Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro
de la Prensa-Baszn Özeti
As with other ~ human rights investigators,
Mr. van der Stoel guards hi&
sources of information to protect them
from retaliation. His work ISgiven considerable
credibility b~ many because he
has been reporting on Iraq since the Gulf
War ..
"Iraqi law imposes life imprisonment
and, in certain cases, death on anyone
irisulting the president, " the report says.
It notes that the !£aqi government explanation
is that OffiCIalSdistinguish between
criticism and insult, reserving
death for the latter. Mr. van der Stoel
said he found this distinction "neither
convincing in theory nor reflective of the
factual situation in Ira~."
Membership. in pohtical parties not
officially working with the governing
Ba'ath Party is punishable by death, the
report says. And crimes against property
can also bring the death penalty or. in
some cases, disfigurement. Iraqi thieves
may be branded, or limbs may be amputated,
or both. In December, Iraq executed
four Jordanian students who had
smuggled $850 in auto parts into the
country.
In addition to information about executions,
the report detailed a continuing
Iraqi policy of forcibly resettling people
belonging to ethnic minorities - especially
Kurds and Turkomans in
Kirkuk, north of Baghdad - and of
moving Arabs into that region. Mr. van
der Stoel said Arabs were given incentives
of money and apartments to
settle in Kirkuk.
•'Families who are perceived to be
opposed to the regime, families who
have relatives outside Iraq or in southern
Iraq and those who have relatives in
detention or executed are said to be the
first targets of forced displacement." the
Military feared Sakik would be
'eliminated'
report said. It added thât officials from
the Ba' ath Party were given the power to
~ove targeted families. often with as
httle as 24 hours' notice.
Iraq has told UN committees that it is
fighting a rising crime wave brought on
by the economic sanctions. The van der
Stoel repo~ .c~allenges that explanation
and also cnticlzes Iraq for not accepting
for m?re than four years a Security
~ouncll plan allowing the limited sale of
o~l to raIse money.for.food and medicIße.
. "Instead. the government of Iraq dec.lded
to rely only on domestic production
to meet the humanitarian needs of its
people - preferring to let innocent
people suffer while the government maneuvere~
to get sanctions lifted." the
report saId.
• The fact that tbe government did not know about the military
operation to capture Semdin Sakik shows how the system is
working in Turkey ...
Editorial by IIour Cevik
There is an ongoing debate on whether the Turkish military did the
right thing by sending a crack military squad into northern Iraq to
apprehend Semdin Sakik, the PKK terrorist leader who gave himself up
to the Iraqi Kurdish administration. ..
The military told the Turkish Daily News they had no other option
but to capture Sakik and bring him back to Turkey because they felt
they needed him alive and that they feared his life was in danger because
of the lax security situation surrounding him ...
That may well be true because the Turkish military shadowed Sakik for nearly a month and no one nouœd. The
fact that the military managed to grab Sakik so easily shows the rather lax security situation surrounding Sakik
as well as the skills of the special Turkish military units involved in the action ...
The military wants Sakik to spill the beans and that means trouble for many people at home and abroad who
have been supporting the terrorist organization PKK. the Kurdistan Workers' Party led by Abdullah Ocalan.
Sakik, tbe number two man of the PKK and the one who commanded most of its militants inside Turkey.
must have much to tell to the Turkish military.
There are two losers in all this. One is the Kurdistan Democracy Party (KOP) led by Massoud Barzani who rules
the Iraqi Kurdistan Autonomous Administration in northern Iraq, and the other is the minority coalition
government led by Mesut Yilmaz. Sakik was under the KOPs custody and the fact that they lost him will no
doubt hurt their credibility. The KDP will also be humiliated by their opponents, who will turn to them and
say, "Vou were allies with Turkey and look: what they did to you. .. " Now Turkey has to do something for the
KDP to make amends ...
1:
c..
<
II)
-
What is sad in all this is the fact that the civilian mlers of Turkey have been left in the dark. .. Many
government officials admitted they were unaware of the military operation but later tried to make amends by
claiming they were informed about it but did not know the details. What is clear is that the military did this on
its own and the civilians were sidelined. We are told even the Turkish national intelligence and security
departments were unaware of the operation ...
This will not look good for our government, whicb daims to be "in charge." We feel this kind of lack of
coordination is unhealthy for our country, which has to get its act together if it really wants to deal with the
growing threats all around us.
97