Attacks on the Independent Women’s Organisation and the Women’s Shelter in Iraqi Kurdistan

Soheila Sharifi

Following a long lasting conflict between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Worker Communist Party of Iraq (WCPI), the armed forces of the PUK finally took to violence and attacked the WCPI and the Independent Women’s Organisation (IWO) in the city of Solymanieh in Iraqi Kurdistan.

According to the IWO and the WCPI, "on July 14, in a pre-arranged attack, the PUK’s forces murdered five members of the WCPI and attacked a vehicle belonging to the Women’s shelter."

A week later, on Friday, July 21 in a raid on the women’s shelter and the IWO office, the PUK’s forces arrested a number of women activists, removed the shelter’s residents, confiscated the files and belongings of the centres and closed both centres down.

The women’s shelter was at the time, safeguarding 12 women who had fled desperate conditions of ‘honour killing’, in addition to 5 of the women’s children. These women, their children and the staff and activists of both centres were detained in the PUK’s security quarters. The staff and other activists were released after a while, but three of the shelter’s guards, 12 of its residents and 5 children were kept in prison.

Rega Rauf, a member of the IWO’s management committee, said: ‘we are worried about the safety of women who had taken refuge with us. Most of these women had been threatened to be killed by their own relatives for honour reasons. If the PUK turn them in to their families, their lives would be in great risk.’

The closure of the IWO and women shelter has already resulted in an increase of threats and killings against women in Kurdistan. A man called Osman Malla Salih killed his sister on 22nd of July (only a day after the closure of the centre), stating: "the WCPI and the IWO no longer exist to punish me".

A week later Nasreen Aziz was killed by her brother in Solymanieh. This woman had been threatened to be killed a long time ago. The shelter had protected her before her murder.

The shelter was set up in 1998 by the IWO with the help of a number of international women’s organisation in Europe. Since its establishment this centre has offered assistance to more than 400 victims of domestic violence and honour killings, among them two women whose noses had been cut off as punishment.

The PUK’s attacks have enraged people in Kurdistan and have created a wave of criticism worldwide. The IWO’s activists in Europe and Canada, have been running campaigns against the PUK and seeking solidarity among women’s and human rights’ organisations. Hundreds of protest letters have been sent to the PUK’s offices in Britain, Sweden, Canada, Germany and many other countries.

The International Campaign for the Defence of Women’s Rights in Iran has strongly supported the IWO and has been actively involved in the campaign for re-opening the women’s shelter in Soleymanieh. In a letter to European Commission, Mina Ahadi, a spokesperson of this organisation, called for "a delegation from the European Union, the UN and NGOs to visit Kurdistan to investigate the matter." She also stated her concerns about the safety of women activists in Kurdistan and called for the "recognition of free expression and political activity in Kurdistan."

So far, there have been some negotiations between the PUK and IWO. Although there has still been no official agreement, it seems likely that PUK will give in and the centres will re- open in a near future.