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Statement in response to Amnesty International Report

MON, 20 APR 2009 00:09 | Kurdistan Presidency

Statement on the Amnesty International Report on Human Rights in the Kurdistan Region by the General Director of Security in Erbil Ismat Argushi

The recent Amnesty International Report on Human Rights in the Kurdistan Region rightly notes at the outset that there have been “positive and encouraging steps” taken by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and its agencies over the last few years to create a heightened respect for the rights of women, strengthen the rule of law, and further our path toward creating the open, free civil society needed to keep our democracy healthy. This clearly demonstrates the KRG’s serious, concerted efforts to hold ourselves to the highest international standards on these issues and we will continue to demonstrate a serious regard for human rights, constantly working toward a more perfect administration and institutionalisation of our democracy.

In furtherance of these efforts, the General Directorate of Security in Erbil and other security organs throughout the Kurdistan Region have allowed unprecedented access to our detention facilities in order to demonstrate our commitment to attain the highest international standards on the protection of human rights and foster a practice of open, transparent government in our security and judicial proceedings. This willingness to face criticism and have our operations verified by external organisations is a reflection of our commitment to the rule of law, a commitment unparalleled by other security organs in the Middle East.

It is extremely unfortunate that Amnesty’s report did not recognise the role that the Asayish’s openness has in furthering respect for the rule of law throughout our Region. In fact, most of the information provided in the report chronicles problems we had just after the fall of Saddam, when we were still subject to Saddam-era penal codes, rather than providing new information about our current conduct. Since the fall of Saddam, we have worked vigorously to rectify any injustices committed, with the report itself noting that many defendants were granted pardons by our President while our legislative bodies worked to draft new criminal codes in line with international standards. It is very misleading to use these cases as evidence against the current conduct of our staff, when in fact, they are a reflection of the unfortunate circumstance that our people were forced to continue suffering under the legal dictates of an authoritarian regime long after the establishment of the United Nation’s ‘no fly zone’. This was not our choice, but was a result of the international community’s unwillingness to act through the United Nations to free us from such laws. After Saddam’s overthrow, it took us some time to undo decades of this brutal regime, and it is to our credit that we have taken real and concrete steps to do so through the rule of law, rather than acting around it, as would have been required had we taken corrective action prior to the passing of new laws.

Admittedly, we are a relatively new government with institutions that are still in transition, but we are committed – and I personally am committed – to creating a security force that provides our people with the safety and security our Region is known for, while meeting international standards set out for the protection of human rights. Our people deserve this after all we have suffered under previous regimes and make no mistake – as a people we have learned the high cost that comes from ignoring the importance of human rights. Our agency operates under the mentality of “service to the people.” This means all the people of Kurdistan, without exception.

As such, Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani, the KRG, and the General Director of Security and Intelligence Masrour Barzani have instituted strict rules against the use of torture in any of our detention facilities. All of our recruits undergo extensive training in complying with international standards on the rights of prisoners and when individual security officers have been found to violate either our Regional laws or the internal rules of our agency in this regard, the officers have been punished and removed from their posts. No one is above the law in the Kurdistan Region, and those found in violation of our policy are not only held accountable in their jobs, but can legally face criminal proceedings when their actions are found to violate the established laws of our Region or the Government of Iraq.

This also applies to the requirement to obtain arrest warrants. The Asayish is not above the law in this regard and cannot act to arrest people without going through the same process as other police and security agencies, according to the stipulations of the 2006 Anti-terrorism Law. No one is currently being held in any of our facilities without such legal protections, and we have only 252 people currently in custody, all with verified arrest warrants issued by the court. At the time of Amnesty’s fact-finding mission last year, the number was 670, many of who had been arrested under old penal codes and were thus not subject to the new restrictions of the Anti-terrorism Law in regards to arrest warrants. Amnesty misreported these people as “political” prisoners, when in reality, this was the total number of people in our custody at the time and none of our agencies hold “political” prisoners. Since this time, all of the prisoners held without warrant have been released. This is just one case of the abuse by Amnesty in its report of generalised, misleading language intended to evoke an emotional response, but factually false.

However, we do not deny that there have been insistences, as in the most developed democracies in the world, of non-compliance with the best practices set out by Amnesty in this regard, but these actions have never been sanctioned or ignored by our agency when proof has been provided as to the veracity of the allegations. Unfortunately, Amnesty’s report provides no proof or evidence that any of the allegations are true, despite our willingness to open our facilities to their inspection. In all of the cases investigated under my jurisdiction, we complied fully with requests for such visitations and there is no mention that the Amnesty visitors allowed to interview Srood Mohammad ever found any evidence of the alleged abuse. It is irresponsible to use these sorts of cases, with no independent verification or proof, to substantiate claims that the security forces have acted outside the rule of law and to make the sort of strong public statements against our agency that Mr Smart and Amnesty’s website did. Convicting the innocent with no proof, in this case our security forces, is far outside a respect for the rule of law and human rights.

This sort of tactic used by Amnesty in the media does not further a respect for human rights, is hypocritical, and commits a disservice to our people and the members of Amnesty International who rely on its impartiality and fairness. On these issues, the language used by Amnesty in regards to the report was misleading to the public and I believe that those taking the time to read the report would walk away with a much different view of what is happening in the Kurdistan Region than they were given by the unnecessarily harsh terminology, generalisations, and binary language used by Amnesty after its publication. In fact, it is clear even from the report that Amnesty had a particular agenda and used dubious information, often very old, to paint an unrealistically harsh picture of the security forces in our Region by bringing up allegations of abuse at a prisons such as Aqra, which have long been closed.

While we cannot morally allow a few to threaten the lives, prosperity and security of the many who rely on our work, we recognise the importance of the rule of law and clear mechanisms for the punishment of abuses in preventing the misuse of legitimate authority. Our agency does not use enforced disappearances and I am more than willing to publicly condemn the practice as Amnesty recommends. Any information my agency has about the names mentioned in the report have been turned over to the Ministry of Human Rights for investigation. The only instance given of a potential case under my jurisdiction, that of Badran Mostafa Mahmoud, has already been investigated and we have no knowledge of any action taken against him by any group. We consider his disappearance a tragedy for his family and wish them a happy ending to their drama, but there is no reason to believe that the Asayish had any role in his disappearance or any knowledge of his whereabouts at any time. Amnesty’s report provides no evidence of any such role.

Finally, although the investigation of regular criminal acts does not fall under our jurisdiction according to the stipulations of Law 46, which guides our activities, the rights of women and journalists are very important to our organisation. The report notes that although 1 in 10 Kurdistani women have faced violence in the last year, that number is far lower than in the rest of Iraq. Still, we are not satisfied with this, which is why the KRG government has taken the steps mentioned by the report to address issues of violence against women, and our security agency in particular has hired women at all levels and in all fields. We are very proud of giving women a chance to work in important security roles, where they are equal to men and receive specialised training according to their particular roles. In this sense, our agency is more advanced than any other government in the Middle East and we believe that this will ultimately increase our ability to investigate and bring to justice those who commit crimes against women. Our actions show how seriously we take this issue and we are unequivocally part of the solution to opening new life choices to women of the Kurdistan Region.

Likewise, we openly support the right to freedom of speech and despite the sensitive nature of working in intelligence and security, regularly meet with journalists from all over the world seeking to report on our activities. We strongly condemn any violent act or threat against journalists in our Region, and welcome Amnesty’s recognition that conditions for journalists are much better in our Region than Iraq as a whole. We have one of the most liberal press laws in the entire Middle East and proudly consider the sheer diversity of civil society organisations in our Region as a reflection of our progress in breaking with an oppressive past.


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