Letter to US ambassador: "Support democracy not corruption, support people not oligarchy!"
- KurdishMedia.com - By Dr Kamal Mirawdeli
- 21/05/2010 00:00:00
Letter to US Ambassador in London HE Louis B. Susman:
Ambassador Louis B. Susman US Embassy London 24 Grosvenor Square
London, W1A 1AE
"Support democracy not corruption, support people not oligarchy!"
Dear Sir
Kurdish community in Britain are demonstrating in the front of your Embassy today to bring to the attention of your Excellency and the government of the US, the intolerable degree of corruption, injustice and intimidation that is inflicted daily on the people of Kurdistan region in Iraq.
The kidnapping and then cruel murder of a young journalist Sardasht Osman in Arbil is a sad but powerful reminder of the nature of this injustice whose victims are all the strata of Kurdish society especially the young people who have been deprived of right of freedom of expression, free association, equal opportunities, employment and hope in building a future for themselves. In short of all those ordinary dreams and rights that young people in all civilised societies enjoy. The massive protests unleashed by this tragic death in Kurdistan are a genuine expression of the will of our people to fight for citizenship rights and liberties like any other free nation in the world and ensure the rule of law and prevalence of justice.
The response of Kurdistan Democratic Party to people’s protests and demonstration is a potent demonstration of the autocratic antidemocratic mentality of KDP president and his party and security officials. In a Statement published by the KDP Political Bureau on 13 May they label all the protestors as plotters against KDP and its leader and threaten to cut their hands off and bury them! They write: “If we fail to cut off their evil hands early enough, we believe that they have more savage acts in their plan….. And we will assure the people of Kurdistan that we will bury this plot and the plotters and implementers.” These threats are not vain and empty. They come in the context and after implementing them not before.
The ruling parties in the region have ruled the region as family fiefdoms appropriating land and property and monopolizing finances, commerce and business for families and companies affiliated to their tribes or parties. More sinisterly, they control the police ands security forces in the region as their own family militias creating an environment of surveillance, terror and intimidation that has undermined the rule of law, freedom of expression and the growth of civil society. The continuation of this situation and the lack of any constitutional legitimacy and legal outlet to people’s grievances and complaints is bound to pave the way for the imminent emergence of extremism and the exploitation of the people’s discontent by anti-democratic fundamentalist ad terrorist groups.
The American Administration shares a big responsibility for the abhorrent injustice prevailing in Kurdistan region. It is unfortunate and shocking for the democratic forces in the region that instead of supporting a democratic constitution for the region and the establishment of democratic institutions, accountable and just government, the rule of law and legislation to promote equality and combat continued massacre of women and marginalization and oppression of the poor and young people, the American and British governments and officials are continually supporting, buttressing and encouraging the autocratic oligarchy responsible for all the predicaments in our society and have kept quiet about the massive vote-rigging that occurred in the presidential and parliamentary elections in the region last year.
Dear Ambassador
In your enlightening speech at Chatham House in London on 4 February 2020 your Excellency said: “In the United States, we are ordinary citizens who aspire to great things. Most of us are not born with title, rank or royalty. We emerge into life carrying only our personal dreams and desires. But we allow ourselves to believe those dreams amount to a civic right. And when we venture into the world beyond our shores, we allow ourselves to think we can encourage others to believe the same” But alas this is not what America and the Americans have been doing in Kurdistan region. They have allied themselves to the ruling families who daily kill the ordinary dreams of young people. Sardasht was the student of English language and literature. He was to graduate in July. But he thought his fate would not be better than his brother’s who has not been able to get a job because he and his family have not voted for KDP in the provincial elections and his father had been deprived of pension for the same reason and his sister had been forced to stay at home in the woman-killing society created by the injustices and backwardness of the ruling oligarchies.
We appeal to you and through you to his Excellency Barack Obama to support equality of opportunity to all young people, to stop nepotism, corruption and employment on the basis of party affiliation and family allegiance, and support civil rights and freedom of expression in Kurdistan region. We appeal to you to withdraw your disproportional support to the ruling families and their siblings who have illegitimately been appointed to the highest position abroad and inside Kurdistan and instead support the creation of a democratic Constitution, independent judiciary and accountable structures, democratic institutions and independent civil society NGOs. We specifically beseech you to ensure that the murder of Sardasht and before him Soran Mama Hama and Dr Sattar Sharif are impartially investigated and the murderers are found and taken to justice.
Please accept my warmest regards
Yours sincerely
Kamal Mirawdeli (Dr)
On behalf of Kurdish Community – Britain
21 may 2010
- KurdishMedia.com - By Dr Kamal Mirawdeli
- 21/05/2010 00:00:00