TADHAMUN تـضـامـن

Tadhamun (solidarity) is an Iraqi women organization, standing by Iraqi women's struggle against sectarian politics in Iraq. Fighting for equal citizenship across ethnicities and religions, for human rights, and gender equality.

جمعية تضامن تدعم المساواة في المواطنة بغض النظر عن الأنتماء الأثني أو الديني وتسعى من أجل العدالة الأجتماعية و حماية حقوق الأنسان في العراق

Tuesday, June 8, 2021


تسجيل ندوة مناضلات ينتصرن للحياة 



 

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

 



" اذن نوبة تفتيش مفاجئة،  كالعادة قوات من السجانين والسجانات اقتحموا المكان ، بدأوا بتفتيش الغرف. وصلوا غرفتنا يعبثون بكل شيء... انخلع قلبي من مكانه وهم يعبثون بحقيبتي اسفل السرير، صادروا دفتر خرابيشي الواحد تلو الآخر".

المشاركات  

مي الغصين: اعتقلت في سجون الاحتلال الصهيوني عام 1991 وتحررت 1997. حاصلة على دبلوم فنون جميلة. شاركت في معارض فنية عديدة. أم لطفلين. مقيمة في قرية بيت سيرا.  ساهمت في كتاب " حفلة لثائرة: فلسطينيات يكتبن الحياة" - 2017  

نادية الخياط: ولدت بالقدس وعملت مدرسة في قرية سيرا، قضاء رام الله. اعتقلت بداية 1979 وحكمت مؤبد وعشرين عاما. افرج عنها في عملية تبادل اسرى نهاية 1983. وتم ابعادها مدة 13 عاما. عادت الى الوطن في 1996 . درست الحقوق وعملت مستشارة في وزارة الاقتصاد. ساهمت في كتاب " " حفلة لثائرة: فلسطينيات يكتبن الحياة" - 2017  

ابتسام أبو ميالة: ابتسام أبو ميالة كاتبة من الخليل، ولدت عام 1960 في مدينة البيرة الملاصقة لمدينة رام الله. تابعت دراستها بعد أن بلغت عامها الرابع والاربعين. أم لأربعة بنات وولدين وحصلت على دبلوم إدارة أعمال من كلية المستقبل التقنية. نشرت أربع روايات ومجموعة قصص للاطفال. تدير دورات كتابة ابداعية وقد تعاونت مع عدد من الاسيرات المحررات لكتابة تجاربهن في الأسر.  

هناء ابراهيم: كاتبة وصحافية وناشطة حقوقية. شاركت  في العمل النضالي الفلسطيني بداية السبعينات وعاشت وقائع ايلول الاسود في الأردن  ولبنان. مديرة " منتدى المرأة الثقافي" ورئيسة " هيئة ارادة المرأة" بالاضافة الى كونها رئيسة تحرير صحيفة " عقول".  

   

عبر الزوم من لندن الى رام الله وبلجيكا، ستناقش الكاتبات أهمية ان تكتب المرأة، المناضلة السياسية خاصة، تجربتها بنفسها. تدير الندوة الكاتبة هيفاء زنكنة.

يوم الخميس المصادف 3 يونيو / حزيران. الساعة السادسة مساء بتوقيت لندن والثامنة مساء بتوقيت فلسطين وبغداد.

 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85935041347?pwd=VURYR014T0hPVWtCWTA3MVpWVzMzdz09

Meeting ID: 859 3504 1347

Passcode: 03062021


Thursday, April 15, 2021


Iraqi Music ... Of Land & People

 Fri 16th April at 6.00 pm GMT +1  

Organised 

by 

Tadhamun - Iraqi Women Solidarity 

Iraq Solidarity Month 2021 Event

   https://youtu.be/ENS4zlrEsNg

While over the centuries civilizations flourished and died in a long succession along the banks of Tigris and Euphrates, music never lost its important function in the day to day life of Iraqi people.

An age - old heritage of great variety has been accumulated and preserved in the form of folk and religious music.  Almost every region along the two rivers kept its own style of country music.

