30 August 2004

1. "Separate blasts in Turkey wound 11 people", a train in southeastern Turkey derailed after hitting a land mine placed by suspected Kurdish rebels, while a separate mine blast wounded 10 soldiers, security officials said.

2. "HPG: Remigration is tried to be prevented", reacting the accusations of being responsible for mine explosion in Siirt that killed 2 and injured 5, People's Defense Forces (HPG), announced it abided the Geneva Contract claiming that such accusations aimed to prevent remigration. The explanation resumes, "Investigations we made and information we get show clearly that our forces in the spot did not plan such an attack."

3. "No start of negotiations with Turkey before 2006, says Austrian MEP", Hannes Swoboda says that it is important to send a positive signal to Turkey in December, but negotiations should not start immediately. He does not see Turkey joining the EU before 2014.

4. "Violence Against Kurdish Women in Iran", by Dr Anke Stock. Transcript of speech at public meeting on Kurds in Iran in British Parliament, 14 July 2004.

5. "The Kurds in Iran - A Forgotten Struggle", by Mohammed Alyar. Transcript of speech at public meeting on Kurds in Iran in Brithis Parliament, 14 July 2004.

6. "Two Kurds jailed for "separatism" in Syria", a Syrian security court sentenced two Kurdish activists to three years in jail on Sunday on charges of belonging to a separatist group, one of their lawyers said.

1. - Reuters - "Separate blasts in Turkey wound 11 people":

DIYARBAKIR / 30 August 2004

A train in southeastern Turkey derailed after hitting a land mine placed by suspected Kurdish rebels, while a separate mine blast wounded 10 soldiers, security officials said.

The freight train's driver was injured in the blast, which caused five wagons to derail as the train travelled through Bingol province, an official yesterday told Reuters.

In a separate incident, 10 soldiers were wounded when the vehicle they were travelling in hit a mine on a road in Sirnak province near the Iraqi border, another security official.

Fighting between Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants and Turkish security forces has been on the rise since the guerrillas called off a unilateral ceasefire on June 1.

Officials have also said the PKK is behind a series of recent mine blasts that have killed several soldiers in the mainly Kurdish southeast, where the rebels launched an armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in 1984.

More than 30,000 people, mostly Kurds, have died in the conflict, though the violence fell off sharply following the 1999 capture of PKK commander Abdullah Ocalan. The end of the ceasefire has threatened to wreck the region's fragile peace.

2. - DIHA - "HPG: Remigration is tried to be prevented":

FRANKFURT / 28 August 2004

Reacting the accusations of being responsible for mine explosion in Siirt that killed 2 and injured 5, People's Defense Forces (HPG), announced it abided the Geneva Contract claiming that such accusations aimed to prevent remigration.

According to MHA news, HPG explained, "With its II. Conference in 2003, HPG accepted Geneva Contract that organized international war and combat rules and 10.04.1981 dated II. Protocol of Lahey Document that is prohibitive and limiting in case of usage of mines, complots and other instruments" Moreover it was stated in the explanation, "Siirt governorship and certain people wanted to accuse HPG for the attack that violates war rules and human morality targeting civilians.". The explanation resumes, "Investigations we made and information we get show clearly that our forces in the spot did not plan such an attack."

'Remigration is tried to be prevented'

In the explanation HPG claims with such attacks villagers whose villages were burned are intimidated and added, "As we all aware that certain powers that fear of the unification of guerrillas and the people after possible remigration are behind the scene in the case of these attacks."

Calling people to be more sensitive about these attacks that taking civilians as target, HPG offered the families of those who died in the attack its condolence. Lastly in the explanation HPG emphasized, "We call our people to re-migrate despite of all obstacles."

Yesterday, mine explosion killed 2 and injured 5 in Bilgili village of Pervari district, Siirt.

3. - EurActiv - "No start of negotiations with Turkey before 2006, says Austrian MEP":

Hannes Swoboda says that it is important to send a positive signal to Turkey in December, but negotiations should not start immediately. He does not see Turkey joining the EU before 2014.

