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Over the past year the authorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KR-I) have ruthlessly cracked down on journalists, activists and protesters exercising their right to freedom of expression, including by arbitrarily arresting and forcibly disappearing them, Amnesty International said today. The crackdown which first began in March 2020, intensified after widespread protests in August 2020 demanding an end to corruption and better public services.

Authorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq have launched a chilling crackdown in their efforts to silence critics over the past year. They have rounded up activists and journalists and prosecuting them on trumped-up charges in unfair trials and harassing or intimidating family members who were kept in the dark about the status of their loved ones, said Lynn Maalouf, Deputy Director for Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

"The Kurdistan Region of Iraq authorities must end the crackdown and immediately release all of those who have been arbitrarily detained. The authorities must also refrain from using vague and ill-defined laws to curtail the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

Authorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq have launched a chilling crackdown in their efforts to silence critics over the past year.

The organization investigated the cases of 14 people from Badinan, in Duhok governorate, who were arbitrarily arrested between March and October 2020 by Asayish (KRG security and intelligence) and Parastin forces (Kurdistan Democratic Party intelligence) in connection with their participation in protests, criticism of local authorities or for their journalistic work. All of them were held incommunicado for up to five months and at least six were forcibly disappeared for periods of up to three months. Eight of them claimed they had been tortured or otherwise ill-treated during detention. On 16 February 2021, five of them were sentenced to six years in prison based on confessions extracted under duress.

Amnesty International spoke to former detainees, lawyers, human rights workers and journalists, and reviewed court documents. The organization documented the use of three laws that have been used to arrest and prosecute these activists, namely Law no.21 on matters of national security, a defamation law and law on the misuse of electronics, all of which contain vague and overly broad definitions of crimes that are not recognized under international law.

In the governorate of Duhok alone Kurdish security forces arrested more than 100 people between March 2020 and April 2021. Most were later released but at least 30 remain in detention, including the five activists and journalists already sentenced.

Peaceful freedom of expression and journalism are not crimes. Many of those detained were tried on fabricated charges and some of those who have been released have fled the region, amidst a growing atmosphere of fear that has even seen family members of activists, journalists and protesters threatened and harassed, said Lynn Maalouf.

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Arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances in Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Amnesty International

Erbil, Iraq, 14 June 2021 On 11 June, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Iraq and the National Committee on the Implementation of the Strategy to Combat Violent Extremism at the National Security Advisory launched a four-day workshop on the role of theassigned teams and committees at the presidency, parliament, and prime ministry offices and at the governorates in implementing the strategy to Combat Violent Extremism in Iraq.

The workshop, facilitated by experts from the national committee and UNDP international experts, aimed at presenting the national strategy to combat violent extremism and its implementation plan, discussing the responsibilities of the central teams and governorates committees in implementing the strategy and developing action plans at the local level. Participants were also engaged in sessions highlighting regional and international comparative experiences with focus on the role of local government and community members, including women, in combating violent extremism.

UNDP Iraq Resident Representative Zena Ali Ahmad states, Sustainable solutions to violent extremism require an integrated holistic approach that focuses on unity and cohesion in society and strengthening governance at local levels. Our workshop with representatives from the national committee sets the stage for a partnership conducive to preventing violent extremism in Iraq.

Ali Abdullah Albedeiri, chairman of the National Committee on the Implementation of the Strategy to Combat Violent Extremism in Iraq, states, This workshop is timely and important to engage the local authorities in the implementation of the strategy which requires integrated and coordinated national and international efforts and the buy in from the community and local government.

Additional specialized sessions will follow, targeting other national and local partners including civil society, governorate teams, youth and religious leaders to enhance their role in the implementation of the national strategy to combat violent extremism.

Support to Prevention of Violent Extremism (PVE) in Iraq is part of UNDP Social Cohesion Programme to promote stronger, peaceful, and more cohesive communities in all areas of Iraq.

Media contact:

Miriam Pineau, Media & Advocacy Project Specialist | miriam.pineau@undp.org |+964 790 110 1982

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UNDP Iraq Supports the National Security Advisory / the National Committee on the implementation of the Strategy for Combating and Preventing Violent...

