Noting that Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) authorities ordered an investigation into his killing, “This should be carried out by an impartial body with measures that guarantee the security of witnesses and lead to the findings being disclosed,” Amnesty International said in a statement published Monday.
Amnesty said it is concerned “that crimes against journalists in Iraq, including in the KR-I [Kurdistan Region of Iraq], have largely gone unpunished in recent years.”
Hussein’s family believe that security forces were involved in his death and are worried that they will not conduct a fair investigation.
His brother, Darband Hussein, told Rudaw shortly after his death that his brother worked for RojNews, a news service affiliated with the Kurdistan Worker Party (PKK), and was killed by Duhok security forces for this reason.
“Since the day he joined the PKK, Widad was summoned by the security service about ten times. The last time was three months ago, and they asked him each time to quit the PKK and work for them instead,” Darband said. “On the last summoning they had told him that if he did not stop working for the PKK they’ll transfer his file to the general security.”
“So we really suspect that the security service has killed him,” he added.
Hussein’s body was found with clear signs of torture.
Duhok security services have denied any connection with Hussein’s murder.
“We have no connection with that incident whatsoever,” a Duhok security official told Rudaw in August. “On the contrary, we are very concerned about what happened because it affects the security situation here.”
“Wedat Hussein Ali is one of many journalists in Iraq, including the KR-I, who have in recent years been targeted through threats, abduction and detention and, in many instances, killed for carrying out their work,” stated Amnesty International, noting that they have “previously called for the protection of journalists in Iraq, including the KR-I, and expressed concern at the lack of investigations carried out.”
The Metro Center, a media rights organization based in the Kurdistan Region and monitoring freedom of the press in the region, documented the violations of the rights of 145 journalists in 2015, up from 107 the year before. The violations include beatings, intimidation, arbitrary detention, and murder.
The Center stated in their 2015 annual review that the lack of concrete action from the authorities to protect journalists means that such attacks continue with impunity.
