Germany deports Iranian convicted of murder

An alleged Iranian secret agent, Kazem Darabi, who was convicted for the 1992 murders of four Kurdish dissidents in Berlin, was deported from Germany on Monday, German officials said, according to Agence France-Presse. Darabi’s accomplice, Abbas Rhayel, was also deported last week after serving 15 years.

Darabi and Rhayel’s trial caused a diplomatic crisis between Europe and Iran after German judges found the killings to be based on orders from Tehran. Relations between Germany and Iran deteriorated after the verdict because Iran was furious about being fingered for sponsoring terrorism.

According to German law, life sentences are reviewed every 15 years, however, the court ruled Darabi would stay in prison longer due to the severity of the crime.

Wolfgang Wieland, a member of Germany’s opposition Greens who handled secondary charges brought against Darabi and Rhayel during their trial, criticized the decision, saying, “It will be interpreted by Iran not as generosity on the part of the West but as weakness.”

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Death sentence for Kurdish journalist upheld in Iran

A death sentence for Kurdish dissident journalist Adnan Hassanpour was upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court, Hassanpour’s lawyer said November 9, according to Reuters. Fellow journalist, Abdolvahed ‘Hiva’ Botimar, who was sentenced to death at the same time as Hassanpour, has had his case referred to a lower court.

Hassanpour and Botimar received death sentences in July for mounting an “armed struggle against the system,” which is a capital crime. According to Iran’s judiciary, the charges are unrelated to their profession.

“Hassanpour’s charges are various, including giving classified military information to incompetent figures, having contact with foreigners and espionage,” Hassanpour’s lawyer, Saleh Nikbakht said. Nikbakht plans to appeal the sentence.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said the death sentences “show how little Iran is bothered by international humanitarian law. They also show how determined it is to use every possible means to silence the most outspoken journalists and human rights activists.”

Under Iranian law, all execution orders must be upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court.

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The life of an Iraqi fixer

In an article in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, Ayub Nuri tells his story of life as an Iraqi “fixer.” A fixer in a war zone, according to Nuri, “is a journalist’s interpreter, guide, source finder and occasional lifesaver.” Fixers are the eyes and ears of the media and are often the only ones that can venture out into the streets, collect information, or function at all without being detected by opposition. Without the fixers, much of the coverage in Iraq would not even be possible.

Nuri’s story begins when he was a small boy growing up in the city of Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan. Attacks authorized by Saddam Hussein left over 5,000 Halabja residents dead, and left Nuri without part of his right knee. Years of war forced him to become a refugee in Turkey, but he returned to Iraq in 2003 when he got word that the U.S. was set to invade to oust Hussein. Upon his arrival, he was hired as a fixer because of his knowledge of English, which he acquired during his training as a teacher.

During his time as a fixer for various journalists, Nuri learned how to conduct interviews, record radio broadcasts and write newspaper stories. Time passed, and the situation in Iraq went from bad to worse. Western journalists were forced to leave the area, and many fixers were being threatened or murdered. Despite their invaluable service to the media, news agencies could offer little or no protection for the fixers, not even so much as providing rushed visas for entry into another country.

Near the end of 2004, an American reporter for the BBC, Quil Lawrence, told Nuri that it was time for him to start reporting his own pieces. Nuri had been working with Lawrence for over a year at the time. Nuri took the advice and became a BBC reporter doing stories for the radio, but wanted to improve his writing in order to become a print journalist. With some help from his American friends, he applied to Columbia University and after much waiting and negotiating, finally arrived in the U.S. to begin his studies this past fall.

“When I interviewed people there, I did not understand many of the things they said” explained Nuri. “In class, I would sit with a dozen American students, and the professor would be talking about something, and suddenly everyone was laughing – but I had no idea why.”

Nuri is here now. Like many other fixers that left Iraq, he cannot follow through on his plan to return because it is too unsafe. He was lucky, however, as many of the fixers that remain in Iraq must do so in order to provide for their families. Others simply refuse to leave and are committed to reporting the stories that no one else will.

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Hundreds of Kurds forced to flee as Turkish forces approach

As 20,000-30,000 Turkish troops amass at the Turkish-Iraqi border, many Kurds have been forced to flee their homes, according to IRIN . Already, there have been some civilian casualties and calls from Kurds residing in the area of food and water shortages.

Attacks launched by the Turks have been apparently aimed at cutting down Kurdish rebel forces, according to Iraqi border police. Kurdish fighters are reportedly moving into abandoned homes to prepare for a possible invasion. The Turkish offensive is associated with the internal threat it faces from its own Kurdish minority – a group that is said to be receiving assistance from Iraqi Kurds. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan commented in a press conference last week that his “country should focus on the large number of militants operating in Turkey before seeking them out in Iraq, but that the problem should be tackled from both sides.”

In the midst of the conflict, local aid groups are requesting that supplies and assistance be allowed through the security zone for the civilians caught in the turbulent area. Additionally, both the U.S. and Iraqi governments condemn the notion of the northern Kurdish region of Iraq is being used to launch an offensive against Turkey in hopes of gaining control of the nation’s Kurdish populated areas in the southeast.

