UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...

3. Persons Opposing the Ruling Parties
Individuals expressing their opposition to the ruling parties, e.g. through participating in
demonstrations or publishing critical newspaper articles, risk arbitrary arrest and detention.
The KDP and PUK have repeatedly been accused of nepotism, corruption and lack of
internal democracy. 555
For example, throughout August 2006, street protests calling for improved public services
took place in Chamchamal, Sulaymaniyah, Kalar and Darbandikhan, several of which
turned violent. Reportedly, some 400 people were arrested and 60 people injured.
According to media rights groups, among those arrested were a number of journalists,
blamed by the security forces for helping orchestrate the protests. 556 On 16 March 2006,
demonstrators torched a monument for the victims of a 1988 gas attack in Halabja. Two
thousand locals staged street protests to prevent officials from entering Halabja to take part
in ceremonies marking the anniversary of the attack. Locals said they mounted the
demonstration to protest the lack of services and compensation for the victims of Halabja.
Dozens of people were arrested or wounded and a 17-year-old boy was shot when security
forces quelled the protests. Reportedly, at least seven journalists were beaten during the
demonstration and others had their equipment confiscated. 557
The Kurdistan Islamic Union’s decision to run independently from the Kurdish Alliance list
in the National Assembly elections of 15 December 2005 led to public riots and harassment
of party members in the three Northern Governorates, including the Governorate of
Sulaymaniyah. 558
Kurdistan authorities execute 11 notorious terrorists, 21 September 2006, http://www.kurdmedia.com/
articles.asp?id=13285; AFP, 10 “terrorists” executed in Iraq, 21 September 2006, http://www.rinf.com/
columnists/news/10-terrorists-executed-in-iraq.
555 See, for example, KurdishMedia.com, PUK inner-crises deepen: Reformist vs. corruption!, 8 January
2007, http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/article/13225; KurdishMedia.com, A group of PUK cadres
drive forward reform, 28 December 2006, http://www.kurdmedia.com/articles.asp?id=13812; Christian
Parenti, The Question of Kurdistan, The Nation, 26 October 2005, http://www.thenation.com/doc/
20051114/parenti. Kyle Madigan, Iraq: Corruption Restricts Development In Iraqi Kurdistan, RFE/RL,
29 April 2005, http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/4/DA9D366C-C2C2-486F-A4D7-2EEBC0BB507E.
html.
556 Coalition to Stop Deportations to Iraq, Kurdistan unsafe but Home Office still intent on sending people
back there, 25 August 2006, http://www.wadinet.de/news/iraq/newsarticle.php?id=2453; Reporters sans
Frontières (RSF), Two journalists go on trial while wave of arrests continues in north, 17 August 2006,
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=18582. See also: RFE/RL, Kurds Call for Government
Accountability, 11 August 2006, http://www.rferl.org/reports/iraq-report/2006/08/29-110806.asp.
557 IWPR, Kurdish Press Freedom Abuses, Iraqi Crisis Report No. 192, 1 September 2006,
http://iwpr.net/?p=icr&s=f&o=323571&apc_state=heniicr2006; The Christian Science Monitor, Kurds’ quest
for justice overshadowed by economic discontent, 7 April 2006, http://www.csmonitor.com/
2006/0407/p25s01-woiq.html; RFE/RL, Iraq: Kurdish Media Complain Of Harassment, 31 March 2006,
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/03/5dcece20-7c49-4f2e-a636-55a53c62e674.html; IWPR, Halabja
Protesters May Face Death Penalty, Iraqi Crisis Report No. 169, 23 March 2006,
http://iwpr.net/?p=icr&s=f&o=260482&apc_state=heniicr2006. See also “Journalists and Media Workers”.
558 RFE/RL, Iraq: Kurdish Factions Struggle To Achieve Unity, 14 December 2005,
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/12/94bb303e-382c-41b4-8f64-1d866488186d.html; BBC News,
Tarnished democracy in Kurdistan, 13 December 2005, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4522296.stm;
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