Writer Killed Over a Poem in Iraq
John Lundberg
The murder of a young man named Zardasht Osman earlier this month called attention to the growing problem of government crackdowns on journalists and writers in Northern Iraq , and reminds us not to take our freedom of speech here for granted.
The ruling party of Kurdish-controlled Northern Iraq , under president Massoud Barzani, is under growing scrutiny by international watchdog organizations for its intolerance of criticism in the press. The New York Times reported that the party's security forces "are often accused of intimidating, threatening and assaulting journalists affiliated with opposition parties or critical of the corrupt patronage system fostered by the two governing parties."
Osman drew the attention of the security forces a few weeks ago when he penned a satirical poem decrying the nepotism and cronyism that runs rampant in Barzani's administration. He was abducted in front of the university he attended, and his body was found handcuffed and shot dead on a roadside four days later.
Some are accusing Barzani's security forces of carrying out the killing, and the event has led to demonstrations in the city of Sulamaniyah drawing over a thousand protestors. Barzani's government has denied any involvement and claims it will investigate, but many remain doubtful -- the security forces responsible for the investigation are run by Barzani's son.
Michael Rubin of National Review Online published a translation of the poem that resulted in Osman's death. He noted, "for anyone that wants to know what it takes for a politician in Iraqi Kurdistan--which calls itself secure and democratic--to order your death, here it goes." Here's an excerpt:
I am in love with the daughter of [Iraqi Kurdistan president] Masud Barzani, the man who appears here and there and claims he is my president. I would like him to be my father-in-law and also I would like to be a brother-in-law with [former Prime Minister] Nechirvan Barzani.
If I become Masud Barzani's son-in-law, we would spend our honeymoon in Paris and also we would visit our uncle's mansion in America . I would move my house from one of the poorest areas in Erbil to Sari Rash [Barzani's palace complex] where it would be protected by American guard dogs and Israeli bodyguards.
I would make my father become the Minister of Peshmerga [the Kurdish militia]. He had been Peshmarga in September revolution, but he now has no pension because he is no longer a member of Kurdistan Democratic Party.
I would make my unlucky baby brother, who recently finished university but is now unemployed and looking to leave Kurdistan , chief of my special forces.
My sister who has been too embarrassed to go to the bazaar to shop, could drive all the expensive cars just as Barzani's daughters do.
Here in the U.S. , we are free to fill our newspapers, airwaves and web pages with scorn for our politicians (and we do), but even our freedom of speech has its limits. A case concerning a very angry Kentucky man is now testing those limits. He recently published a 16 line poem called "The Sniper" that describes an assassination mission to kill President Obama (it reportedly included the line "Die Negro Die"). His attorneys are arguing that the poem should be protected as art, but he could face up to five years in prison for threatening to kill the president. Most, I'm sure, would consider that a reasonable line for our government to draw. The tragic death of Mr. Osman reminds us of how far Iraq has to go before its citizens can even have that debate.
John has been writing and teaching poetry for the last 10 years. He is a recent Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University .
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A Poem to Die For
I am in love with the daughter of [Iraqi Kurdistan president] Masud Barzani, the man who appears here and there and claims he is my president. I would like him to be my father-in-law and also I would like to be a brother-in-law with [former Prime Minister] Nechirvan Barzani.
If I become Masud Barzani’s son-in-law, we would spend our honeymoon in Paris and also we would visit our uncle’s mansion in America . I would move my house from one of the poorest areas in Erbil to Sari Rash [Barzani’s palace complex] where it would be protected by American guard dogs and Israeli bodyguards.
I would make my father become the Minister of Peshmerga [the Kurdish militia]. He had been Peshmarga in September revolution, but he now has no pension because he is no longer a member of Kurdistan Democratic Party.
I would make my unlucky baby brother, who recently finished university but is now unemployed and looking to leave Kurdistan , chief of my special forces.
My sister who has been too embarrassed to go to the bazaar to shop, could drive all the expensive cars just as Barzani’s daughters do.
For my mother, who is diabetic and has high blood pressure and heart problems but who is not able to afford treatment outside Kurdistan , I would hire a couple Italian doctors to treat her in the comfort of her own house.
For my uncles, I would open few offices and departments and they, along with all my nieces and nephews would become high generals, officers, and commanders.
All my friends said Saro, let it go and give it up for otherwise you will get yourself killed. The family of Mulla Mustafa Barzani [Masud Barzani's father] can kill anyone they want, and they surely will.
I told them I did not commit blasphemy and I swear to the dagger of [Masud's late brother] Mustafa Idris Barzani that my father had spent 3 nights with him on the same mountain [during the fight against Saddam] and so why not say those things? Masud Barzani claimed himself that he is a president, and I would ask him how may time has he visited Erbil and Sulaymani in the last 18 years?
My problem is this man, Masud Barzani, is so tribal that so arrogant that he does not recognize anybody from even the other side of Sari Rash. With a few clicks, I can out more about any leaders’ wives in the world but I have no idea who my mother-in-law would be and what she looks like.