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Female circumcision continues in rural Iraq

During a recent fact-finding mission to northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region, LCHR staff met with many women, including villagers living in a remote valley near Rania, about issues affecting their lives such as child marriage, honor crimes and female circumcision, known within the human rights community as female genital mutilation (FGM). The practice is observed in many rural regions where traditional cultural mentalities still prevail, including in the areas visited by LCHR.

The practice can be dangerous and can result in serious physical injury, psychological damage or even death. Despite sometimes dire consequences, women interviewed said that they continue the practice in order to preserve tradition, and because of the negative associations that accompany being uncircumcised. “An uncircumcised woman cannot even accept a glass of water,” one woman reported, noting the crippling stigma associated with not undergoing FGM. Even young girls interviewed said that those who remained uncircumcised would be considered dirty.

In spite of its widespread practice, local women’s advocacy groups have questioned the tradition and pointed out the severe effects this custom has on women. A June article in the Kurdish English language newspaper Zhyanawa focused on one FGM related health problem. The article reported that a 5-year-old girl, Choman Azad Mohammed, was taken to the hospital from Takiya sub-district after heavy bleeding from circumcision persisted to the point of endangering her life. Mimka Marjan, the 81-year-old woman that preformed the circumcision, is said to have done the procedure on more than 10,000 girls for a fee of about 75 cents.

Dr. Shama Saed Maroof, the Childbirth Hospital manager of the facility where Choman was treated, released a statement in response to the incident. Dr. Maroof stated, “Physiologically she is alright, but psychologically, I think that she will face problems and never forget what she has undergone.”

The need for a holistic approach to modernization in Iraqi Kurdistan

While central and southern Iraq have certainly not fared well over the past few years, northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region has bolstered its economy and pursued democracy. However, if the region is truly to progress and become “modern”, social, political, and economic development must all be given equal priority, according to an article by Dr. Denise Natali that was printed recently in Soma, an Iraqi-Kurdish Digest.

Natali notes the economic gains that began in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2003 when the region received a huge budget increase from Baghdad. Modeled after Dubai, Kurdistan has been able to build new infrastructure through attracting foreign investment and moving towards privatization. The society is driven by consumer tastes and demands, and is moving towards a western, modernized way of life. Additionally, Kurds from outside the region have contributed both financially and ideologically, pooling together their resources to influence the fast-growing region

However, economic gains have not been matched by social and political reform, according to Natali. Old social structures are hindering the progress of women, educational institutions and new thinkers, she says. Moreover, according to Natali, suspicion among the older, more traditional members of society does much to prevent the contributions of the younger, modernizing generations. Also, Natali writes that “there has been no positive correlation between economic development and changes in social attitudes. UN indicators reveal that the level of education remains one of the lowest in the region… nor have women found any respite in the honor killing law.”

Finally, Natali argues that if there is to be true reform, there must be a shift in power. Job opportunities, social welfare reform, political party reform and furthering women’s rights are all changes that must be made soon if modernization will last in the region.

While Kurdistan prospers, Turkish military threat looms

While Kurds in northern Iraq have welcomed the relative autonomy that they have been afforded since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, they are also preparing for what could be a whole new battle as Turkey builds its military presence on the Turkey-Iraq border, according to Asia Times Online.

Turkey, which has a large Kurdish population, is no stranger to conflict with the Kurds. They have a history of conflict with the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) and fear the bolstered regional power the group may attain should Iraqi Kurdistan achieve full autonomy.

Much is at stake in this complex situation. Kurdistan has its eye on the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in northern Iraq, which if obtained would supply Kurdistan with considerable political and economic leverage. Also, there is the delicate issue of Turkey-U.S. relations. If Turkey invades Kurdistan, the U.S. will be forced to adjust its relationship with its NATO ally. Finally, Turkey would be risking huge political and military loss by invading Kurdistan.

With diplomatic relations between Turkey and Kurdistan almost non-existent, prospects for a peaceful solution are uncertain.

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Land disputes increase ethnic violence between Sunni Arabs and Kurds in northern Iraq

The struggle between Sunni Arabs and Kurds in northern Iraq has added to the civil strife that continues to plague the country. Sunni Arabs are forcing Kurds out Iraq’s third largest city, Mosul, and into Nineveh Province, The New York Times reported today.

Part of the Sunni Arab fears fueling this violent rush stems from the political makeup in the Nineveh region. Thirty-one of the forty-one available seats on the provincial council belong to the Kurdish coalition, which only represents about 35 percent of the province. Under the Constitution, the autonomous Iraqi Kurdish region may take control of the northern and eastern parts of Nineveh through a popular referendum. As Kurdish power increases, so does the likelihood for such a referendum passing.

However, the Sunni Arabs are calling for more elections that will better represent the population before the Kurds call for a vote. “We demanded elections a year ago, but it never happened” said Muhammad Shakir, a local leader in the Iraqi Islamic Party. Conversely, Khasro Goran, a deputy governor in a neighboring province to Nineveh claims that “If the vote is put off violence will soar even further between Kurds and Arabs as each group struggles for the land.” He then continued, “this is a good time to solve the problem.”

While the Sunni Arabs wait for new elections and Kurds wait for relocation, the violence against Kurds from the Sunni Arabs increases, as does Kurdish animosity towards the Sunni Arabs. Unfortunately, as the violence continues to intensify, hopes for a peaceful solution dwindle.

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