Iraq is quickly deteriorating. Human Rights Defenders are at risk!
ة
The Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative (ICSSI)
Rome - April 2014
The Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative (ICSSI) calls for the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations on the situation of human rights defenders and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and _expression_, to visit Iraq on an urgent basis and as a preliminary step to provide protection for human rights defenders (HRDs) and journalists in particular.
The initiative calls for the Iraqi government to shoulder its responsibility in protecting HRDs, and to start by issuing strict instructions to the security forces and personal guards of public officials: they must not intimidate journalists and HRDs or prevent them from performing their duties. The government should end the impunity of militias who are responsible for violations of freedom of _expression_, and should provide protection to defenders and journalists targeted by outlaw armed groups.
This statement comes as a reaction to the continuing deterioration in the situation of HRDs in Iraq, where in March of this year at least three journalists have been killed and others have been beaten and insulted, while one HRD has been arrested in Erbil. We refer here to documented cases of violations directed to HRDs and journalists but many other violations occurred in the same month, that we could not record or prove. We denounce and condemn the following facts:
The Press Freedom Advocacy Association commented the incident stating: "Some elements of security guards are turning into outlaw militias that assault and beat civilians with impunity". The Civil Development Organization in Sulaymaniyah (CDO) underlined that punishing the attacker is an urgent need, and rejected the attempt by some to politicize the incident, associating the crime to the Kurdish identity of the guard who was an element of the Kurdish Peshmerga before turning to presidential protection. According to CDO, this particular should not turn attention away from the real problem, which is that journalists and HRDs in Iraq are at risk and not protected, all over the country.
This criminal act draws attention again to the violent behavior of Iraqi security and protection forces towards civilian population, after the killing of Karbala Sports Club coach Mohammed Abbas. He died after being severely beaten by members of the Iraqi Special Forces in a stadium while he was trying to prevent them from attacking civilians in the audience in June 2013.
The ICSSI calls on Iraqi authorities to issue tight instructions to all security forces and protection guards to respect civilians in general, and journalists and HRDs in particular, as a major step to ensure the respect of human rights and the safety of Iraqi people.
The latest victim of multiple targeting was the journalist Wathiq al-Ghadhanfari, director of the Media Office within Nineveh Governor Office, who has been assassinated in the city of Mosul by unidentified gunmen. Instead, the caricature painter and Iraqi journalist Ahmed Al-Rubaie died in Erbil due to quick deterioration of his health, after escaping from the threats and persecution by a well-known militia in Baghdad. The leaders of this militia and some Iraqi politicians threatened him with death for publishing a portrait of the Supreme Leader Of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Khamenei. The Press Freedom Advocacy Association in a statement on Al-Rubaie's death considered it a murder, and declared that the Iraqi government should prosecute those responsible for his death, as they threatened Al-Rubaie publicly, and terrorized journalists of newspaper who published his caricature, adding threats to their families.
The ICSSI demands the Iraqi government to identify and prosecute those responsible for terrorizing Iraqi Journalists, in any province of Iraq, as an essential step to combat restrictions to freedom of _expression_.
The ICSSI calls for the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Council of the Judiciary of Kurdistan, to drop all charges against the HRD Shwan Saber, as an essential step towards ensuring freedom of _expression_ in Kurdistan.
For more information, please write to the following address: icssi.baghdad@gmail.com
Or contact the phone number: +39 3291345117
And visit the website in Arabic: http://www.almubadarairaq.org/
In English: http://www.iraqicivilsociety.org/
And Social networking page: https://www.facebook.com/solidarityinitiative.icss
روما – ابريل 2014
تطالب مبادرة التضامن مع المجتمع المدني العراقي (ICSSI)، المقرر الخاص التابع للأمم المتحدة والمعني بالمدافعين عن حقوق الانسان والمقرر المعني بحرية ألتعبير، لزيارة العراق بشكل عاجل وكخطوة اولية لتوفير حماية للمدافعيبن عن حقوق الانسان و للصحفيين منهم بشكل خاص.
فيما تطالب المبادرة الحكومة العراقية بتحمل مسؤوليتها بحماية المدافعين عن حقوق الانسان وخصوصا عبر اصدار تعليمات مشددة للقوات الامنية و خوصا تلك المناط بها حماية المسؤولين العراقيين، بعدم التعرض للصحفيين والمدافعين عن حقوق الانسان وعدم منعهم من اداء واجبهم. وعن طريق رفع الحصانة عن المليشيات المسؤولة عن مصادرة حرية التعبير، ومكافحة الافلات من العقاب و توفير حماية للمدافعين وللصحفيين المستهدفين من قبل المجاميع المسلحة الخارجة عن القانون.
وتأتي هذه المطالبات على ضوء التدهور المستمر في حالة المدافعين عن حقوق الانسان في العراق ، ففي شهر اذار من العام الحالي سجل العراق مقتل ثلاثة صحفيين على الاقل وتعرض عدد اخر للضرب والإهانة فيما تم اعتقا
The Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative (ICSSI)
Rome - April 2014
The Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative (ICSSI) calls for the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations on the situation of human rights defenders and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and _expression_, to visit Iraq on an urgent basis and as a preliminary step to provide protection for human rights defenders (HRDs) and journalists in particular.