Samplings of the richness of Iraqi music are introduced by :

Salim: Vocalist

Francesco Iannuzzelli: Oud

Azad Zangana: Percussions

الموسيقى العراقية ... صوت الشعب والارض
أمسية موسيقية افتراضية .  ستتم الساعة السادسة مساء الجمعة 16 ابريل . لحضورها اضغط على الرابط ادناه:
لم تفقد الموسيقى يوما مكانتها المهمة في حياة العراقيين، سواء كانوا في المدن أو الارياف، وعلى الرغم من ازدهار واندثار الحضارات، في تعاقب طويل، على ضفاف دجلة والفرات.
فتراكَمَ للعراق تراث بعيد الغور، شديد التنويع، وكان هذا التراث يُحفظ في أوقات التدهور، باشكال من الموسيقى الدينية والفولكلورية. وتحتفظ كل منطقة في ارجاء البلاد باسلوبها العريق الخاص.
في هذه الامسية سنستمع الى نماذج موسيقية وغنائية تجمع بين القديم والجديد، بأداء:
غناء: سليم
عزف على العود: فرانشيسكو ايانوزيلي
ايقاع:  آزاد زنكنة


Sunday, April 11, 2021

 Join Zoom Meeting Tue 13th April 6.30pm (GMT+1)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82255775047...     Passcode: Tadhamun!



Saturday, April 3, 2021

بمناسبة شهر التضامن مع العراق Thursday 8 April 6.30pm London time 8.30pm Baghdad time يوم الخميس 8 نيسان / أبريل الساعة السادسة والنصف مساء بتوقيت لندن، الساعة الثامنة والنصف مساء بتوقيت بغداد

Meeting ID: 848 3283 7310

Passcode: Iraq2003!

https://www.facebook.com/events/159204302643565




 

Friday, April 2, 2021

 Iraq Solidarity Month 2021



Monday, April 9, 2018

Iraq Solidarity Month - Thursday 26 April 2018 London SOAS 7:00PM

15 years after Shock and Awe
Tadhamun (Iraqi Women Solidarity) public meeting

“The immorality of the United States and Great Britain's decision to invade Iraq in 2003, premised on the lie that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction, has destabilised and polarised the world to a greater extent than any other conflict in history”.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s conviction was shared by millions who demonstrated across the globe against the war on Iraq in 2003 and continues to be shared today.

CHAIR: Professor Wen-Chin Ouyang -SOAS



SPEAKERS
Ayça Çubukçu, Dir of HR program at LSE
Dennis Halliday UN Humanitarian prog. 1997-98
Mike Phipps, Editor of Iraq Occupation Focus Newsletter
Haifa Zangana, Author-Journalist
Lowkey British Iraqi Rapper and Activist
and others.
All Welcome


https://www.facebook.com/IraqSolidarityMonth/



Saturday, April 7, 2018

Human Rights Watch reports/ statements Dec17 - April 18

https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/04/05/krg-response-war-crimes-allegations-iraq-falls-short#

KRG Response to War Crimes Allegations in Iraq Falls Short
KRG Denies Evidence of Mass Execution Despite Evidence


In early February, Human Rights Watch published evidence suggesting Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) security forces carried out mass executions of possibly hundreds of Islamic State (also known as ISIS) suspects who surrendered to military forces in August 2017. The KRG has responded with a 24 page denial of our findings.


