Dindar Zebari, Deputy head of Iraqi Kurdistan’s department of Foreign Relations. Photo: Courtesy/KRG
HEWLÊR-Erbil, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Coordinator for International Advocacy Dindar Zebari responded on Friday to a US report that highlighted a range of human rights abuses that took place in the Kurdistan Region last year.
Zebari issued a statement saying that the accusations in the report had already been addressed.
He reiterated previous KRG denials about “secret prisons” in the Kurdistan Region, adding that detainees are dealt with in accordance with the law.
“No one is detained without a court order … Punishing detainees to confess is considered as a crime,” Zebari added.
“The reasons behind not forming investigative committees regarding the punishment of children [accused of ties to] Islamic State is because no lawsuits have been filed against security institutions by the detainees.”
Regarding freedom of the press and freedom of expression, Zebari said that actions are taken in accordance with law.
The Kurdish authorities use the Iraqi Penal Code when there is a situation where reporters or media organizations act contrary to regulations, he said.
The US State Department released its 2018 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices on Wednesday and highlighted numerous human rights violations committed by the Government of Iraq, the KRG, and non-state groups.
The 64-page section focused on Iraq and the Kurdistan Region contains a staggering array of violations, including: unlawful or arbitrary killings by members of the security forces and non-state groups, forced disappearances, torture, restrictions on free expression, the press, and the internet, widespread official corruption, violence against and restrictions on women, violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) individuals and the effective criminalization of LGBTI status, violence against internally displaced persons (IDPs), and restrictions of worker rights.
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