30 August 2004

While the EU should give a positive response to Turkey in December 2004, accession negotiations should not start straight away, says Austrian MEP Hannes Swoboda, Vice-President of the Socialist Group. "This would send the wrong signal, internally as well as externally," he said in the newspaper Die Presse.

When the European Council decides on Turkey's fate in its December meeting, it should set a date for the start of negotiations, but only for a point in time in two or three years, he said. In the meantime, Turkey must fulfil the Copenhagen criteria by further improving its human rights record and combatting corruption. The outcome of the negotiations with Turkey would, in any case, be completely open, as they could be interrupted at any time and do not automatically lead to the country's accession.

Swoboda thinks that "it would be completely fatuous to hope that Turkey will join the EU in the next ten years".

These remarks come only days after a Dutch advisory report recommended that EU accession talks with Turkey should start within two years, in spite of ongoing human rights problems (see EurActiv 26 August 2004). A commentator in the Turkish daily newspaper Referans has called this proposal unacceptable, saying that it called into question the honest intentions of the EU. He stressed that Turkey should fight for unconditional entry negotiations to start without delay.

The Commission is expected to publish its report on Turkey's compliance with the Copenhagen accession criteria in October. The Council will then take a decision in its meeting in December 2004.

4. - KNK (London) - "Violence Against Kurdish Women in Iran":

27 August 2004 / by Dr Anke Stock*

We know that about approximately 9 million Kurds live in Iran. They are the third most important ethnic group in the country. The Kurds in Iran are not recognised as an ethnic minority in the constitution. Today they suffer from multiple oppressions, with Kurdish culture still only partially recognised. Kurds belonging to the minority Sunni sect are subordinated by the Iranian Shiia Government. Economically, the region suffers from underdevelopment and a growing drugs problem, now devastating a new generation.

However, the group suffering the most amongst the Kurds in Iran are the women.

In Iran Kurdish women suffer not only under the rigid laws which subjugate women and where culturally the value of one woman is generally less than the value of one man. Women in Iran also suffer from state and domestic violence. However, no statistics are available for violence against women especially not for Kurdish women, not from the State nor from other sources. Another issue of great concern is the growing number of trafficking in women from Iran, including Kurdish women.

What are these violations against women’s rights? I want to give you a short overview of the main issues. The Kurdish Human Rights Project is observing the situation of women’s rights in the Kurdish parts of Iran - our last visit to Iran was in May 2003:

Kurdish women are often coerced into arranged and also forced marriages - sometimes at the age of 12/13. They also suffer under the practice of berdel. This involves, the exchange of girls - the girl from one family marrying the son of another (or from the same extended) family while his sister is given in marriage in return. This is often done to avoid having to pay ’bride prices’ for the daughters or to strengthen ties within clans and or villages.

Women have the right to divorce but only under certain conditions: for example if their husband has signed a contract granting that right or if the husband cannot provide for his family, is a drug addict, insane, or impotent. Still the decision is in the hand of a court staffed with male judges. In December 2002, a new law made the adjudication of cases in which women demand divorces less arbitrary and less costly. Nevertheless, in most cases a divorced woman losses the custody over her children.

In contrary, a husband is not required to cite a reason for divorcing his wife. He can divorce her non-revocable when his wife is unlikely to be carrying the husband’s child. Otherwise divorce is revocable during the waiting period meaning whether she is going to become pregnant or not - this means up to three menstrual cycles. During this time a husband is entitled to change his mind, return and have intercourse with his wife again without having to go through the marriage ceremony. If a man divorces his wife three times, the divorce becomes irrevocable.

Adultery is illegal in Iran and carries the death sentence. Adulteresses can be charged with the crime zina, which is punishable to death by stoning. However, at the end of 2002 judges were instructed to cease imposing such sentences.