Rush to Judgment in Iraq Harms Justice
Show Trials, Collective Punishment a Flawed Response to ISIS Crimes - Fred Abrahams
These atrocities demand justice, but the Iraqi government has so far relied on the heavy hand. It has reportedly detained at least 19,000 people for alleged ISIS ties and Iraqi courts have sentenced more than 3,000 people to death. The trials have been rushed and deeply flawed, including confessions apparently after torture.
Iraqi authorities have forced families with relatives suspected of being ISIS members into prison camps. They have destroyed some of their homes.
Kurdistan Region of Iraq: Protesters, Journalists Detained
Freedom of Assembly Suppressed  (Beirut) – Kurdistan Regional Government security forces detained participants in December 2017 protests around Sulaymaniyah and forced them to sign statements promising not to criticize the government.
The detained protesters were held for up to eight days without being taken before a judge and were forced, before being released, to sign commitments not to protest or be critical of the government on social media. The KRG’s Asayish forces also detained three journalists who were covering protests, apparently for their work.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/12/21/kurdistan-region-iraq-350-prisoners-disappeared
Kurdistan Region of Iraq: 350 Prisoners ‘Disappeared’
Families Seek Whereabouts After Iraqi Takeover of Kirkuk
Those missing are mainly Sunni Arabs, displaced to Kirkuk or residents of the city, detained by the regional government’s security forces, the Asayish, on suspicion of Islamic State (also known as ISIS) affiliation after the regional forces took control of Kirkuk in June 2014. Local officials told Human Rights Watch that the prisoners were no longer in the official and unofficial detention facilities in and around Kirkuk when Iraqi federal forces regained control of the area on October 16, 2017.


ISIS Trials Iraq Deserves Justice
The judiciaries of the Iraqi government and the KRG are relying on their respective counterterrorism courts to rapidly prosecute all of these ISIS suspects on charges brought under their counterterrorism laws, primarily and often exclusively on the charge of membership in ISIS, with no distinction made for the severity of the charges brought against suspects and no effort to prioritize the prosecution of the worst offenses. One Iraqi judge at the Nineveh counterterrorism court, which is mandated to prosecute ISIS members captured in Mosul, said that between February and late August 2017, the court had commenced trials against 5,500 ISIS suspects, and convicted and sentenced at least 200.
Human Rights Watch knows of at least 7,374 individuals that the Iraqi and KRG judiciaries are trying or have convicted and in 92 cases already executed since 2014, while recognizing that this represents a fraction of the total number of individuals held as ISIS suspects.

Sunday, March 5, 2017

HRW:Displacement, Detention of Suspected “ISIS Families”

Troops Force Residents Out, Demolish Homes
(Erbil) – Iraqi forces have forcibly displaced at least 125 families said to have familial ties to affiliates of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS), Human Rights Watch said today. 
Sunni tribal groups (known as the Hashad al-Asha'ri), within the Popular Mobilization Forces (known as the PMF or Hashd al-Sha'abi), which are under the control of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, and Iraqi soldiers forced the families out of their homes following the passage of a decree issued by local authorities. The families, all from Salah al-Din governorate, are being held against their will in a camp functioning as an open-air prison near Tikrit. The PMF also destroyed some of the families’ homes.
“While politicians in Baghdad are discussing reconciliation efforts in Iraq, the state’s own forces are undermining those efforts by destroying homes and forcing families into a detention camp,” said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “These families, accused of wrongdoing by association, are in many cases themselves victims of ISIS abuses and should be protected by government forces, not targeted for retribution.”
Read more

HRW:On the Ground in Iraq’s Battle with the Islamic State—Civilians Caught in the Crossfire

The fighting has moved from neighborhood to neighborhood, often street by street. Iraqi forces on the ground were backed by Iraqi and coalition aircraft. The Islamic State (ISIS) used improvised landmines and suicide car bombers. By late January, the Iraqi forces controlled the eastern part of the city; in mid-February they launched operations to retake the western half.
When the fighting began, about 1.2 million civilians were in Mosul. Since then, at least 175,000 have fled their homes to seek refuge in government-controlled areas. Iraqi authorities have reported that more than 5,200 civilians have been killed or wounded inside Mosul since the military operation began. The Iraqi forces have taken measures to protect civilians, but casualties have been high.
In January, my colleagues and I interviewed dozens of residents in eastern Mosul who had remained in their homes as the fighting shifted to their neighborhoods. They shared horrific stories.
Read more