2. Rationale

2.1. Rationale

Between late 2013 and 2017, intensification of conflict in north and central Iraq has resulted in large scale displacement.Following the de-escalation of active military operations against ISIL, Iraq has witnessed an increase in numbers of IDPs returning to their Area of Origin (AoO). Although many have since already returned, as of the beginning of 2021 approximately 1.2 million people remain internally displaced with more than half of them for more than four years, and 4.1 million people needing some form of humanitarian assistance, including 2.4 million people with acute humanitarian needs1. This includes 187,555 individuals that reside in 29 IDP camps, or composite camp areas.2 The round VII of REACH-CCCM Intentions Assessment in April 2021, which looked at 15 prioritised camps, found that only 1% of IDPs intended to return over the twelve months following data collection.3 Considering the rapidly-changing context of the crisis with the closure and consolidation of camps from August-December 2020 as well as new displacements and waves of returns throughout Iraq, including the movement of Iraqis previously in Syrian camps to camps in Iraq, up-to-date information about the needs of IDPs and available infrastructure and services in camps is necessary in order to address these needs as well as plan the camp strategy for the coming months. The conditions in camps differ greatly from one camp to another as well as between governorates, thus regular monitoring of conditions is essential to strategise appropriately the consolidation of some camps and closure of others in the coming year.While the humanitarian situation in Iraq has been gradually improving over the past two years, the transitional process has been defined by persisting political instabilities, resurgences of localised conflicts, and regional insecurities that are not directly related to the protracted displacement crisis. The large scale protests that broke out in Central Southern cities in late 2019, the Turkish military offensive in Northeast Syria, the heightened tensions between the United States and Iran and an increase in attacks of non-state armed groups on civilian and military targets have led to a substantial worsening of the political and security situation in Iraq and have added another layer of complexity to the humanitarian response. The current economic situation in Iraq is also characterised by a currency devaluation, due to oil-price collapse in 2020, happening for the first time in decades, which further shrinks the economy of the country and impacts the humanitarian situation. 4 Furthermore, the outbreak of COVID-19 in Iraq represents a public health crisis that could further aggravate the humanitarian situation and exacerbate existing vulnerabilities.5 The first case of COVID-19 in Iraq was recorded in February 2020 and as of 10 June, the World Health Organisation had recorded 1,237,856 confirmed as well as 16,614 deaths related to COVID-19.6 While the Iraqi government was able to largely contain the spread of the virus in the early stages, government-imposed lockdowns, and movement restrictions have inhibited access of millions of Iraqis to livelihood opportunities, education, and essential health services. The recent increase in COVID-19 cases throughout Iraq, as well as the ongoing access constraints have further restricted the provision of humanitarian aid to populations in need.Camp Profiles:To inform a more effective humanitarian response for IDPs living in camps, REACH and Iraq CCCM Cluster conduct IDP Camp Profiling assessments. Information from this profile will be used to monitor camp conditions and highlight priority needs and service gaps faced by households in all accessible IDP camps across Iraq, as well as multi-sectoral differences across camps, in order to address needs, and to inform prioritisation of camps for consolidation or closure where necessary. The data collected by the Camp Profiling will provide a comprehensive evidence base for programming and for future monitoring exercises inside camps. In addition, results of Camp Profiling will inform future planning by the CCCM cluster, as the primary harmonised mechanism for assessing IDP camps across Iraq.Intentions:The different settings in which IDPs reside can have a considerable impact on their stability in their area of displacement and the specific threats and vulnerabilities that they may face, which may in turn affect intentions to move, with regard to decisions to return or remain, and reasons for doing so. Consequently, it is important to understand and assess the movement intentions of IDP population groups.

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Research Terms of Reference Camp Profiling XV & Intentions Survey VIII IRQ1705 & IRQ1806, June 2021 - Iraq - ReliefWeb

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi said yesterday that the spiritual leader of Iraq's Shia Muslims, Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Al-Sistani, has warned against using his fatwa which led to creating the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) in 2014 to confront Daesh, for political or economic gains in favour of non-national projects.

