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SUMMARY
Al Index: Mde 14/01/95
Distr: Sc/Gr/Co
Wide-ranging and serious human rights abuses have been committed by the Kurdish administration and political parties in Iraqi Kurdistan since 199 These abuses include the detention of suspected political opponents, among them possible prisoners of conscience; torture and ill-treatment of political and common law detainees and the failure to investigate such abuses adequately; the use of the death penalty and the enactment of legislation increasing the number of offences punishable by death; executions after summary "trials"; and unlawful and deliberate killings.
Iraqi Goverment forces withdrew from most areas of Iraqi Kurdistan in October 1991. Since then, these areas have been controlled by Kurdish forces. Amnesty International holds them accountable for the human rights abuses described in this report, in implementation of its mandate in relation to abuses committed by armed political groups.
This report is based on research carried out by Amnesty International over the past three years, including five fact-finding visits to Iraqi Kurdistan between May 1992 and July 1994. The organization’s concerns in relation to the Kurdish administration (represented in the Council of Ministers for Iraqi Kurdistan, which is effectively the "government" in the region) focus on two main areas: the torture and ill-treatment of detainees and the use of the death penalty. With respect to the political parties, Amnesty International holds the two main parties holding the reins of power in the region - the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan - accountable for many of the abuses addressed in this report.
These include the torture and ill-treatment of detainees and the unlawful and deliberate killing of unarmed prisoners captured in battle, political opponents and demonstrators. The Islamic Movement in Iraqi Kurdistan, the third political force in the region today, has also committed similar abuses.
Amnesty International is issuing this report in order to make public its concerns in Iraqi Kurdistan and calls on the Council of Ministers and the Kurdish leadership to act on the recommendations contained in it.
Keywords: Impunity1 / Extrajudicial Execution1 / Torture/Ill-Treatment1 / Non-Governmental Entities 1 / Independence Of Judiciary1 / Tria Lsi / Political Background 1 / Death Penalty 1 / Armed Conflict! I Legislation1 / Prisoners’ Testimonies 1 / Political Activists1 / Confessions / Disappearances / Sexual Harassment I Death In Custody / Incommunicado Detention / Detention Without Trial / Politicians / Parliamentarians / Prisoners Of War / Lawyers I Judges / Foreign Nationals / Common Criminals / Students / Trade Unionists / Religious Officials - Islamic / Religious Groups - Assyrian Christian / Women / Juveniles / Police / Paramilitaries / Demonstrations / Revolutions / Government Change / Constitutional Change / Investigation Of Abuses / Post Mortems / Medical Confirmation / Penal Institutions / Icrc / Prisoners’ Lists / Al And Governments / Missions / Photographs /
This report summarizes a 141-page document (55,911 words), Iraq: Human rights abuses in Iraqi Kurdistan since 1991 (Al Index: MDE 14/01/95), issued by Amnesty International on 28 February 1995. Anyone wanting further details or to take action on this issue should consult the full document.
International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street, London Wc1x 8dj, United Kingdom
Introduction
Wide-ranging and serious human rights abuses have been committed by the Kurdish administration and political parties in those regions of Iraqi Kurdistan which have been under their control since 1991. These abuses include the detention of suspected political opponents, among them possible prisoners of conscience; torture and ill-treatment of political and common law detainees and the failure to investigate such abuses adequately; the use of the death penalty and the enactment of legislation increasing the number of offences punishable by death; executions after summary "trials"; and unlawful and deliberate killings of unarmed prisoners and assassinations of political activists and others.
This report is based on research carried out by Amnesty International over the past three years, including five fact-finding visits to the region between May 1992 and July 1994. During these visits, Amnesty International interviewed scores of detainees and former detainees held on both political and criminal grounds, as well as prisoners sentenced to terms of imprisonment or death. The organization obtained testimonies from victims of torture and ill-treatment, the relatives, friends and colleagues of victims of unlawful and deliberate killings, as well as eye-witnesses and human rights activists. Amnesty International also held discussions with the leaders or representatives of most Kurdish and other political parties, officials of the Kurdish administration, as well as law enforcement personnel and members of the judiciary. The organization acknowledges the cooperation and assistance it has received from many of them.
Amnesty International’s concerns regarding the human rights situation in Iraq as a whole have been repeatedly placed on public record.
Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, gross human rights violations on a massive scale have been committed by the Iraqi Government with total impunity and disregard for minimum standards of humane behaviour. They include the arbitrary arrest of suspected or actual political opponents, among them prisoners of conscience; prolonged detention without trial or imprisonment following manifestly unfair trials; the torture and ill-treatment of detainees resulting in countless deaths in custody; the use of the death penalty for a wide range of political and criminal offences after unfair trials and in violation of internationally established safeguards; and the "disappearance" or extrajudicial execution of hundreds of thousands of people - including whole communities - for political reasons. In its campaigns aimed at alleviating the suffering of the people of Iraq, Amnesty International faced a government which sanctioned atrocities as a matter of policy and violated its obligations under international law as a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The organization faced an international community which failed to adopt a single resolution in the United Nations (UN) General Assembly or other UN bodies condemning the Iraqi Government until the invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990. It also faced a multitude of states whose perceived geopolitical interests did not accommodate intervention on human rights issues.¹
Amnesty International has also monitored the human rights situation in those areas of Iraq’s northern provinces from which the government’s forces withdrew on 23 October 1991. Since then, these areas have been controlled by Kurdish forces. Amnesty International holds them accountable for the human rights abuses described in this report, in implementation of its mandate in relation to abuses committed by armed political groups.
Amnesty International’s mandate
Amnesty International condemns and actively opposes a range of human rights violations perpetrated by governments worldwide. The organization works to secure the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience² and to ensure fair and prompt trials for all political prisoners. It opposes the death penalty, extrajudicial executions, "disappearances" and torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in all cases.
Since Amnesty International was founded over three decades ago, its mandate has been extended in response to the human rights challenges of a changing world, most recently in September 1991 when several new areas of concern were incorporated into it.
Amnesty International stresses that the international human rights norms it cites concern the protection of the rights of individuals in relation to governmental authority; it is governments which have drawn up international human rights law and governments which are bound by it. However, in armed conflicts both governments and those opposing them must observe internationally recognized standards protecting the individual.
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¹ See Amnesty International’s report, "Disappearances" and Political Killings, Human Rights Crisis of the 1990s, A Manual for Action, Chapter 1, Iraq: The World Would Not Listen, February 1994, (Al Index: ACT 33/01/94).
² Prisoners of conscience, as defined by Amnesty International’s Statute, are people subjected to imprisonment, detention or other physical restriction imposed by reason of their political, religious or other conscientiously held beliefs or by reason of their ethnic origin, sex, colour or language, provided that they have not used or advocated violence.
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