Yashar Star – Activists
In Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, demanding your rights or simply calling for your basic freedoms can come at a deadly cost. When individuals raise their voices to claim what is rightfully theirs, they are often met with brutal repression—either through imprisonment, fabricated charges, or even assassination.
In Iraqi cities, calling for your rights or freedom can result in being targeted by authorities or armed groups such as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). Similarly, in the Kurdistan Region, when activists or journalists demand accountability, justice, or civil liberties, they are silenced—either by being arrested, imprisoned, or, in many cases, murdered.
The region remains under the grip of two powerful ruling families—the Barzanis and the Talabanis—who treat the government and public institutions as their private property. These two dynasties control all aspects of life in the Kurdistan Region, including the media, security, and economy.
Numerous journalists and activists who have attempted to expose corruption or speak up for justice have paid with their lives. Figures like Kawa Garmiyani, Sardasht Osman, and Soran Mama Hama were murdered simply for doing their jobs as journalists and demanding accountability. Others, such as Sherwan Sherwani and Omid Baroshki, were imprisoned and subjected to inhumane treatment for speaking out—despite the authorities’ empty claims of democracy and freedom.
The hypocrisy is clear: those in power proclaim that people are “free citizens,” but their actions prove otherwise. What we see is a mafia-like system, driven by greed and fear, crushing any voice of dissent through violence, surveillance, and smear campaigns.
There must be no tolerance for the oppression, murder, and silencing of journalists and activists. The people of Kurdistan and Iraq deserve a government that respects their rights—not one that rules through fear and blood.
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