The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) stands accused of attempting to fabricate charges against dissident Kurdish journalist and Roj news editor Suleiman Ahmed, who has been in detention for 202 days as of 13 May 2024. This accusation follows his alleged kidnapping and subsequent torture aimed at coercing him into accepting these charges, which he has steadfastly rejected.
Suleiman Ahmed was reportedly abducted on 25 November 2023 by masked individuals linked to the KDP at the Faysh Khabur border crossing with Syria while returning from his father’s funeral. He was initially held at an undisclosed location, and it was only five months later that it was confirmed he was in detention in a prison run by the internal security forces, known as Asayish, in Dohuk in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). The KDP is accused of using torture and solitary confinement as part of their strategy to pressurise him into submission.
“The KDP sought to impose fabricated charges typically prepared against dissenting political activists or journalists,” stated a source from Roj News Agency. The agency has since assembled a legal team aiming to secure Ahmed’s release, although the team has been denied any contact with him.
Despite legal provisions in the KRI and Iraq as a whole that ensure detained individuals the right both to legal representation and to disclosure of their whereabouts, these rights have been conspicuously violated in Ahmed’s case.
Meanwhile, on the 200th day of Suleiman Ahmed’s captivity, the Dicle Fırat Journalists Association (DFG) based in Diyarbakır, Turkey, issued a strong statement condemning the ongoing silence and lack of transparency from the KDP and the KDP-dominated Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) regarding Ahmed’s status and well-being. The journalists association highlighted the urgent need for an immediate response to the calls from both local and international bodies that have rallied to demand justice and clarity regarding Ahmed’s condition and whereabouts.
The association also called on the KDP to abandon these oppressive tactics, which they described as being part of a dangerous policy that undermines press freedom and the rule of law. In addition the organisation has urged the United Nations to step in and facilitate Ahmed’s release.
