Kurdish government responds to US allegations of rights violations
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) issued a report on Monday responding to allegations by the US State Department that ranged from press violations to torture in the Kurdistan Region.
The report by the KRG’s High Committee to Evaluate and Respond to International Reports comes after nearly a year of investigations that examined various points addressed in the 2015 US Department of State’s annual report on Human Rights Practices in Iraq, which also examined the rights situation in Kurdistan.
Among other things, the US report contained allegations that the Peshmerga were systematically destroying Arab homes in towns and villages they had liberated from ISIS.
The Kurdish report found that Erbil’s own investigation “did not reveal a systematic effort by the KRG or its security apparatus to purposely uproot existing communities in order to replace them with others. Nor did the visits demonstrate a united Peshmerga forces effort to destroy property in villages.”
The report responded to allegations of torture in the KRG by pointing out that torture is outlawed under the Iraqi constitution, meaning that, “any person held in prison or in detention, who suffers torture during the investigation period prior to a court hearing, has the right to file a complaint against the officer who tortured him.”
“The KRG emphasizes that there are no such prisons or detention centers within the Kurdistan Region,” the report added.
It also addressed concerns about media freedom in the region by pointing out that, “Freedom of expression and opinion is sacrosanct for all members of the Kurdish community according to the laws of the Region.”
On the problem of so-called honor killings, the report noted that the Kurdistan parliament “amended Article 409 of the Iraqi penal code, increasing the punishment for honor killings and considering them willful murder.”
Similarly, regarding female genital mutilation (FGM) in the region the report acknowledged the illegal practice but also cited a survey of 827 homes in the governorates of Erbil and Sulaimani, which “suggests the practice of FGM has noticeably declined in the Region.”
“Education on FGM has increased in the surveyed areas, awareness campaigns seem to be working as many people are being exposed to them and more people believe FGM should be eradicated,” the report said.
It added that the KRG intends “to continue to improve our relations with international counterparts, both governmental and non-governmental, to ensure that any outstanding shortcomings are remedied.”