(WiPC/IFEX) – WiPC is seriously concerned that detained writer Kamal Sayid Qadir has been transferred to a prison hospital. Dr. Qadir, an Iraqi Kurd with Austrian citizenship, was arrested in Iraqi Kurdistan on 26 October 2005 and sentenced on 19 December to thirty years in prison for articles critical of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) […]
(WiPC/IFEX) – WiPC is seriously concerned that detained writer Kamal Sayid Qadir has been transferred to a prison hospital. Dr. Qadir, an Iraqi Kurd with Austrian citizenship, was arrested in Iraqi Kurdistan on 26 October 2005 and sentenced on 19 December to thirty years in prison for articles critical of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) authorities. This sentence was quashed by an appeals court in January 2006 and he is to be re-tried by a lower court on 23 February 2006. PEN seeks information about Dr Qadir’s condition and assurances that he is being given all necessary medical treatment. International PEN considers Qadir to be detained in violation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iraq is a signatory, and calls for his immediate and unconditional release.
According to PEN’s information, Qadir, aged 48, was arrested on 26 October 2005 by members of Parastin, the security intelligence service of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), one of two parties holding power in the Kurdish-dominated region. Dr Qadir, an Iraqi Kurd who was then residing in Vienna, was on a visit to Iraqi Kurdistan at the time of his arrest. He was reportedly on his way to a meeting with KDP officials at a hotel in the city of Erbil when he was arrested. KDP intelligence agents are believed to have seized him because of articles that he had recently published on the Internet which were critical of the KDP authorities, including Mas’ud Barzani. Dr Qadir is known for his critical writings about the political leadership of the Kurdish territories of Iraq.
Qadir was sentenced by a state security court in Erbil on 19 December to thirty years in prison for defamation. His trial did not comply with international standards of fairness. On 26 January the Court of Cassation in Erbil over-turned the sentence, and it was reported that his release was imminent. However he has remained detained for reasons that remain unclear to PEN. Qadir is to be re-tried on 23 February under Article 433 of the Penal Code by the Court of Misdemeanors. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.
According to Amnesty International, since 1991 some areas of northern Iraq have been controlled by the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). These Kurdish-controlled areas enjoyed substantial autonomy even while Saddam Hussein was in power, and have continued to do so after the 30 January 2005 elections in Iraq for both the National Assembly and a Kurdish Assembly. PUK Secretary General Jalal Talabani was selected by the National Assembly as President of Iraq on 7 April 2005, and KDP leader Mas’ud Barzani was selected by the Kurdish Assembly as President of the Kurdistan region.