HRW:Sunni Women Tell of ISIS Detention, Torture Describe Forced Marriage, Rape

Although accounts of gender-based violence have emerged from areas under ISIS control, these are the first cases against Sunni Arab women in Iraq that Human Rights Watch has been able to document. Researchers interviewed six women in Kirkuk, to which they had escaped from the town of Hawija, 125 kilometers south of Mosul and still under ISIS control. Human Rights Watch and others have extensively documented similar abuses by ISIS fighters against Yezidi women.
“Little is known about sexual abuse against Sunni Arab women living under ISIS rule,” said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “We hope that the international community and local authorities will do all they can to give this group of victims the support they need.”
In January 2017, Human Rights Watch interviewed four women who said they had been detained by ISIS in 2016, for periods between three days and a month. Another woman said an ISIS fighter, her cousin, forced her to marry him and then raped her. A sixth woman said that ISIS fighters destroyed her home as punishment after her husband escaped ISIS and tried to forcibly marry her. Five of the six women said that ISIS fighters beat them.
Read more

HRW: Looting, Destruction by Forces Fighting ISIS

(Erbil) – Armed forces fighting Islamic State (also known as ISIS) to retake a town and four villages near Mosul looted, damaged, and destroyed homes, Human Rights Watch said today. There was no apparent military necessity for the demolitions, which may amount to war crimes and which took place between November 2016 and February 2017.
The Iraqi authorities should investigate allegations of war crimes and hold those responsible to account, Human Rights Watch said. The United States and other countries providing military assistance to the Iraqi Security Forces should press the government to carry out these investigations. The United Nations Human Rights Council should expand the investigation it established in 2014 on ISIS abuses to include serious violations by all parties, including the Popular Mobilization Forces (known as the PMF or Hashd al-Sha'abi), units that were formed largely to combat ISIS, and are under the direct command of Prime Minister al-Abadi. “Absent a legitimate military objective, there is no excuse for destroying civilian homes,” said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “All the destruction does is to keep civilians from going home.” Read more

December 6, 2016

UK should halt arms exports to Iraq if there's a risk of abusive militias acquiring them

 
Field research and detailed expert analysis of photographic and video evidence since June 2014 has found that the Iraqi militias have benefited from the transfers of arms - manufactured in at least 16 countries. The militias that comprise the “Popular Mobilisation Units” (PMU) deploy more than 100 types of arms - from heavy weapons such as tanks and artillery, as well as a wide range of small arms, including standard-issue Kalashnikov and M-16 automatic rifles, machine guns, handguns and sniper rifles. These predominantly Shia militias have used the arms to carry out the enforced disappearance and abduction of thousands of mainly Sunni men and boys, as well as committing extrajudicial executions, acts of torture and the wanton destruction of property (see examples below).

Read more

Mosul, Iraq: injured and traumatised children caught up in a gathering 'humanitarian crisis'

22 Dec 2016, 12:00am

Children in camps show clear signs of trauma: mutism, self-harming, bed-wetting


Countless children have been left scarred and deeply traumatised by the extreme violence they have experienced and witnessed. In a hospital in Erbil, capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government, Amnesty spoke to Umm Ashraf, who described how she and her seven children were injured when a car bomb exploded outside the house where they were sheltering in east Mosul on 13 December, burying scores of people under the rubble of several houses destroyed in the blast. Her eldest daughter, 17-year-old Shahad, lost both her eyes in the attack. 
“Our homes have become our children’s graves. My neighbours are still buried under the rubble; no one has been able to dig them out. I dragged my wounded children from under the rubble one by one. But my sister was killed, I could not help her. My neighbour was decapitated in the blast, so many others killed.
“My children saw my sister being killed in front of them; they saw our neighbour who was decapitated in the strike; they saw body parts on the ground. How can they ever recover from that?
read more
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/press-releases/mosul-iraq-injured-and-traumatised-children-caught-gathering-humanitarian-crisis

