THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VIII, Issue # 63, March 29, 2006
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
DISSIDENT WATCH: KAMAL SAYID QADIR
By Dr. Michael Rubin
IRAQ & THE KURDS: THE KURDISTAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY & THE KURDISTAN REGIONAL GOVERNMENT -- POLITICAL
CORRUPTION, TYRANNY, & REPRESSION IN IRAQI KURDISTAN: LACK OF PRESS FREEDOM & THE FAILURE OF
CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY IN THE KURDISH REGION OF IRAQ
FULL STORY:
On October 26, 2005, security officers associated with Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party
(KDP) detained Kurdish writer and Austrian citizen Kamal Sayid Qadir in Erbil, northern Iraq. Qadir had angered Barzani with
several articles describing corruption and nepotism in his administration of the Kurdistan Regional Government. [1] Barzani's
militia subsequently held Qadir for weeks without charge and without access to an attorney or his family.
On November 9, International PEN, a London-based press freedom advocacy organization, wrote to Barzani. The KDP office
in London answered that the Kurdish government had arrested Qadir for defamation of "certain prominent elected official
politicians." [2] After a one-hour trial, a Kurdish court convicted and sentenced Qadir to 30 years in prison. The Committee to
Protect Journalists said that Qadir had only five minutes to confer with a court-appointed defense attorney before trial and
sentence. [3]
On January 7, 2006, Masrour Barzani, son of Masoud and head of KDP intelligence, wrote that, "People should not libel and
accuse others just because they want to," but added that "no one in our family has filed any complaints." However, Masrour
said that others "have complained and had him [Qadir] arrested by the order of the court." [4] The Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG) subsequently released a press statement saying that Qadir had been charged with defamation of public
institutions. [5] Voice of America radio, in a January 6 editorial "reflecting the views of the U.S. government," strongly
condemned Qadir's detention. [6] In response to the outcry, the KRG has said it will release and retry Qadir.
Iraqi Kurdistan is at a political turning point. Prior to the fall of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's government, Kurds
complained they suffered from two embargoes: United Nations' sanctions on Iraq and the Iraqi government's own blockade of
the recalcitrant region. After liberation, aid money and optimism flooded the region. Investment grew. [7] So, too, did
corruption.
The Barzani family has accumulated up to US$2 billion since Masoud Barzani returned to the region from exile in 1991. [8] After
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported on Iraqi Kurdish corruption, [9] its reporter received death threats. [10] While the
Barzani family disputes such claims, [11] Iraqi Kurdish finances remain opaque, and Barzani family interests are the subject of
Kurdish businessmen's complaints.
Constitutional democracy has faltered. While Kurdistan Democratic Party officials say that their region is "one of the few
examples of democracy in the Middle East," [12] independent human rights groups disagree. An August, 2004, Human Rights
Watch report chastised the Kurdish government for ethnic cleansing. [13] Foreigners visiting Erbil prisons privately report
individuals incarcerated after failing to pay kickbacks to or accept ghost partnerships with Barzani family members. Amnesty
International chronicles political arrests. [14] There is decreasing tolerance for dissent. Prior to the December 15, 2005, Iraqi
elections, a Kurdistan Democratic Party mob sacked offices of a rival political party. KDP gunmen assassinated the opposition
candidate after storming his office. [15] Barzani promotes a personality cult, and young Kurds whisper privately that he is
becoming a new Saddam.
Against this backdrop, came Qadir's bold reporting. His arrest sparked outrage among a broad swath of Kurdish society. Iraqi
Kurdish poet Kamal Mirawdeli wrote, "Masoud Barzani makes a fateful mistake if he thinks that, by his illegal and
Saddam-style abduction and imprisonment, [he will silence] the increasing number of courageous Kurdish intellectuals and
writers who are raising their voices louder and louder against a history of criminality, corruption, and treachery." [16]
Qadir's imprisonment came a day after U.S. President George W. Bush received Barzani in the White House, calling the
Kurdish leader, "a man of courage … a man who has stood up to a tyrant." [17] Such words might be better applied to Qadir.
NOTES:
[1] Dylan Alan, "The Arrest of Dr. Kamal Sayid Qadir Emerges as a Key Test of KRG," KurdishMedia.com, Dec. 28, 2005.
[2] Cathy McCann, "Iraq: Writer Kamal Sayid Qadir Detained Incommunicado," International PEN, Dec. 16, 2005.
