2021, the Repression Year for the Iraqi Kurdistan Journalists
Masrour
Barzani, the Nightmare of Journalists
By
Diary Marif, New Age Islam
4
February 2022
Main
Points
·
Masrour Barzani’s brutality and hearthstone against his
critics, remind people of the miserable days of Saddam Hussein’s era.
·
Both KDP and PUK used many strategies to silence the
journalists, authors and protestors who raised voices against corruption and
injustice.
·
This article discusses only Masrour Barzani’s power to
silence journalists.
·
Masrour Barzani promised to build a strong Kurdistan, carry
out reform, and bring all parties to work together but he did the opposite on
the ground.
·
They have to change their brutal strategies otherwise they
will have the same fate as Saddam Hussein.
....
Since he
was sworn as prime minister, the rate of crime and violation against journalists
and activists
has increased significantly, such as threatening, harassment, arbitrary
detaining, torturing, and sentencing behind the bar. His brutality and
hearthstone against his critics, remind people of the miserable days of Saddam
Hussein’s era.
It's been
more than 30 years since Iraqi Kurdistan has been run by the two major parties:
the Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP) of Masoud Barzani (1946-?) and the Patriotic
Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani (1933-2017).
Both parties used many strategies to silence the journalists,
authors, and protesters who raised voices against corruption and injustice. The
leaders of the parties are brutal and harsh with journalists and activists.
They arrested, tortured, and even killed journalists.
Among
both the KDP and PUK, the Talabanis and Barzanis have more
power than
other leaders and control their parties by using security forces to protect
their families interests, especially the eldest sons of Jalal Talabani and
Masoud Barzani, Bavel Talabani and Masrour Barzani.
In this
piece, I will discuss only Masrour Barzani’s power to silence journalists
because he has held the highest KRG position, his party has more power than
other Kurdistan parties, and he has a bad reputation for terrorizing
Journalists.
Masrour
Barzani became the prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in
July 2019. He promised to build a strong Kurdistan, carry
out reform, and bring all parties and all people to work together. Words are
cheaper than actions, given that he did the opposite on the ground. He neither
did reform nor brought all people together; instead, he put the KRG on the
cliff and faced several dire crises in all aspects. He used repression tools
and spread fear against his critics, especially towards journalists, activists,
and those who raised voices against corruption and inequality.
I should
mention that the prime minister is not responsible for all crises in Iraqi
Kurdistan and did not crackdown on freedom of speech alone as I mentioned
above. It has been for more than 30 years, the Kurdish authorities have been
involved in corruption, brutalities, and nepotism. However, during Mr.
Barzani's power, everything is worse than before because he does not listen to anyone, sees
himself above the laws, and doesn't know how to negotiate with his opposite
direction. As a result of his authoritarian action, he became a Journalist
nightmare and people were disappointed by any change.
He has a black chapter of hurting
and punishing journalists severely which started many years ago, but one of the
most brutal cases he is accused of was the assassination of the young
journalist Sardasht Othman who was kidnapped
in the Iraqi Kurdistan capital of Erbil and killed in the vicinity of the Iraqi
city of Mosul in 2010. Osman was a young journalist who criticized corruption,
family rule and nepotism, in several pieces, specifically criticizing the
Barzanis. In one of his articles, “I am in Love with Barzani’s
Daughter” Osman sarcastically wished to be the son-in-Law of Masrour
Barzani, in order to be rich, protected, and have a better lifestyle. The
Barzanis thought Osman broke their taboo. Many
believe that the current prime minister observed and ordered the
process of murdering Osman.
Up to
now, Mr. Barzani ordered his men to threaten, arrest, and torture journalists
and his family’s critics. During his current tenure as prime minister, His
Parastine (KDP
intelligence agencies) team arrested journalists for writing a comment on
social media. They discarded officers who did not vote for their party during
the last Iraqi elections. They cracked down the protests. Many journalists and
writers fled from Kurdistan to Europe or North America.
Another
reason he is a journalist’s nightmare is that he was raised in a
conservative tribe’s
family
who cannot accept criticism like his father, Masoud Barzani, who never accepted
criticism when he was the president (2005-2017).
Masrour
Barzani came to power through a robust intelligence background. He was head of
KDP intelligence services and before he became PM, he was head of the
intelligence of KRG. During exactly 20 years, people nicknamed him after the
atrocity son of dictators and authoritarians like Uday
Saddam Hussien,
Sief-al
Islam Gaddafi-
son of former Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi and so on. Therefore people did
not expect him too much. When he became PM, he allocated most of his cabinet
ministers and senior officers who have intelligence backgrounds. Thus, his
government does not like journalists and freedom of speech. He ordered all
arresting critics, torturing and killing anyone who was against his party and
family.
Although
many people hoped for Mr. Barzani’s reform, he arrested and put around 80 journalists and activists behind the bars in Dohuk
province when they demonstrated to stop corruption and demand better public
services in 2020. Despite there was a wide range of serious concern and
condemnation at national and international levels constantly and demanded to
release the victims without any condition, he neglected his all and ordered the
Erbil Criminal Court to sentence
three journalists: Sherwan Sherwani, Ayaz Karim, and Kohdar Zebari and two
activists Mulla Shivan Saeed, and Hariwan Issa for six years in February 2021.
All
observers throughout the World were shocked by the savage prime minister's
decision. He accused the journalists and activists of spying on KRG seniors
putting their life at risk, gathering information and passing it to foreign
countries such as the USA and Germany. After his repression attitude towards
journalists led the foreign observers who had called Iraqi Kurdistan, the
beacon of democracy in the Middle East, to rethink and change their minds about
it.
Besides
the shameful actions of Mr. Barzani against the jailed journalists and
activists, according to the Metro Center for Jousnalists’s
Rights and Advocacy, 353 violations were committed against 250 journalists and
media outlets under Mr. Barzani’s regime in 2021.
By and
large, day by day, the gap between the ordinary people and the prime minister
increased obviously. He doesn't try to change the lives of people for the
better and does not allow people to talk freely and express their sorrow. He
also uses several horrific strategies to silence his critics: social issues. I
think he needs to learn the lesson that the most brutal world leaders and
presidents could not stop demonstrations, freedom of speech, and journalism, in
contrast, they paid the price. I also cannot do it. I'm sure, the Iraqi Kurdish
people, especially journalists, will not give up on Masrour Barzani and his father’s
evil desires but they have to change their brutal strategies otherwise they
will have the same fate as Saddam Hussein.
...
Diary Marif is a Kurdish political and non-fiction
writer. Marif has an MA in History from Pune University, India. His writing has
appeared in the Awene weekly, Lvin, KNN TV, and other media outlets.
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