Human rights, press freedom in Kurdistan Region "needs more attention": US Consul General

ERBIL, KURDISTAN REGION – The  human rights situation in the Kurdistan Region “needs more attention,” Erbil’s  US Consul General Steve Fagin told a forum audience in Erbil on Tuesday, drawing particular attention to “deteriorating” press freedoms. 

Entitled "The National and International Debate on Effective and Efficient Advocacy: the KRG experience," around 150 people attended the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) first advocacy forum, held at Erbil’s Saad Abdullah Hall. Among them were civil society members, diplomats, UN agency representatives, and minority group representatives.

Designed to enhance government policies and practices to create “transparent, accountable..and inclusive” institutions, discussions focused on a variety of human rights issues in the Region- including freedom of the press, women’s rights, human trafficking and the legacy of the Islamic State (ISIS) on civilians.

Speaking in a panel discussion, Fagin vocalized Washington’s assessment of the state of human rights in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, saying that although “there are positive developments, there are also problems that need more attention.” 

Fagin placed specific emphasis on the state of media freedom in the region, saying “media freedom is crucial to the vibrancy of any society. Unfortunately, in our view, the IKR’s media environment has deteriorated over the past several years.”

“KRG officials, judges, and political parties seemingly exhibiting less tolerance toward dissenting opinions. There have been reports of authorities blocking journalists access to locations and press conferences. There have also been cases of physical attacks on journalists,” he added.

Fagin made reference to journalists being prosecuted under the harsher Iraqi criminal code, rather than the Kurdistan Region’s own press laws which “does not permit the imprisonment or detention of journalists for just doing their jobs”.

“So you have a very good press law on your books here, but it's not being properly applied,” Fagin added.

A Sulaimani-based journalist was detained under Iraqi federal law in January, leading to condemnation from journalist rights groups.

According to 2019 statistics published by the Metro Center for Journalist Rights and Advocacy, 43 journalists were detained and subsequently tried outside the legal frameworks of the Kurdistan Press Law.

Dindar Zebari, the KRG’s International Advocacy Coordinator, responded to the comments on press freedom, saying “We have 8000 journalists in Kurdistan. If you take twenty, thirty cases of violations, cases of misconduct. I have to say, each case is different.”

Children’s Rights

Another issue raised was the marginalization of children born of sexual violence by ISIS fighters.

 “There are no mechanism currently where these children are being documented. If they are not documented, they are not able go to school,” said Noel Kututwa, head of the United Nations Assistance Mission to Iraq’s (UNAMI) human rights office. 

Also present was Pehr Lodhammar, Head of United Nations Mine Action Service in Iraq, who spoke of the risks landmines, IUDs, and other explosive ordinances still pose on the Kurdish public.