I have no idea who I should take with me to ask Masud Barzani to give me his blessing to marry his daughter. From the beginning, I thought I should take with me few religious figures, some respectful old men and some old peshmerga, but one of my journalist friends told me that I should find some Saddam collaborators and those who participated in the Anfal operation [ethnic cleansing in the late 1980s] with Saddam because they are all around Masud now and he likes them. Another friend suggested that I should go to one of news conference of Nechirvan Barzani and make friends with him and ask him to do me a favor. However, if he doesn’t help, then I can ask Dashne [a Kurdish singer] because she meets them frequently and might help out.
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Aryan Baban, a Kurdish correspondent, has translated the satirical poem by Sardasht Osman, a young student and journalist, the publication of which apparently led the Iraqi Kurdish government to kill him. I have translated it for grammar only. For anyone that wants to know what it takes for a politician in Iraqi Kurdistan—which calls itself secure and democratic—to order your death.
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Iraq: Kurdistan authorities must investigate abduction and murder of journalist
The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) must take immediate steps to investigate the abduction and murder earlier this week of Sardasht Osman, aged 23, a university student who worked as a journalist for the Ashtinamenewspaper in Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. His abduction and murder follows a spate of other attacks on journalists and other critics of the KRG’s two main political parties in recent years for which no-one has yet been brought to justice.
Sardasht Osman, a final year student at the Universityof Salaheddin in Erbil, was abducted from outside the university on 4 May 2010 by a group of unidentified armed men. They forced him into a car and drove away. He was not seen alive again. His body was found in Mosul on the morning of 6 May 2010. He had been murdered.
Prior to his death, Sardasht Osman wrote articles for Ashtiname newspaper, which is published in Erbil and other publications. According to Kurdish media websites, he had recently published an article in Ashtinamewhich criticized a senior Kurdish political figure following which, according to his brother, Bashdar, he received anonymous threats to his mobile phone.
It appears that the abduction and murder of Sardasht Osman may be the latest in a series of attacks that have been carried out against independent journalists and other critics of the KRG authorities in recent years. There has been an emerging pattern of attacks on those who have criticized leading members and officials of the two main political parties in the Kurdistan Region - the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), headed by Mas’oud Barzani, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), headed by Jalal Talabani – which jointly form the KRG. The attacks, mostly physical assaults but including some killings, have generally been carried out by unidentified men in plain clothes who are widely suspected of being agents of or connected to the Parastin and Zanyari, the party security and intelligence organs of, respectively, the KDP and the PUK.
Amnesty International is calling on the KRG authorities to institute immediately a thorough, independent investigation into the abduction and murder of Sardasht Osman and other attacks on journalists and others in the Kurdistan Region and areas under the effective control of the KRG, and for those responsible to be brought to justice in full conformity with international law.
I guess for the Barzanis (and Talabanis), George Orwell's maxim still holds true: "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-lundberg/writer-killed-over-a-poem_b_576817.html
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Open letter to Iraq’s political leaders
As Iraq prepares to hold new parliamentary elections amid continuing controversy over the eligibility of many candidates, Amnesty International is appealing to the country’s political leaders to ensure that both the election campaign and the vote on 7 March are conducted peacefully and fully conform with Iraq’s obligations under international human rights law.
The elections must not be used as an excuse for further violence
Political leaders must demand that their supporters uphold the law and respect the rights of others, and help prevent the election being used to deepen the sectarian violence that has wracked the country in recent years. They must do all they can to ensure the safety and security of all Iraqis, without discrimination, and uphold their rights to freedom of expression, association and political participation in selecting those who will lead the country in the future.
Amnesty International is also calling on all political parties and their candidates to commit to protecting and promoting human rights in their election manifestoes and in practice, if and when they are elected to office, in full conformity with Iraq’s obligations under international human rights law.
Those responsible for suicide bombings and other attacks against civilians must immediately end such attacks, many of which appear to constitute crimes against humanity – crimes of the very gravest nature. Amnesty International condemns all attacks on civilians, utterly and unreservedly, and calls for their immediate cessation. There can be no justification whatever for such attacks.
The following human rights concerns must be addressed by all political parties, their candidates, supporters and others:
Safeguard civilians and their right to vote
The protection of civilians is paramount during elections if voters are to feel assured that they can exercise their right to vote without fear and intimidation.
Iraq’s civilian population has borne the brunt of the continuing violence that has ravaged the country in recent years and the record from previous elections is grim. Dozens of civilians were killed in attacks before the last provincial elections on 31 January 2009. The last national parliamentary elections, held on 15 December 2005, saw dozens of civilians killed in attacks by Sunni armed groups and Shi’a militias in the weeks before and during polling.
Amnesty International appeals to all political party leaders and to all religious and community leaders and other persons of influence to speak out against further violence, bloodshed and human rights abuses. They must demand that all Iraqis are able to decide freely and without fear how to exercise their right to vote.
Protection of candidates and election workers
Candidates, party political activists and election workers are among those most likely to be targeted for kidnapping and killing in the run-up to the elections.
