Muhammad Hussein Mawlud– Activist
In the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the law is merely a name without substance, and its sovereignty is questionable. For more than three decades, two political families have monopolized power through dynastic rule and the force of arms, preventing the citizens of this region from living a peaceful and dignified life.
In this system, criticizing the authorities and the Barzani and Talabani families is considered a red line. Any individual or dissenting voice that dares to demand their basic rights is immediately labeled a “troublemaker” and “subversive.” The fate of these voices is often abduction, brutal torture, and humiliation, with the aim of breaking their will and intimidating others. Often under pressure and torture, they are forced into video confessions in which they express regret for their actions and are coerced into confessing to crimes they did not commit. If this fails, their fate is either death or imprisonment, to serve as a lesson for anyone else who might want to confront this mafia-like authority.
To protect their power, these two families rely on a tribal and feudal system. They empower their close associates and mafia-like figures to dominate the people, enabling them to continue their corruption and theft of public wealth, ensuring that no dissenting voice can challenge them.
Despite the vast wealth of this land, the most basic services such as water and electricity are not adequately provided. The salaries of civil servants and teachers are distributed only once every few months, which has led to a deep economic crisis for the majority of families. Job opportunities for young people and university graduates are non-existent, and the market is monopolized by companies affiliated with these two parties. This has left the youth either unemployed and suffering from depression, or forced to accept manual labor and difficult jobs, or to emigrate. On top of all this, heavy and illegal taxes and levies are imposed on citizens and business owners.
Simultaneously with this economic oppression, the authorities work to spread a kind of stupefaction and confusion throughout society. Through their media channels and worthless projects (like the “Model girls and useless people), they try to divert public attention from the fundamental issues and their own theft and corruption, redirecting it towards secondary matters.
It is a great tragedy that Kurdistan, a land with immense underground resources like oil and gas, with fertile soil for agriculture and animal husbandry, and with beautiful nature and ancient archaeological sites that could make it a major tourist hub in the region, has its people living below the poverty line and being starved. This is the greatest betrayal of the land and the homeland.
Fearing a popular uprising, these authorities have gathered thousands of armed men around them, and whenever citizens take to the streets to demand their rights, they are answered with bullets. But they must know that no force or armed group can stand against a people’s revolution. History has proven that oppression and tyranny never last, and the day will come when the people will make the authorities pay for all this betrayal and tyranny.
I say to them from here: Fear the revolution of the hungry stomachs; your ranks, positions, and seats will not save you.
Translated into english- Mzhda Mohammed
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