Mut?a (or Sighe, as it is called in Persian) is a form of temporary marriage that is legal in Iran under Shi?a law. Therefore it does not primarily affect Kurdish women, still they are often forced into temporary marriages. It bears all the characteristics of prostitution, although there is no social degradation for the man. When a man and a woman enter into temporary marriage they make an irrevocable contract stating the period, and the recompense to the woman. A man is permitted, along with the four permanent wives he is allowed to have, to enter into as many temporary marriages as he likes. A woman may enter into mut?a without permission, although she must be unmarried and virgins need to have their father’s permission. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) or Pasdaran are alleged to force Kurdish women to enter into temporary marriage contracts with them (so KDPI). Obviously, this constitutes rape.

Another pressing issue are so-called ‘honour killings’. ‘Honour killings’ are murders in which predominantly women are killed as a ’punishment’ for having infringed traditional codes of honours. Iranian law indicates a tolerance for honour crimes. According to Article 23 of Iran’s Penal Code, if a woman betrays the family’s honour then her murder is justified. Unfortunately, no data are available about the practice of ëhonour killings? in the Kurdish areas of Iran. During KHRP’s mission in May 2003 we sensed a reluctance of people to talk about the occurrence of ‘honour killings’. So it is difficult to say how often they occur.

Another symptom for the violence against women are the suicides. Although there are again no definite figures, the female suicide rate in Iran is relatively high when compared to western countries. It has been estimated that 67 percent of suicides are the result of marital problems. These suicides stem from various frustrations to do with domestic violence, forced marriage etc. The most common form of suicide is self-immolation as we were told during our mission in last year.

Apart from domestic violence Kurdish women face also state violence. KHRP received reports of violent break ups of peaceful demonstrations supporting International Women’s Day on 8 March 2004. Reportedly, hundreds of women were beaten with clubs and chains.

Furthermore, the poor economic situation in the Kurdish areas of Iran has driven many husbands to take on work that is illegal, like drug trafficking. During our visit to Iran in 2003 we spoke to many women whose husband had been imprisoned while trying to make a living from illegal work.

To highlight these violations faced by Kurdish women the Kurdish Women’s Project (KWP) and the Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP) drafted a Charter for the Rights and Freedoms of Women in the Kurdish Regions and Diaspora. This Charter urges the elimination of discrimination against women in private and political life and the elimination of violence against women. It also urges the full participation of Kurdish women in political, economic, educational, cultural and all other fields, and the implementation of rights for women irrespective of their religious, political or other beliefs.

The Charter is a collective effort that has been published by the Kurdish Women’s Project (KWP) and the Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP). It was initiated by a number of Kurdish women in exile - two of which are originally from Iran, the Kurdish Women’s Campaign (now KWP). The Charter has been continually developed for three years to ensure that it appropriately identifies the needs and wishes of women in the Kurdish regions and diaspora. In many Articles we specifically referred to the problems faced by Kurdish women in Iran. The Charter was tabled in the House of Lords on 22 June 2004 and on 12 July 2004 a conference in Iraqi Kurdistan was held to introduce it to the Regional Government.

Our aim is to raise awareness of the problems faced by Kurdish women at a national and international level. We also want to motivate Kurdish women to use all available mechanisms and to lobby the governments of the countries they are living in to ratify international treaties and to amend their national laws. Therefore, we aim to find prominent supporters who can sign on a letter of support, which will facilitate the submission of the Charter to the relevant governments in the Kurdish regions, the EU and the UN.

* Dr Anke Stock, Kurdish Human Rights Project

Transcript of speech at public meeting on Kurds in Iran in British Parliament, 14 July 2004.

5. - KNK (London) - "The Kurds in Iran - A Forgotten Struggle":

27 August 2004 / by Mohammed Alyar*

Iran is a multi-national country of nearly 70 million population, where Persians, Azerbaijanis, Kurds, Baluchis, Turkmans and Arabs live together, each with their own distinctive traditions, customs, language and culture.

Successive Iranian governments have promoted the Persian language and culture as the official Iranian language and culture at the expense of other nationalities, while their just demands for cultural recognition have often been met with brutality and repression.

Not long after 1979 revolution, Kurdish demands for regional autonomy were met with a policy of repression and military force. The new Iranian authority dispatched 200,000 of its armed forces to Kurdistan, and Khomeini in his infamous speech on 19 August 1979 declared a Jihad on the Kurdish population in Iran labelling them “children of Satan” and their political leaders as “Enemies of God”. This military campaign up to now has cost thousands of lives.