At least two candidates have already been killed. Soha ‘Abdul-Jarallah, a candidate on the list of former prime minister Iyad ‘Allawi, was gunned down as she left a relative’s house in Mosul on 7 February 2010. Sa’ud al-‘Issawi, a Sunni Arab and candidate for the Iraqi Unity Alliance (IUA), was killed with his two bodyguards at the end of December 2009 in Falluja by a magnetic bomb attached to their vehicle.
Safa ‘Abd al-Amir al-Khafaji, the head teacher of a girls’ school in Baghdad’s al-Ghadi district was shot and seriously wounded by unidentified gunmen on 12 November 2009 soon after she announced that she would contest the elections as a candidate for the Iraqi Communist Party.
‘Ali Mahmoud, a staff member of the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), the body responsible for overseeing the elections, was shot dead outside his house in al-Jadiriya district in Baghdad on 17 December 2009.
Nine candidates were killed at the time of the last provincial elections and, at Mandali in Diyala governorate, two election workers were abducted and found shot dead only hours later. Several candidates were killed during the 15 December 2005 poll. For example, Mizhar al-Dulaimi, the leader of the Free Progressive Iraqi Party, was shot dead while campaigning in the centre of Ramadi on 13 December.
Amnesty International calls on the present government, the IHEC and all political party leaders to make every effort to ensure that candidates and elections workers are allowed to go about their legitimate activities freely and without fear or restraint, and are promptly provided with adequate protection whenever appropriate.
Reporting the election: safeguarding journalists
In recent years, Iraq has been one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists, many of whom have been targeted for abduction, assassination or other abuses. In 2008, at least 16 journalists and media workers were reported to have been killed; in 2009, at least four were killed.
During theprovincial elections of 2009 journalists were subject to harassment, arrest and assault while covering the elections, including by Iraqi security forces and the US military. Some were arrested and held for hours; others were reported to have been prevented from entering polling stations – for example, in Falluja and in al-Hilla - although they had been officially accredited by the IHEC. In Mosul, Iraqi soldiers reportedly fired on journalists’ vehicles.
Before and after the July 2009 elections for the Kurdistan regional parliament, several journalists were assaulted, including Nebaz Goran, editor of Jihan, an independent magazine, who was attacked by three unidentified men outside his office in Erbil.
Preventing journalists from reporting on elections inevitably increases the risk of election fraud and rigged voting and deprives the public of information to which they have a right to know.
Amnesty International urges all Iraqi political leaders to uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: (“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information”), and to uphold the right of all journalists legitimately to exercise their profession without hindrance and fear of harassment.
Commitment to protect and promote human rights
All political parties and their candidates must recognize that respect for human rights and international law is a fundamental obligation. They must commit to building peace, tolerance and respect for human rights if elected, including upholding the rule of law by committing to ending arbitrary detentions, torture and other ill-treatment, unfair trials, the use of the death penalty and impunity for those responsible for human rights violations.
They must also ensure that Iraqi legislation is made fully compatible with international human rights law, including legislation relating to women’s rights, and is enforced in practice in accordance with Iraq’s obligations under international law.
Political parties, candidates and all others with influence, including religious and community leaders, must speak out about the need to protect and safeguard the rights of those most vulnerable. This includes women, who remain subject to legal and other discrimination and violence, and others who are subject to persecution because of their religious, ethnic orsexual identity.
In Mosul, for example, at least 14 members of the Christian minority have been killed in targeted attacks since early December 2009 as political tensions rise further ahead of the 7 March poll. A spate of recent bomb attacks by armed groups appear to have been deliberately targeted in an attempt to fuel the sectarian divide and further violence between Sunni and Shi’a Muslims.
Amnesty International urges that all Iraqis, including members of ethnic and religious minoritygroups, must be free to cast their votes without any pressure or intimidation.Women play a transformative role in building and supporting a non-sectarian society. To counter threats to women in conflict-affected situations, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1325 urging states to ensure increased participation of women in conflict resolution and peace-building processes, as well as development and reconstruction.
Ending abuses by armed groups
Amnesty International demands that all armed groups immediately cease and desist from carrying out attacks on civilians. Many of these attacks constitute crimes against humanity, crimes of the gravest magnitude under international law. Such crimes cannot be justified under any circumstances. Those responsible must be brought to justice.Thousands of civilians, including women, children and members of religious and ethnic minority groups, have been killed as a result of suicide and other attacks carried out by armed groups. Hundreds, possibly thousands, of civilians have also been abducted, tortured and killed by armed groups.Many bombings and other attacks on civilians have been carried out by al-Qa’ida in Iraq and its allies among Sunni armed groups. Other attacks and abuses have been committed byarmed militias, some of which are linked to Shi’a political parties represented in the current government and parliament. Amnesty International continues to call for these armed militias to be disbanded.All attacks on civilians must cease forthwith. The Iraqi people must be allowed to live their lives in peace and security and be allowed to enjoy and exercise their human rights freely and without fear.Amnesty International urges all political leaders and activists, and all religious, community, business and other leaders and people of influence in Iraq to speak out and commit to the achievement of this objective.
