Goran Adnan Omar – Activists
The sight of Mahmood Sangawy walking freely through the streets of Kurdistan represents one of the most shameful failures of justice in the region’s modern history. This man, who orchestrated the brutal murder of journalist Kawa Garmaiani in 2013, should be rotting behind bars for his heinous crime. Instead, he enjoys protection under the political umbrella of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), while the shattered family of his victim continues to suffer without justice, without closure, and without hope that the system will ever acknowledge their pain.
The parallels between Kawa Garmaiani’s assassination and the earlier killing of Soran Mama Hama in 2008 reveal a deliberate pattern of state-sanctioned violence against journalists in Kurdistan. Both men were gunned down outside their homes for the crime of practicing journalism. Both had received death threats from political figures before their murders. Both cases were deliberately mishandled by authorities to ensure the real perpetrators would never face consequences. The only difference is that in Garmaiani’s case, we know exactly who ordered the killing, we have documented evidence of his threats, and we watched as the corrupt judicial system set him free anyway.
Mahmood Sangawy was not some shadowy figure operating in the darkness. He was a military commander within the PUK who made repeated, documented threats against Kawa Garmaiani’s life. Multiple witnesses testified that Sangawy had publicly declared his intention to kill the journalist. The evidence against him was overwhelming, clear, and undeniable. Yet when he was brought before the Kalar court on January 18, 2015, the judge claimed there was “insufficient time for investigation to prove the charges” and set this murderer free. This was not a failure of the justice system – it was the justice system working exactly as designed to protect political allies while sacrificing the innocent.
The grotesque irony of this case cannot be overstated. While Sangawy walked free, several members of the Kurdistan Region Security (Asayish) who were identified as the actual shooters received death sentences. The foot soldiers who pulled the trigger faced execution, while the commander who ordered the killing was treated as a hero by his political party. This inversion of justice sends a clear message: in Kurdistan, your punishment depends not on your crime but on your political connections.
The impact of this injustice extends far beyond the courthouse. Kawa Garmaiani’s family has been condemned to a lifetime of grief without resolution. His children will grow up knowing that their father’s killer not only escaped justice but was actively protected by the very system that should have avenged their father’s death. His widow must live with the knowledge that the man who destroyed her family continues to enjoy prestige and protection within the PUK hierarchy. Every day that Mahmood Sangawy remains free is another day of torture for a family that has already suffered the ultimate loss.
This case represents the complete moral bankruptcy of Kurdistan’s ruling parties. The PUK, which claims to champion democratic values and human rights, has revealed itself to be nothing more than a criminal organization that protects murderers within its ranks. The party’s defense of Sangawy as a “clean personality” after his acquittal was not merely insulting – it was a declaration that the party considers the murder of journalists to be acceptable behavior for its members.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) has shown itself to be equally complicit in this culture of impunity. The murder of Soran Mama Hama in 2008 remains unsolved sixteen years later, despite clear evidence pointing to individuals connected to the party. The pattern is identical: death threats from political figures, a brutal assassination, and then a systematic cover-up that ensures no one of importance ever faces consequences.
This systematic protection of journalist killers has created a reign of terror that extends far beyond the immediate victims. Every journalist in Kurdistan now knows that criticizing the wrong political figure could result in their death, and that their killers will be protected by the very parties they exposed. The murder of Omar Shaban in 2010, Hamit Karim in 2012, and Azad Gul in 2017 – all journalists associated with the independent newspaper Awene – demonstrates that this is not a series of isolated incidents but a coordinated campaign of intimidation and elimination.
The international community’s silence on these crimes has been deafening. While international organizations routinely condemn press freedom violations in other regions, the systematic murder of journalists in Kurdistan has been met with diplomatic niceties and empty statements. This silence has emboldened the killers and their political protectors, creating an environment where murdering journalists has become a legitimate tool of political control.
The continuing freedom of Mahmood Sangawy represents more than just one case of failed justice – it is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the political system in Kurdistan. It demonstrates that the rule of law is subordinate to political loyalty, that human life is disposable when it threatens party interests, and that the most fundamental democratic principles are nothing more than propaganda slogans for international consumption.
The families of murdered journalists deserve better than empty promises and theatrical investigations designed to fail. They deserve a system that values truth over political convenience, that protects the vulnerable rather than the powerful, and that delivers justice regardless of political affiliation. Most importantly, they deserve to see Mahmood Sangawy and his fellow murderers behind bars, where they belong.
Until Mahmood Sangawy is imprisoned for his crimes, until the killers of Soran Mama Hama are brought to justice, and until the systematic protection of journalist murderers ends, the Kurdistan Region cannot claim to be a democracy. It remains what it has always been: a region where political parties operate as organized crime syndicates, where violence is the ultimate argument, and where justice is nothing more than a word used to deceive the outside world.
The blood of Kawa Garmaiani, Soran Mama Hama, and their fellow journalists cries out for justice from the very soil of Kurdistan. Their killers walk free, protected by the political machines they served. This is not just a failure of justice – it is a crime against humanity that demands international intervention and accountability. The time for diplomatic silence has passed. The time for justice is now.
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