Saturday, March 4, 2017

Amnesty International report 2016/7

Prime Minister al-Abadi issued Order 91 in February and Parliament passed a law in November designating the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), established in June 2014 and comprising mostly Shi’a paramilitary militias, as a “military formation and part of the Iraqi armed forces”.
Paramilitary militias and government forces committed war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law, mostly against members of the Sunni Arab community. They carried out extrajudicial executions, other unlawful killings and torture, forcibly disappeared hundreds of men and boys, and deliberately destroyed homes and property.
Following a suicide bombing that killed 27 men and injured 41 others in Muqdadiya on 11 January, militias carried out revenge attacks against the Sunni community, abducting and killing dozens of men and burning and destroying Sunni mosques, shops and other property.
On 3 June, PMU militias abducted an estimated 1,300 men and boys fleeing Saqlawiya, north of Falluja. Three days later, 605 men reappeared bearing marks of torture, while the fate of 643 remained unknown. An investigative committee established by the Governor of Anbar found that 49 had been killed by being shot, tortured or burned to death. On 30 May, at least 12 men and four boys who were fleeing al-Sijir, north of Falluja, were extrajudicially executed. Prime Minister al-Abadi established a committee to investigate abuses, but the authorities did not disclose any outcome or report any criminal process against the perpetrators.
Read more click here
https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/iraq/report-iraq/

Sunday, July 10, 2016

report on event:Iraqi IDPs – Fragmentation of National and Cultural Identity – an event organised by Tadhamun (Iraqi Women Solidarity)

Iraqi IDPs – Fragmentation of National and Cultural Identity – an event organised by Tadhamun (Iraqi Women Solidarity)

http://nina-iraq.com/2016/06/26/event-organised-tadhamun-iraqi-women-solidarity/

Iraqis mourn Karrada amid anger at political establishment

Nazli Tarzi  #international_investigation_karada
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/iraqis-mourn-karrada-amid-anger-political-establishment-1969183600#block-disqus-disqus-comments

Up to 900 refugees from Fallujah feared dead after being kidnapped by anti-Isis militia in Iraq

The UN said at least 49 of those kidnapped had been killed and up to 900 remain missing
Up to 900 men and boys who fled their homes near Isis’ former stronghold of Fallujah remain missing in Iraq after being abducted by a militia accused of torturing, shooting and beheading civilians.
The United Nations said captives who have since been freed by the paramilitary group reported a litany of war crimes and atrocities after they sought refuge from battles between Isis and Iraqi forces last month.
Those abducted had been among 8,000 civilians who fled the village of Saqlawiyah, north of Fallujah, as fighting intensified on 1 June.
Warning: The following footage contains distressing images
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/fallujah-isis-iraq-shia-militias-popular-mobilisation-battle-civilians-kidnapped-missing-massacred-a7121266.html

Fallujah Abuses Inquiry Mired in Secrecy



New Violations Belie US Reference to ‘Isolated Atrocities’

On June 4, 2016, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi opened an investigation into allegations of abuse and three days later announced unspecified arrests and the “transfer of those accused of committing violations to the judiciary to receive their punishment according to the law.” Government officials, however, have not provided information in response to Human Rights Watch inquiries since mid-June about the status of the investigation, who is conducting it, or steps taken so far.
“Failing to hold fighters and commanders accountable for grave abuses bodes very badly for the looming battle for Mosul,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director. “Serious investigations and prosecutions are essential to provide justice to victims and their families, and to deter atrocities by government forces.”

 تكتُّم على سير التحقيقات في انتهاكات الفلوجة

انتهاكات جديدة تكّذب التوصيف الأمريكي بأنها "فظائع معزولة
"
في 4 يونيو/تموز 2016، فتح رئيس الوزراء حيدر العبادي تحقيقا في مزاعم سوء المعاملة وأعلن بعد 3 أيام عن اعتقالات غير محددة و"إحالة المتهمين بارتكاب تجاوزات إلى القضاء لينالوا جزاءهم وفق القانون". لكن المسؤولين الحكوميين لم يقدموا المعلومات ردا على استفسارات هيومن رايتس ووتش منذ منتصف يونيو/حزيران بشأن وضع التحقيق، من يُجريه، أو الخطوات المُتخذة حتى الآن.
قال جو ستورك، نائب مدير قسم الشرق الأوسط: "الإخفاق في مساءلة المقاتلين والقادة عن الانتهاكات الجسيمة يُنذر بأخطار في معركة الموصل. التحقيقات والملاحقات القضائية الجادة ضرورية لتوفير العدالة للضحايا وأُسَرهم، وردع القوات الحكومية عن ارتكاب الفظائع".
https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/07/07/iraq-fallujah-abuses-inquiry-mired-secrecy