In a statement issued on the 7th anniversary of Sistani's non-binding legal opinion, Al-Kadhimi said: "Our beloved country has gone through very difficult circumstances in those days, which put it before a dangerous existential challenge, had it not been for God's protection and the fatwa issued by the supreme authority, Mr. Ali Al-Sistani that had stopped this terrorist monster that scared the entire world."

"The fatwa has led to the elimination of this organisation during a period the world could not have imagined," he added.

Al-Kadhimi said the fatwa emanated from Al-Sistani's patriotic spirit which only answers to his Iraqi identity, leaving sectarian and ethnic lines separate.

OPINION: Pro-Sistani factions leave Shia forces, but Iraq's PM signals they are here to stay

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Iraq PM: Sistani warned of using PMF for partisan projects - Middle East Monitor

Over her long life the Queen has entertained almost every president that served during her lifetime, theonly notable exception being Lyndon Johnson, who in fact never visited Europe during his time inoffice, his energies in foreign policy being almost entirely focusedon Vietnam.

Including President Truman, whom she met when she was heir to the throne, President Hoover, whom she encountered after hed retired, and now Joe Biden, shes done her bit for the special relationship with a totalof 14of these statesmen. Theonlyother person alive today who might rival that claim is Henry Kissinger.

At any rate, she has had to smoothover the difficult times and make the absolute mostof the good times. As a hereditary monarch descendantof the kings that used to rule the American colonies and major celeb above all party politics, she holds a special place in the special relationship, able tooffer a friendly hand to a president who may be annoyed and disappointed in a British prime minister, which has been a more common situation than many assume.

A toast, then, to 14 veryspecial relationships

Princess Elizabeth and Harry S Truman

Princess Elizabeth and Harry Truman

(AFP/Getty)

Sadly, by the time the then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip wenton a tourof Canada her father, George VI was ill with the cancer that was soon to take his life. At just 25 she and Philip nipped down to Washington to be entertained by President and Mrs Truman.

British and US troops were then fighting together in a UN force against communist insurgents in Korea. It was the coldestof times in the Cold War, andone when the Americans were distrustfulof sharing their nuclear secrets with the British.

The Queen and Herbert Hoover

The Queen with Herbert Hoover in 1957

(Popperfoto/Getty)

The elderly Hoover had left the Whitehouse in 1933, but was around long enough to be parked next to the Queen at a dinner in her honour during her visit to see Eisenhower.

The Queen and Dwight Eisenhower

The Queen with Dwight Eisenhower, in 1957

(AFP/Getty)

Ike was an almost grandfatherly figure to the Queen and by the time they met in 1957 Anglo-American relations were in a poor state. The British had kept America in the dark about their collusion with the French and Israelis in the Suez crisis and invasionof Egypt. The Americans sold sterling until the British gave up their imperialist delusions, and remained suspiciousof Britains unreliable spies. Prime Minister Macmillan deployed the Queen to spark some goodwill.

The Queen and John F Kennedy

(PA)

Understandably enough, the Queen felt a littleovershadowed by the super glam Jackie Kennedy, but Jack had spent plentyof time in London before and during the war, when his father Joe served as US ambassador, and was at ease in the Queens company. Somethingof an Anglophile, Kennedy let the British have US nuclear weapons technology, and security cooperation was at last restored.

The Queen and Richard Nixon

The Queen and Nixon, in 1970

(PA)

There is some gossip to the effect that the president tried to pair his eldest daughter Triciaoff with Prince Charles, which would probably have made for some quite dramatic stories and conspiracy theories lateron. The Princeof Wales wasnt up for it. Nixons relations with Labours Harold Wilson were friendly enough, even though hed been a nasty figure for the British left, and Nixon was honoured to attend a cabinet meeting.

With Wilsons successor Heath, the man who took Britain into Europe, Nixon was puzzled by Heaths coldness, which was partly down to the prime ministersodd personality and partly to his faith that the UKs destiny lay across the channel rather than the Atlantic, and didnt want the French to think Britaina mere Trojan horse for American ambitions. The Wilson government had long refused to send British troops to Vietnam, which spoiled the special relationship, and Heath didnt do much to repair it.

