ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurdish security forces have released about half a dozen people arrested for several hours in connection to anti-government protests in the city of Halabja, officials and detainees said.
Another security unit in Koya told Rudaw that they have arrested at least 10 people since the protests went violent earlier this week.
Halabja Asayish, Kurdish security, said in a statement on Sunday that they released all those who were “our guests because of the protests.”
Draw Mahdi, a teacher and journalist based in Halabja, was one of those detained for eight hours on Saturday, he told Rudaw English. He said that he was held in solitary confinement and suffered beating and humiliation.
Asayish denied they carried out “mass arrests,” as reported by people on social media, adding that they decided to “send them home with utmost respect,” following talks with a judge, and the Halabja governor.
They said they invited these “guests” because “we have a great responsibility to protect peace and the fame of the Capital of Peace.”
Halabja is named Kurdistan’s Capital of Peace by the Kurdish parliament in memory of the infamous chemical attack by the Iraqi regime on March, 16, 1988.
Halabja Governor Ali Othman told reporters on Wednesday that they decided to stop raids and arrests of protesters including civil activists as part of a series of measures to keep peace and security.
Mahdi, the protesting teacher, said that he took part in the anti-government protests on Monday with a number of his friends. Following the protest, he was told that the security forces ordered an arrest warrant for him, therefore he decided to not go home.
On Tuesday, a “masked Asayish force,” searched for him in his house but in vain, he said. He added that the force searched every part of the house and caused “panic” to his family.
He was arrested on Saturday afternoon, along with a number of other protesters.
Most of the detainees took to their Facebook accounts late on Saturday night to say that they were set free by the security forces. They all stated that they had been “arrested.”
Mahdi said that Asayish provided him with food while in solitary confinement, but he was soon interrupted before finishing his meal when the prison guards took him to another location.
“They took me out from my room, handcuffed me, and put a bag over my head,” Mahdi said.
They then walked him to another location within the same building where he was interrogated.
“After a short talk, they kicked, punched and slapped me,” Mahdi claimed.
In addition to a demand for better basic services, the full payment of delayed or reduced salaries, and a fight against widespread corruption, “the people have a tendency to demand an end to the current government,” Mahdi said, believing that the government has put an end to the protests by force.
Halabja province has been largely peaceful despite protests taking place for at least two days earlier this week.
Mahdi concluded that neither the Kurdish government, nor the protests have a “good future awaiting them.”
Kurdish officials, including Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani, have said they respect the people's right to protest, but warned that violent attacks against party and government offices must end.
Kurdish security forces have been deployed to several Kurdish cities to put an end to the protests including Raniya where two people were killed, and about 87 more injured on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a night curfew on Tuesday.
Local officials including security commanders held a meeting on Sunday in Chamchamal, Sulaimani provice to keep “peace and security", officials aid. It is where protests caused a power-production installation to suspend its operations for about a day on Tuesday.
A Kurdish media network, NRT based in Sulaimani remains suspended since Wednesday, and the whereabouts of two politicians, MP Rabun Maruf and businessman-turned-politician Shaswar Abdulwahid remain unknown; both are from the newly-established New Generation party.
Haidar Saeed, from Koya Asayish, told Rudaw on Sunday that they have arrested “10 to 15” people who are accused of attacking party offices in the city earlier this week. He said they have obtained arrest warrants for more people whose locations are not yet known. He added that they use documents such as photos and videos to charge some of the accused.
The KRG maintains that the loss of oil-fields in Kirkuk, and the continued budget cut by the Iraqi government since early-2014 means they have failed to pay the state salaries in full or on time, a main demand of the anti-government protests.
The Kurdistan Islamic Union, a member of the KRG coalition government, on Sunday called for an end to the “militarization” of Kurdish cities in the wake of the protests, while also demanding an end to targeting the Kurdish media.
