Serious human rights violations have been seen in the Kurdistan Region.

WOMEN ARE MURDERED OR COMMIT SUICIDE

The family, the society and the government violate women’s rights in the Kurdistan Region. There was an armed attack against the Sulaymaniyah Center Against Violence Against Women on November 29, 2018.

104 women have been murdered or pushed to suicide in the first 10 months of 2018. There have been 224 incidents of being set on fire and self-immolation. Women have filed 8.141 lawsuits.

CHILD WORKERS

Thousands of people have had to migrate to Iraq and the Kurdistan Region from Rojava and Syria. Attacks against Iraq have led to migrants turning to the Kurdistan Region. Circumstances are hardest for the children, who are forced to work from a young age and face many difficulties. According to a survey by the Kurdistan Organization to Protect Children, in 2018 alone, 384 children have been put to work like adult workers.

96% of the working children are children of migrant families.

POLITICAL PRESSURE

In the most recent parliamentary elections in Iraq, 6 members of the Communist Workers Party were arrested in Sulaymaniyah for putting up posters.

In the most recent Kurdistan Regional Parliamentary elections held on September 30, 2018 Tevgera Azadî faced obstruction. The government didn’t allow Tevgera Azadî to run in the elections, and the party was prevented despite having approval by the Iraqi government as an official political party. Tevgera Azadî was able to run in the Iraqi Parliamentary elections on May 12, 2018 however.

The Kurdistan regional government has decided to shut down parties that are not officially recognized. But they have failed to respond to the request by Tevgera Azadî, which is in fact official in Iraq, and shut down the party offices.

MURDERERS OF JOURNALISTS NOT ARRESTED

Several journalists have been killed in the Kurdistan Region recently. The government hasn’t launched any investigations, nor arrested any suspected murderers.

According to the Metro Center to Defend Journalists, there have been 250 violations against journalists since the beginning of 2018.