The Kurds, who form around 16% of the Iranian population, already severely repressed under the previous regime, continued to suffer multiple violations of their most fundamental rights under the current regime. The Islamic Republic during its rule over Iran for more than two decades has implemented a series of economic, political, cultural, social and religious discriminatory policies that have brought about widespread unemployment, poverty and forced migration. Drug abuse (especially among the youth) which was unheard off twenty years ago, has now reached endemic proportions.

Historically, Iranian Kurdistan has been one of the most underdeveloped parts of the country. Farming still remains the main source of employment and income for the majority of the population. Lack of investment in modern methods of farming and in infrastructure have resulted in the farm produce perishing before reaching the market, and even when they reach the market they are not able to compete in quality and price with produce from elsewhere. This economic stagnation forces Kurdish farmers (specially the young ones) out of the region in search of job opportunities elsewhere. They abandon their farms and join the migrant communities living in shantytowns on the outskirts of major industrial cities. This mass migration of the young population in turn forces the region into a spiral of poverty and depravation, which the regime seems to be either unwilling or unable to stop.

Centralized power, and appointment of non-Kurdish administrators, who often come from the security establishment, at all levels of government in the Kurdish regions, have alienated the Kurdish population from the governing authorities, resulting in mass protests by the population at every available opportunity. The regime’s response to protests is always brutal and results in imprisonment, terror, torture and killing of whoever dare to oppose its tyrannical policies. Even during the past few years when the reformist parliament and president tried to curb non-judicial imprisonment and executions, elsewhere in Iran, in Kurdistan the ultimate power has always been in the hands of the security establishment. They have had a free hand to do as they wish with the population. In practice Kurdistan has been under a non- declared martial law.

The human rights abuses in Iran are well documented by the international human rights organizations. Amnesty International in its 2004 report states that during the year January to December 2003, “At least 108 people were executed, often in public. The death penalty was carried out on long-term political prisoners, apparently to intimidate political or ethnic groups such as Kurds and Arabs”.

During the same period, according to Amnesty International, “At least 197 people were flogged or sentenced to be flogged, often in large groups. At least 11 people were sentenced to have fingers and limbs amputated as judicial punishments". Amnesty points out that the total figures may have been considerably higher.

Amnesty International also highlights the case of a long-term Kurdish prisoner who was executed in 2003: “In February, long-term political prisoner Sasan Al-e Ken’an, a supporter of the banned Komala party, was executed. At the time of his execution his mother was in Tehran seeking a meeting with members of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) who were visiting Iran. On her return home to the town of Sanandaj, she went to visit her son in prison. She was informed that he had been hanged and told not to make a "fuss" but to bury him quickly."

Physical elimination of the leaders of the Kurdish movement by state sponsored acts of terrorism is another aspect of the Islamic government policy towards the Kurdish question in the country. On 13 July 1989 in Vienna, Dr. Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou, Secretary-General of the PDKI, and two of his associates, were assasinated at the negotiating table, by envoys of the Iranian government. His successor, Dr. Sadegh Sharafkandi, and three of his associates, were also assassinated on 17 September 1992 in Berlin by terrorists sponsored by the Iranian regime. Subsequently, German justice officially declared the highest-ranking Iranian leaders responsible for ordering the assassination of the Kurdish leaders in Berlin.

Many other Kurdish activists were assassinated by agents of the Iranian regime in Iraqi Kurdistan and elsewhere. KDPI in a recent communiqué publicized the fate of seven of its activists abducted in 1996 by the Islamic Movement of Iraqi Kurdistan and handed over to Islamic regime of Iran, six of whom have since been executed.

The Iranian regime’s religious policies are also discriminatory against the Kurdish populations. Since the majority of the Kurdish people in Iran are Sunnis, they are considered a religious minority. The constitution explicitly defines the state religion as Shia’a Islam. Building of large Shia’a mosques in Kurdish towns where the overwhelming majority of the populations are Sunni and a massive propaganda campaign by the government, aimed at convert the young Kurds to Shia’a Islam, are state policies designed to change the population composition in favour of the Shia’a religion.