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Iraq: 1,000 detainees held in 'shocking' conditions in makeshift holding centres in Anbar

Amnesty International 2/5/16
More than 1,000 detainees, including some as young as 15, are being held without charge in horrendous conditions at makeshift holding centres in Anbar governorate, west of Baghdad, said Amnesty International today.
An Amnesty delegation led by the organisation’s Secretary General Salil Shetty gained access on 30 April to a centre run by Anbar’s counter-terrorism agency (Mukafahat al-Irhab) in Ameriyat al-Fallujah, where 683 male detainees are held without charge. The detainees are crammed into several rooms within a complex of disused warehouses being used as a detention and interrogation facility.

“It was a truly shocking sight - hundreds of human beings packed together like sardines in a tin and held in inhumane and degrading conditions for months on end.
“The detainees are squeezed into a space of less than one square metre each, sitting in a crouching position day and night, unable to stretch or lie down to sleep and are rarely allowed outside for fresh air."
read statement in full

Monday, May 2, 2016

Equality and justice not luxuries but crucial foundations of stability

GENEVA (25 April 2016) – Iraq must immediately take concrete steps to plan for “the day after” the defeat of ISIL, grounded in equality, the rule of law and a vision that has earned the confidence of all the country’s diverse communities, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore urged today, at the end of a week-long visit to Iraq.
“Iraq, it seems, has a long memory but is short on vision,” Gilmore said. “It is like a vehicle travelling over rocky terrain, with a large rearview mirror but only a keyhole for a windscreen, despite a vicious contest for the wheel. The dominant narrative among many of Iraq’s leaders is of ‘my community’s grievance’, failing to acknowledge the widespread nature of Iraqis’ suffering and failing to chart a course for an inclusive future.”
“Iraqis are crying out for fairness, recognition, justice, appreciation and meaningful participation in shaping their future – a process that goes forward and not backwards.”
“All the leaders of Iraq, at every level, in both word and action, need to demonstrate a far greater commitment to peace, equality and to the rule of law than to grievances or to vengeance hardwired by sectarianism. There is a worrying absence of a political narrative that brings together all the diverse communities in Iraq, a narrative that includes all the minority communities. This must be urgently addressed,” she added.
- See more at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=19871&LangID=E#sthash.pQvWdB1t.dpuf
GENEVA (25 April 2016) – Iraq must immediately take concrete steps to plan for “the day after” the defeat of ISIL, grounded in equality, the rule of law and a vision that has earned the confidence of all the country’s diverse communities, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore urged today, at the end of a week-long visit to Iraq.
“Iraq, it seems, has a long memory but is short on vision,” Gilmore said. “It is like a vehicle travelling over rocky terrain, with a large rearview mirror but only a keyhole for a windscreen, despite a vicious contest for the wheel. The dominant narrative among many of Iraq’s leaders is of ‘my community’s grievance’, failing to acknowledge the widespread nature of Iraqis’ suffering and failing to chart a course for an inclusive future.”
“Iraqis are crying out for fairness, recognition, justice, appreciation and meaningful participation in shaping their future – a process that goes forward and not backwards.”
“All the leaders of Iraq, at every level, in both word and action, need to demonstrate a far greater commitment to peace, equality and to the rule of law than to grievances or to vengeance hardwired by sectarianism. There is a worrying absence of a political narrative that brings together all the diverse communities in Iraq, a narrative that includes all the minority communities. This must be urgently addressed,” she added.
- See more at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=19871&LangID=E#sthash.pQvWdB1t.dpuf
GENEVA (25 April 2016) – Iraq must immediately take concrete steps to plan for “the day after” the defeat of ISIL, grounded in equality, the rule of law and a vision that has earned the confidence of all the country’s diverse communities, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kate Gilmore urged today, at the end of a week-long visit to Iraq.
“Iraq, it seems, has a long memory but is short on vision,” Gilmore said. “It is like a vehicle travelling over rocky terrain, with a large rearview mirror but only a keyhole for a windscreen, despite a vicious contest for the wheel. The dominant narrative among many of Iraq’s leaders is of ‘my community’s grievance’, failing to acknowledge the widespread nature of Iraqis’ suffering and failing to chart a course for an inclusive future.”
“Iraqis are crying out for fairness, recognition, justice, appreciation and meaningful participation in shaping their future – a process that goes forward and not backwards.”
“All the leaders of Iraq, at every level, in both word and action, need to demonstrate a far greater commitment to peace, equality and to the rule of law than to grievances or to vengeance hardwired by sectarianism. There is a worrying absence of a political narrative that brings together all the diverse communities in Iraq, a narrative that includes all the minority communities. This must be urgently addressed,” she added.