[3] "CPJ protests 30-year jail term for Kurdish writer on defamation conviction," Committee to Protect Journalists, news alert, Jan. 11, 2006.
[4] E-mail from Masrour Barzani to Michael Rubin, Jan. 7, 2006.
[5] "Legal Case Regarding Dr. Kamal Sayid Qadir," Kurdistan Regional Government, Council of Ministers, Jan. 9, 2006.
[6] "K-D-P Critic Jailed in Iraq," Voice of America News, Jan. 6, 2006.
[7] The Wall Street Journal, Oct. 18, 2005.
[8] The Daily Star (Beirut), Nov. 18, 2005.
[9] Kyle Madigan, "Corruption Restricts Development in Iraqi Kurdistan," Iraq Report, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), May 2, 2005.
[10] Conversation with RFE/RL official, Sept. 9, 2005.
[11] E-mail from Masrour Barzani to Michael Rubin, Nov. 18, 2005.
[12] Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, "Iraqi Kurdistan: Government Reacts on Corruption Allegation," Kurdistan Regional Government. May 1, 2005.
[13] Claims in Conflict: Reversing Ethnic Cleansing in Northern Iraq, Human Rights Watch, Aug. 2004.
[14] See, for example, "Iraq," Amnesty International Report 2003 (New York: Amnesty International), accessed Jan. 6, 2006.
[15] The Washington Post, Dec. 8, 2005.
[16] Kamal Mirawdeli, "Dr. Kamal Said Qadir Is Fighting for Truth and Human Dignity," Kurdistan Referendum Movement, Nov. 4, 2005.
[17] News release, White House, Oct. 25, 2005.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
The Middle East & the Problem of Iraq
Page Two
Page One
The Problem of Rogue States:
Iraq as a Case History
National Strategy for Victory in Iraq
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
Counterterrorism & U.S. National Security
U.S. National Security Strategy
Dr. Michael Rubin, a Ph.D. in History (Yale University) and a specialist in Middle Eastern politics, Islamic culture and Islamist
ideology, is Editor of the Middle East Quarterly and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public
Policy Research. Dr Rubin is author of Into the Shadows: Radical Vigilantes in Khatami's Iran (Washington Institute
for Near East Policy, 2001) and is co-author, with Dr. Patrick Clawson, of Eternal Iran: Continuity and Chaos (Palgrave
Macmillan, 2005). Dr. Rubin served as political advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad (2003-2004); staff
advisor on Iran and Iraq in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense (2002-2004); visiting lecturer in the Departments of
History and International Relations at Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2001-2002); visiting lecturer at the Universities of
Sulaymani, Salahuddin, and Duhok in Iraqi Kurdistan (2000-2001); Soref Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East
Policy (1999-2000); and visiting lecturer in the Department of History at Yale University (1999-2000). He has been a fellow at
the Council of Foreign Relations, the Leonard Davis Institute at Hebrew University, and the Carnegie Council on Ethics and
International Affairs.
The foregoing article by Dr. Rubin was originally published in the Middle East Quarterly, Spring, 2006, and can be
found on the Internet website maintained by the Middle East Forum.
Republished with Permission of the Middle East Forum
Reprinted from the Middle East Forum News
mefnews@meforum.org (MEF NEWS)
Return to Top of Page
Go to the WEBSITE INDEX
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Public Issues & Political Controversies
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
Most Recent Articles
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Volume VIII, 2006
Return to Beginning of
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA,
Subject Matter Highlights
Return to POLITICAL EDUCATION Homepage
CONTACT & ACCESS INFORMATION
This is not a commercial website. The sole purpose of the website is to share with interested persons information regarding civics,
civic and social education, political science, government, politics, law, constitutional law and history, public policy, and political
philosophy and history, as well as current and recent political developments, public issues, and political controversies.
POLITICAL EDUCATION, CONSERVATIVE ANALYSIS
POLITICS, SOCIETY, & THE SOVEREIGN STATE
Website of Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr.
Government, Politics, Public Policy, Legal Issues, Constitutional Law, Government & the Economy, Cultural Values, Foreign Affairs,
International Relations, Military Defense & National Security, Geopolitics, Terrorism & Homeland Security, American National Interests,
Political Systems & Processes, Political Institutions, Political Ideologies, & Political Philosophy
INDEX FOR THE ENTIRE WEBSITE
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Conservative & Free-Market Analysis of Government, Politics & Public Policy, Covering Political, Legal, Constitutional, Economic,
Cultural, Military, International, Strategic, & Geopolitical Issues