The Iranian government’s educational policies are also discriminatory against the Kurdish people. In Iran, although the right of children to study in their mother tongue is enshrined in the constitution, the Islamic government after a quarter of a century has not implemented this policy. The children in Kurdistan, from their first year in primary school, are forced to study in Persian. This policy of forced education in the country’s official language, which is carried out in the name of the unity of the country, puts Kurdish children at a considerable learning disadvantage compared to native speaking Persians . These unfavorable practices and policies are continued to university level. There are very few universities in Kurdish cities, and a large percentage of the places in all Iranian universities are reserved one-way or another for the children of martyrs and supporters of the regime, a fact which by default prevents Kurdish students from accessing these places.

However, these discriminatory policies and systematic harassment and killing of Kurdish people by the Islamic regime have not been able to crush the resistance of Kurdish people. They continue the struggle for their human rights and their national democratic aspirations.

We have witnessed in recent years, a new growth and formation of political and cultural consciousness among the Kurdish people all over Kurdistan. A broad section of the population, especially the youth, who are fed up with the repression of their national rights, growing problems of mass poverty and unemployment, have started a new political movement in Iranian Kurdistan. Young people, who do not see any future for themselves under the tyranny and military occupation in Iranian Kurdistan, are considering more and more the necessity of organizing resistance against the Islamic Republic.

In conclusion I would like to stress that stability in the Middle East and democratization in the region can only be achieved if a satisfactory political solution to the Kurdish question is found.

* Mohammed Alyar is an Iranian Kurdish human rights campaigner

Transcript of speech at public meeting on Kurds in Iran in Brithis Parliament, 14 July 2004.

6. - Reuters - "Two Kurds jailed for "separatism" in Syria":

DAMASCUS / 30 August 2004

A Syrian security court sentenced two Kurdish activists to three years in jail on Sunday on charges of belonging to a separatist group, one of their lawyers said.

Farhat Abdel Rahman Ali, of the Kurdish Yikiti Party, and Ibrahim Naasan of the Kurdish Democratic Unity Party — who have been awaiting trial since arrests in late 2002 and early 2003 — initially were sentenced to five years of hard labour but the court reduced the punishment, the lawyer Faysal Badr said.

Fifteen other Kurds arrested after ethnic violence swept northern Syria in March and facing charges of inciting ethnic strife, civil war and attempting to split territory off from Syria had their hearings postponed until Oct. 31, he said.

The riots and subsequent arrests showed unprecedented tension between Kurds and the state in Syria, which like neighbouring Turkey and Iran worries Kurdish autonomy in northern Iraq could spark separatism within their borders.

Most of the hundreds of Kurds detained across the country after the riots, in which about 30 people were killed, were later freed, but Kurdish parties say about 180 are still jailed and join rights groups in claiming detainees face torture.

It was not immediately possible to verify claims of arrests, deaths in detention and mistreatment with Syrian authorities, nor the outcome of hearings in the security court whose proceedings are seldom open to the public.

Syria's two million Kurds, many in the north with family ties to Kurds in Turkey and Iraq, demand the right to teach their language and citizenship, which is required for state education and employment but denied to some 200,000 Kurds classified as stateless based on a 1962 survey.

They say they seek rights in Syria, not a separate state.

Dozens of Kurdish activists and relatives of the detainees gathered outside the court in central Damascus, clapping as the detainees were driven away.

Badr, one of 15 Arab and Kurdish lawyers who attended the hearing, said the detainees had not been allowed to see their families and that visits from lawyers were strictly monitored.

Farhat Ali's wife Sabah wept and fainted when she heard that he had been sentenced to three years. "I came expecting him to be freed because he has already been inside so long. I was shocked," she said.

"My brother is innocent. He deserves his rights. He did nothing against the Syrian government," said Naasan's brother Hashem. "What right have they to jail him?".