HRW: Protecting Civilians Key to Mosul Battle

Beirut – Iraqi government forces gearing up to drive Islamic State fighters from Mosul should prioritize protection of civilians. Hundreds of thousands of civilians remain in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, which the extremist group Islamic State, also known as ISIS, took control of in June 2014.

ISIS and pro-government forces both have records of harming civilians during and after military operations. The United States, Iran, Germany, and other states providing military support to Iraq should condition their support on scrupulous respect for the laws of war, which prohibit attacks that disproportionately harm civilians or fail to distinguish civilians and civilian objects from military objectives.
“Protecting civilians from needless harm needs to be paramount in any battle for control of Mosul,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director. “It’s essential for the Iraq government to exercise effective command and control over all its forces, and for allies like the US and Iran to make sure they do so.”
Human Rights Watch has, since 2014, documented laws of war violations by the Iraqi military and the largely Shia militias that make up the Iraqi government’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), and by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters fighting ISIS, including summary executions, disappearances, torture, use of child soldiers, widespread building demolition, indiscriminate attacks, and unlawful restrictions on the movement of people fleeing the fighting.
Human Rights Watch also called on ISIS forces to respect the laws of war, and in particular to allow civilians to leave areas under their control, not to use civilians to shield its military objectives from attack, and not to use child soldiers.
In mid-March 2016, the Iraqi army opened a ground offensive from the town of Makhmur, in Erbil governorate, toward Qayyara, 70 kilometers south of Mosul, but one month later, only a few nearby villages had been captured. The US-led coalition has conducted aerial attacks on ISIS and advises local forces on ground attacks. Germany leads a training center for Kurdish forces and provides them with weapons. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps provides military advisors to Iraq.
With a political stand-off in Baghdad over the nomination of new government ministers, Human Rights Watch called on Iraq’s international supporters to use their leverage with political and military leaders in Iraq to ensure civilian protection and compliance with the laws of war.
Popular Mobilization Forces officials have said their forces would be at the forefront of the campaign against ISIS in Mosul, and the Peshmerga also vowed to participate. Speaking to Human Rights Watch in Baghdad in late March, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Commission overseeing the PMF, was clear that he expected his forces would participate in the battle for Mosul.
In late February 2016, Atheel al-Nujaifi, the former governor of Nineveh, who has his own militia, warned that local residents would rise up against the PMF if they participated. On April 11, Iraqi pollster Munqith Dagher presented results from one survey in which “of the 120 Sunni respondents in Mosul, 100 percent do not want to be liberated by Shiite militias or the Kurds.”
The Popular Mobilization Commission has increased its capacity to ensure compliance with the laws of war, its spokesperson Yusif al-Kilabi told Human Rights Watch in late March in Baghdad. Al-Kilabi said the commission set up a Directorate for Security and Discipline, with 20 staff lawyers providing training on the laws of war and 100 liaison officers who accompany PMF forces in the field.
Judge Abd al-Sattar Bir Qadar, spokesperson for the High Judicial Council, told Human Rights Watch that he had recently sent judges to process detainees the PMF had taken on the battlefield following the Jazira campaign in March. Bir Qadar added that the judiciary also held PMF members accountable under civilian law, with 300 PMF members charged or convicted of crimes and currently held in a new detention facility in Baghdad’s Kazhimiya neighborhood. Bir Qadar did not provide details of charges or convictions. Al-Kilabi said some PMF fighters had received 10 and 20-year sentences, but did not say what crimes they had been charged with.
Iraqi law contains no specific provisions for war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide, and Human Rights Watch urged Prime Minister Haider al-Abbadi to rectify this in a meeting in late March. Holding fighters accountable under the laws of war became even more important after the prime minister, on February 22, 2016, decided to transform the PMF into a permanent military institution with military ranks directly linked to the office of the commander in chief, who is the prime minister.
Kurdish Regional Government officials, in a March 26, 2016 letter to Human Rights Watch, said that Masoud Barzani, president of the autonomous Kurdish Region of Iraq, had issued Order No. 3 in March to Peshmerga fighters to observe principles of human rights and humanitarian law. The order stated that, “In all possible situations, civilians should be protected from any threat on their lives and properties, as well as the protection of their towns and villages which have been liberated by Peshmerga forces.”
“Training in the laws of war and orders to respect it are positive moves, but need to result in actual respect for the laws during conflict,” Stork said. “Given the record of abuses by armed actors on all sides, it is crucial for Iraq’s international allies to press the government to discipline and hold accountable fighters and commanders who violate the laws of war.”
Read more:

Petition sign and circulate:

Release Iraqi women hostages, victims of terrorism themselves

بعيدا عن الوطن؛ حراك التضامن مع الوطن فنا، شعرا وكتابةً
Away from Home; Memory, Art and women solidarity: you are invited to an evening of poetry and music 22/3/2017 18:30 at P21 Gallery London click here for more details
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Public meeting at The Bolivar Hall, London Sat.14/5/2016 at 15:00 IDPs : Fragmentation of Cultural and National Identity



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Protest the suffering of Iraqi Christians: No to terrorism No to state terrorism.Hands off our minorities. Hands off our people. Shame on the human rights violators on all sides. Assemble 11:30 on 28/7/14 near Parliament Square, near Westminister tube station London. For more past events click here

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Useful links






Halt All Executions! Abolish The Death Penalty!

We women of Tadhamun condemn the persisting practice of arbitrary arrests by the Iraqi security forces. We condemn their arrests of women in lieu of their men folk. These are 'inherited' practices. We are alarmed by credible media reports of the Green Zone government’s intentions of executing hundreds of Iraqi men and women.


For more info click here
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Professor Zaineb Al Bahrani of Columbia University NY speaking at a our meeting on the destruction/damage to historical sites in Iraq

On youtube: Part1
Part 3
Part4
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Human Rights Watch: No woman is Safe

Disclaimer

Articles published on this site do not necessarily reflect the opinion of WSIUI or its members


المقالات المنشورة على هذا الموقع لا تعكس بالضرورة آراء منظمتنا أو أعضاء منظمتنا


Samarra Minrate built in 852 AD

Samarra Minrate built in 852 AD
Building of 1 500 massive police station !
From the angle of the photo, it is possible to calculate that the complex is being built at E 396388 N 3785995 (UTM Zone 38 North) or Lat. 34.209760° Long. 43.875325°, to the west of the Malwiya (Spiral Minaret), and behind the Spiral Cafe.
While the point itself may not have more than Abbasid houses under the ground, it is adjacent to the palace of Sur Isa, the remains of which can be seen in the photo. While the initial construction might or might not touch the palace, accompanying activities will certainly spread over it.Sur Isa can be identified with the palace of al-Burj, built by the
Abbasid Caliph al-Mutawakkil, probably in 852-3 (Northedge, Historical Topography of Samarra, pp 125-127, 240). The palace is said to have cost 33 million dirhams, and was luxurious. Details are given by al-Shabushti, Kitab al-Diyarat.
Samarra was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO at the end of June. The barracks could easily have been built elsewhere, off the archaeological site.--
Alastair Northedge Professeur d'Art et d'Archeologie Islamiques UFR d'Art et d'Archeologie
Universite de Paris I (Pantheon-Sorbonne) 3, rue Michelet, 75006 Paris
tel. 01 53 73 71 08 telecopie : 01 53 73 71 13 Email :
Alastair.Northedge@univ-paris1.fr ou anorthedge@wanadoo.fr