The initiative calls for the Iraqi government to shoulder its responsibility in protecting HRDs, and to start by issuing strict instructions to the security forces and personal guards of public officials: they must not intimidate journalists and HRDs or prevent them from performing their duties. The government should end the impunity of militias who are responsible for violations of freedom of _expression_, and should provide protection to defenders and journalists targeted by outlaw armed groups.
This statement comes as a reaction to the continuing deterioration in the situation of HRDs in Iraq, where in March of this year at least three journalists have been killed and others have been beaten and insulted, while one HRD has been arrested in Erbil. We refer here to documented cases of violations directed to HRDs and journalists but many other violations occurred in the same month, that we could not record or prove. We denounce and condemn the following facts:
- the radio journalist Mohamed Bedaiwi Al-Shammari has been killed by elements of the special protection of the Iraqi Presidency;
- the journalist and caricature painter Ahmed Al-Rubaie died after escaping from Baghdad, where he had been threatened and terrorized by groups that claimed his life;
- the journalist Wathiq al-Ghadhanfari has been killed in Mosul by an armed group;
- the HRD Shwan Taha has been arrested by the authorities in Erbil after he expressed criticisms on the lack of independency of the judiciary system in Kurdistan.
- 1. Murdered in daylight by a security officer
The Press Freedom Advocacy Association commented the incident stating: "Some elements of security guards are turning into outlaw militias that assault and beat civilians with impunity". The Civil Development Organization in Sulaymaniyah (CDO) underlined that punishing the attacker is an urgent need, and rejected the attempt by some to politicize the incident, associating the crime to the Kurdish identity of the guard who was an element of the Kurdish Peshmerga before turning to presidential protection. According to CDO, this particular should not turn attention away from the real problem, which is that journalists and HRDs in Iraq are at risk and not protected, all over the country.
This criminal act draws attention again to the violent behavior of Iraqi security and protection forces towards civilian population, after the killing of Karbala Sports Club coach Mohammed Abbas. He died after being severely beaten by members of the Iraqi Special Forces in a stadium while he was trying to prevent them from attacking civilians in the audience in June 2013.
The ICSSI calls on Iraqi authorities to issue tight instructions to all security forces and protection guards to respect civilians in general, and journalists and HRDs in particular, as a major step to ensure the respect of human rights and the safety of Iraqi people.
- 2. When threats and terror lead to death
The latest victim of multiple targeting was the journalist Wathiq al-Ghadhanfari, director of the Media Office within Nineveh Governor Office, who has been assassinated in the city of Mosul by unidentified gunmen. Instead, the caricature painter and Iraqi journalist Ahmed Al-Rubaie died in Erbil due to quick deterioration of his health, after escaping from the threats and persecution by a well-known militia in Baghdad. The leaders of this militia and some Iraqi politicians threatened him with death for publishing a portrait of the Supreme Leader Of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Khamenei. The Press Freedom Advocacy Association in a statement on Al-Rubaie's death considered it a murder, and declared that the Iraqi government should prosecute those responsible for his death, as they threatened Al-Rubaie publicly, and terrorized journalists of newspaper who published his caricature, adding threats to their families.
The ICSSI demands the Iraqi government to identify and prosecute those responsible for terrorizing Iraqi Journalists, in any province of Iraq, as an essential step to combat restrictions to freedom of _expression_.
- 3. Kurdistan, the judiciary system against freedom of _expression_
The ICSSI calls for the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Council of the Judiciary of Kurdistan, to drop all charges against the HRD Shwan Saber, as an essential step towards ensuring freedom of _expression_ in Kurdistan.
For more information, please write to the following address: icssi.baghdad@gmail.com
Or contact the phone number: +39 3291345117
And visit the website in Arabic: http://www.almubadarairaq.org/
In English: http://www.iraqicivilsociety.org/
And Social networking page: https://www.facebook.com/solidarityinitiative.icss
اوضاع المدافعين عن حقوق الانسان و حرية التعبير في العراق تتدهور بشكل سريع ومخيف !
مبادرة التضامن مع المجتمع المدني العراقي (ICSSIروما – ابريل 2014
تطالب مبادرة التضامن مع المجتمع المدني العراقي (ICSSI)، المقرر الخاص التابع للأمم المتحدة والمعني بالمدافعين عن حقوق الانسان والمقرر المعني بحرية ألتعبير، لزيارة العراق بشكل عاجل وكخطوة اولية لتوفير حماية للمدافعيبن عن حقوق الانسان و للصحفيين منهم بشكل خاص.
فيما تطالب المبادرة الحكومة العراقية بتحمل مسؤوليتها بحماية المدافعين عن حقوق الانسان وخصوصا عبر اصدار تعليمات مشددة للقوات الامنية و خوصا تلك المناط بها حماية المسؤولين العراقيين، بعدم التعرض للصحفيين والمدافعين عن حقوق الانسان وعدم منعهم من اداء واجبهم. وعن طريق رفع الحصانة عن المليشيات المسؤولة عن مصادرة حرية التعبير، ومكافحة الافلات من العقاب و توفير حماية للمدافعين وللصحفيين المستهدفين من قبل المجاميع المسلحة الخارجة عن القانون.
وتأتي هذه المطالبات على ضوء التدهور المستمر في حالة المدافعين عن حقوق الانسان في العراق ، ففي شهر اذار من العام الحالي سجل العراق مقتل ثلاثة صحفيين على الاقل وتعرض عدد اخر للضرب والإهانة فيما تم اعتقا