The Queen and Gerry Ford

Meeting Gerry Ford in 1976

(PA)

Ford followed after Nixons resignation and was another prospect charmed by the Queen. Notoriously clumsy and noones ideaof an intellectual, (Lyndon Johnson remarked that Ford couldnt fart and chew gum at the same time), Ford nonetheless gracefully accompanied the Queenon the dance floor only for the band to strike up The Lady is a Tramp. The British were soon after a multimillion dollar loan from the US, but it was not forthcoming.

The Queen and Jimmy Carter

The Queen and Jimmy Carter in 1977

(PA)

Carter disliked pomp and was the most informalof presidents, so much so that he reportedly gave the Queen Mother a big smackeron the lips when he was introduced to theold girl at the palace banquet. A good friend to Britain, Carter goton well with prime minister James Callaghan, a fellow Baptist, but couldnt hit itoff with Margaret Thatcher.

The Queen and Ronald Reagan

Meeting Reagan at home in 1984

(PA)

Theonly presidential couple to host the Queen at home, Ronald and Nancy Reagan had the Queen and her consortover to the Reagan ranch in California. The attraction seems mainly to have been the horses, and Queen and president enjoyed their horseback sightseeing in Windsor Great Park. The Queen was happy to make Reagan an honourary knight in recognitionof Americas covert assistance to the UK during the Falkands War. The relationship between Reagan and Thatcher was probably the strongestof anyof the transatlantic pairings, even more than theoriginal special relationship between Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.

The Queen and George HW Bush

With George Bush snr in 1991

(AFP/Getty)

Bush and John Major had the common, and unhappy, experienceof following two much more charismatic figures, Reagan and Thatcher, which may have deepened their simpatico. The Queens job was to help keep the Bush White House focusedon Britain as its principal European ally, at a time when Germanys industrial power suggested a changeof tack. Bush took her to a ball game, and her visit was memorably parodied in a Naked Gun movie.

The Queen and Bill Clinton

The Queen meets Bill Clinton in 1994

(AFP/Getty)

John Majors Conservatives made the mistakeofoffering their help to the Bush campaignof 1992, and to try and dig up any embarrassing intelligence about the Democrat candidate Clintons time as a student inOxford. They didnt find much, Clinton won the election, and his personal relations with Major were no more than correct. He did, however, rate the Queen, speculating later that shed have made a fine politicianor diplomat. When his mentee Tony Blair became prime minister, the special relationship acquired some intellectual depth third way centrist/triangulating politics and priceless practical purpose in the Irish peace process.

The Queen and George W Bush

With George W Bush in 2006

(AFP/Getty)

Few British prime ministers would be able to geton close terms with presidents as contrasting as Clinton and Dubya, but Blair did, much to the disappointmentof any in his party and the country when it led us to war in Iraq. The Queens meetings with Bush were less controversial than his summits with Blair.

The Queen and BarackObama

The Queen and Obama in 2011

(PA)

If the body language and the affectionate rhetoric were anything to go by, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh seemed very fond of the Obamas despite the president making his speech of thanks for the lavish banquet during the national anthem, which was a rare gaffe. WhenMichelle put an arm round the Queen, a breachof protocol, the Queen defused the anxietyof assorted flu kids and flaks by returning the gestureof support to the First Lady. The warmth made up forObamas lackof interestor rapport with Gordon Brown and David Cameron.

The Queen and Donald Trump

(Getty)

The Palacethrew just about everything at the almost-state visitof Donald, Melania and assorted Trumps but, in the end, the trade deal that Theresa May and then Boris Johnson craved wasnt forthcoming. But the selfies were great.

The Queen and Joe Biden

When the Queen meets the 46th president, he will be her 14th president, and, at a mere 78 yearsof age, somethingof a youngster by Elizabeth IIs standardof longevity. Given that Biden and Boris Johnson arent really a match made in heaven, the tensionsover Brexit and Northern Ireland, and that Johnson has already publicly downgraded the special relationship, the Queen is well aware that she and Prince Charles will have to turnon the charm when Joe and Jill turn up to try and repair whatever damage her prime minster has inflicted.Oneof her tougher assignments.

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From the Suez crisis to the Iraq war, charting modern history through Queens meetings with US presidents - The Independent