General Update
On 18th March 2025, the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) published a periodic report on human rights violations in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. The local government in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq continues to commit serious violations of the civil and human rights of citizens, including civil society activists, journalists and protesters.
Peaceful Assembly
On 28th January 2025, dozens of educational staff demonstrated in Sulaymaniyah to protest the delay in the payment of their salaries. On the same day, a sit-in and hunger strike began in front of the UN office in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate. Two teachers participated on the first day, and after several days the number grew to 13. Their demands included the payment of overdue salaries, the deposit of salaries into federal banks, and the reinstatement of promotions and bonuses. The protesters affirmed their continued sit-in and their refusal to dismantle their tents until all their goals were achieved. Several hunger strikers in the sit-in tents were transferred to the hospital due to their deteriorating health. After interventions by colleagues and civil society activists to save their lives, the hunger strike ended on 11th February 2025.
Two days previously, on 9th February 2025, Asayish forces (Internal Security) in Erbil Governorate prevented dozens of protesting teachers from Sulaymaniyah Governorate from entering Erbil to demonstrate in the regional capital. Protesters faced a series of tight security measures, with Kurdish Asayish forces, affiliated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party, closing the Degala checkpoint at the entrance to Erbil, preventing them from entering the city. Excessive violence and tear gas were used to disperse them, forcing most of them to return to Sulaymaniyah.
On 23rd February 2025, dozens of teachers in Sulaymaniyah organised a peaceful demonstration in the Arbat sub-district, on the road between Sulaymaniyah and the Iranian border, to pressure the authorities to accept the exclusive settlement of salaries through federal banks. Protesters were attacked by security forces, who were behind the targeting of their tents, according to reliable local sources. Journalist Jawa Rawan Mahmoud, a reporter for Shar Press TV, was detained and removed from the protest area twice to prevent her from covering the protests. Several protesters were also detained briefly to prevent them from protesting.
On 25th February 2024, the Metro Center for Defending Journalists’ Rights issued a statement condemning the attacks on protesting teachers in Sulaymaniyah. The statement said, “The attacks on the protesting teachers in Sulaymaniyah are a replay of the systematic repression of protests.” The statement emphasised that, “The attacks on the protesting teachers, as well as the repeated attacks on journalists, including intimidation and the destruction of their equipment, are the true face of the government’s policy toward peaceful civil movements.”
Expression
On 30th January 2025, the Duhok Misdemeanor Court sentenced Omed Haji Fatah Baroshki, a journalist and civil society activist from the Bahdinan area who is the owner of Rast Media, to six months in prison. He was convicted under Article 2 of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region’s Law on the Prevention of Misuse of Telecommunications Equipment, which relates to the misuse of a mobile phone. His lawyer filed an appeal against the ruling.
Local sources confirmed to GCHR that the case filed against him by the administration of Zarka General Prison in Duhok is related to a social media post he made calling for the release of other prisoners of conscience. Baroshki had been arrested several times before. On 22nd February 2024, security forces raided his home and arrested him. He was not released until three days later, without any information being revealed about the reason for his arrest. He was also arrested on 19th August 2020, during teachers’ and employees’ protests against unpaid salaries. He was not released until 22nd February 2022, after spending a year and seven months in prison. He faced several prison sentences amounting to two years and six months, in addition to a fine of 240,000 Iraqi dinars in another case. On 13th August 2024, security forces arrested Baroshki as part of a security campaign to disperse participants in the annual commemoration of the death of journalist Wedat Hussein Ali who were attempting to gather at his shrine in Dohuk. He was released hours later, and the participants were forcibly dispersed.
GCHR’s periodic reports also include extensive information on human rights violations in Iraqi Kurdistan committed throughout 2024.