria – DAD reports that a patrol from political security in Damascus raided the homes of Jihad Abdul Rahman Ali and Faraz Faisal in the area of Zor Ava, on Monday, 20 September 2010.
These houses owners had previously been summoned and questioned about making the symbolic fires that are traditionally used to celebrate Newroz, in March 2010. Their houses were searched and they were arrested as people usually are – without authorized judicial authorities and without a note or a ruling from the competent judicial authorities. Read more
Wide campaign of arrests against Kurds in the Kobani area, following the shootings at al-Raqqa.
People living in Kobani and the surrounding villages have seen an unprecedented escalation of arrests and raids during the past three months. Many have been arrested and are still unaccounted for, having not been charges with any offences to date.
Two months ago, nine people were arrested. It is not clear why these arrests have taken place, or where the detainees are being held:
- Luqman Mustafa Nassan
- Khalil Osman Shekho
- Jarah Dahowd Shekho
- Saleh Mohammed Busan
- Muhammad Ali Haj Afdo
- Adel Khalil Karao
- Ali Mostafa
- Darwish Abdul Kader
- Anwar Musteh, born 1974
On 5 March 2010, the political security in Kobani arrested Bosan Bosan Abdul Kader and Wahid Abdul Yusef for a few hours. They were then released, but were re-arrested a few hours later and transferred to Aleppo. Read more
Shocking News on a Happy Day
How a report of shootings cast a shadow over Kurdish New Year celebrations.
By an IWPR-trained reporter (SB No. 98, 29-Mar-10)
I felt the cool breezes of that beautiful, sunny morning brushing gently against my face. From the back of a pickup truck, I joined hordes of Syrian Kurdish families driving towards a small village not far from the northeastern Syrian town of Qamishli.
Women and children wore colourful, traditional dresses. Some waved Kurdish national flags. We were all longing to celebrate the festival that symbolises the coming of spring and the renewal of life.
On March 21 every year, like Iranians, Kurds celebrate Nowruz, which marks the start of the Persian New Year.
Typically, on this occasion, people set up tents in the country and spend the day dancing, singing, barbecuing and drinking tea.
But for Syrian Kurds, who constitute more than ten per cent of the population, the celebration of Nowruz has sometimes been marred by skirmishes between revellers and security forces. Police patrol the streets in Kurdish cities to confiscate flags and posters. Read more
Written question about al-Raqqa killings put to European Parliament
Emma McClarkin Member of European Parliament from UK raised a written question on 23 March 2010 to the Commission of the European Parliament following the Newroz shooting at al-Raqqa in Syria. She said she had been following the killing of Kurds in the Kurdish area of Syria and that she would like to know how the Commission envisages that the European Union works together with Syria to take account of these abuses of the basic rights of Kurds.
International Support Kurds in Syria Association – SKS thanks Emma for her attention to this issue and for bringing this abuse of Kurds in Syria to the attention of the European Parliament.
Newroz greetings from UN, USA and UK
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon:
“The General Assembly’s decision this year to recognize the International Day of Nowruz is evidence of a growing global awareness of the holiday’s significance not only in the regions where it is celebrated but around the world,” Ban said in his message.
During its 64th session on Feb. 23, 2010, the United Nations recognized March 21st as the International Day of Nowruz, calling on its Nowruz-celebrating member states to study the festival’s “history and traditions with a view to disseminating that knowledge among the international community and organizing annual commemoration events.” Read more
Yekiti Party statement on the killing and wounding of a number of Kurds celebrating Newroz after security forces fired on them in the city of al-Raqqa
Information has been received regarding the events that took place today in the city of al-Raqqa whilst Kurdish people were celebrating Newroz, confirming that live ammunition was fired at unarmed Kurds on 21 March 2010. Two people were killed and several wounded, some seriously according to a surgeon. There is no doubt that the security forces, presumably using the excuse of protecting people and providing security and reassurance, provoked people and then spread chaos and turmoil. Read more
Correction: two young Kurds died yesterday in the Newroz shooting in Syria
The Med
ia Institute of West Kurdistan Society reports today that in fact two people were killed yesterday in al-Raqqa, not three as at first thought. They sent their apologies for passing on misleading information yesterday, however there was a lot of confusion and secrecy at the time.
Mihemed Umer Osman ‘Haider’ died, aged 18, in Aleppo University Hospital. There is no information available about the girl who died. Intelligence Security have been obscuring facts.
We are told that the parents of Mohammed Khalil who was originally thought to have been killed, have been detained by the security forces, but Mohammed’s whereabouts are currently unknown.
Previous report: http://supportkurds.org/news/three-young-kurds-shot-dead-41-injured-at-a-newroz-event-in-syria/
Secretary-General marks first International Day for Nowruz with call for peace
Celebrating the first-ever United Nations International Day of Nowruz, the spring festival of Persian origin, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today appealed to people around the world to draw on the holiday’s rich history to promote peace and goodwill.Last month, the General Assembly voted to recognize Nowruz – which means ‘new day’ in the Farsi language – annually on 21 March, the day of the vernal equinox.
Marking the sun’s crossing of the Equator and the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, Nowruz is celebrated by more than 300 million people worldwide as the beginning ofthe new year.
For more than three millennia, people in the Balkans, the Black Sea Basin, the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Middle East, among other regions, have observed Nowruz through their own special traditions.
“These rituals, from repainting homes to visiting friends to preparing symbolic meals, are infused with a spirit of renewal and can inspire not only those conducting them but all people,” Mr. Ban said in his message to commemorate the International Day.
21 March 2010
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34145&Cr=ki-moon&Cr1=peace
Human Rights organisations call for immediate enquiry into Newroz killings
Similar reports about the killings of Kurds at the Newroz celebration in al-Raqqa, Syria have been received from the following human rights organisations:
Kurdish Committee for Human Rights in Syria al-Rased
Kurdish organization for the defence of human rights and public freedoms in Syria – DAD
Human Rights Organization in Syria – MAF
SKS joins with these organisations to very strongly condemn the Syrian State, and to hold it accountable for the killing of Kurds in cold blood while they are celebrating their New Year.
We demand that those who were injured today be given appropriate treatment for their injuries and that they are released immediately.
These human rights organisations are demanding that the Syrian Government immediately orders an investigation into the events in al-Raqqa to be undertaken by a neutral authority.
[Update] The Alliance for Kurdish Rights joins this call: http://kurdishrights.org/2010/03/22/syrian-authorities-fire-at-kurds-celebrating-norouz-killing-3-and-injuring-over-40
Three young Kurds shot dead, 41 injured at a Newroz event in Syria
Intelligence security and informers turned Newroz celebrations into a massacre when two young men and a teenage girl were murdered and forty-one others injured when they were fired on by intelligence service personnel.
General Khalid al-Halabi – head of state security branch in al-Raqqa, and Abdul Razzak al-Jassim – head of the Ba’ath Party branch in al-Raqqa had attended a meeting a week ago in al-Raqqa province where it was decided that Ba’ath Party members would go to the Newroz celebrations area on 21 March 2010 to provoke the Kurdish revellers.
Today Kurds went to celebrate Newroz where wheat is kept and processed in al-Raqqa, and were enjoying theatre and festivities, having decorated the place with Kurdish flags and pictures of martyrs and the Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan. Fifteen minutes into the celebrations, Ba’ath Party members arrived with Syrian flags and photos of the President to incite trouble, and without provocation, the security forces opened fire randomly at the crowd and used tear gas on them. Other members of the security forces were seen to be on standby near to the area. Read more
