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Iran
- Dozens of human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, released a letter calling on members of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council to renew the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s (FFMI) mandate. The letter follows the FFMI’s presentation of its findings on the Iranian regime’s human rights violations in response to the massive anti-government protests that were sparked by Iranian authorities’ killing of the Kurdish woman Zhina Amini in September 2022. The letter also called for the renewal of the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s mandate. “The continuation of these two distinct and complementary mandates is essential for the Human Rights Council to fulfill its mandate of promotion and protection of human rights in Iran,” read the letter. On a separate note, the Iranian rial hit a new record low as the nation’s economy continues to deteriorate. Lastly, the Wall Street Journal reported Iran displayed drones at an exposition in Qatar that it claimed could carry 13 precision-guided bombs and fly over 1,200 miles at 35,000 feet.
- Iranian security forces arrested several Kurdish activists and organizers of Newroz celebrations, including a famous singer named Hassan Kakai, who was tortured after performing at a Newroz concert, and an activist named Semko Naserolahi in Bokan. Iranian authorities also detained Jalal Khwamardi and a singer named Arman Saedpanah in Senna, Saber Ebrahimi and four others in Shinno, and Lutfollah Parwiz in Kermanshah. Though celebrated by non-Kurds, Newroz is the Kurds’ most significant holiday and holds a special meaning for them because it commemorates the triumph of freedom over oppression. Separately, the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported the regime sentenced five Kurds to prison for “membership” in opposition parties. Additionally, Mehabad’s Islamic Revolutionary Court sentenced a former political prisoner to 13 years in prison for “waging war on God.”
Iraq
- The Association of the Petroleum Industry of Kurdistan (APIKUR) released a report on the status of the ongoing freeze of Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil exports on the freeze’s one-year anniversary. The exports were halted last March when the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris ruled in favor of Baghdad over Ankara regarding the latter’s support of independent oil exports from Iraqi Kurdistan through Turkey. The APIKUR report estimated Iraq has lost at least 11 billion dollars and hundreds of millions of dollars in investments since the freeze began. The APIKUR’s report also called for the Biden administration and the U.S. Congress to cancel the planned visit of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani unless the pipeline from Iraqi Kurdistan to Turkey is reopened, foreign oil companies begin receiving payments, and Baghdad implements the 2024 budget law and provides the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) with its share of the federal budget. Concurrently, the Kurdistan Minister of Natural Resources (MNR) stated that since March of 2023, Kurdistan had delivered 11 million oil barrels to Baghdad but had not received “a single dinar” in return. The MNR highlighted that Kurdistan’s oil exports constituted only 10% of Iraq’s total exports and that the revenue derived from oil formed only a portion of the financial entitlements allocated to the region within Iraq’s budget. The MNR further emphasized that the halt in oil exports had precipitated a “financial crisis,” causing delays in the disbursement of public salaries.
- According to the Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), since 2024, Turkey has bombed the Duhok province 141 times, including 75 on the Gara mountain, the stronghold of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The CPT report notes that four civilians have been killed by Turkish airstrikes and bombings, and one other was wounded. “The aim of the bombings is to pressure and force the villagers and civilians in Gara mountain to leave so that Turkey can establish and control a larger area to conduct their operations. This tactic has been frequently used by the Turkish military in Iraqi Kurdistan to seize control of civilian areas,” read the report. Hundreds of Kurdish and Christian villages have been evicted due to Turkey’s operations since 2015.
Syria
- The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) thwarted an escape attempt from the al Hol camp, which houses ISIS (Da’esh) captives and their families. The SDF reported that two individuals, identified as “Cubs of the Caliphate” from Turkmenistan and Indonesia, tried to escape with the help of a Syrian smuggler. However, the operation was foiled, leading to the apprehension of all three perpetrators. While al Hol camp remains a “ticking time bomb,” hundreds of Iraqi families returned from al Hol earlier this month in an effort to mitigate the security risk and prevent the resurgence of the ‘caliphate’, as a significant portion of the camp’s population remains loyal to the terrorist organization. Additionally, the SDF eliminated “Samir al Shikhan,” a senior Iraqi terrorist, in an operation in Raqqa on March 24. Furthermore, on the fifth anniversary of the physical defeat of the Da’esh ‘caliphate’, the SDF issued a warning that the terrorist organization still “poses a great danger,” urging the world to collaborate effectively with the SDF and emphasizing the vital role of the International Coalition in the ongoing struggle.
- On World Water Day, observed on March 22, the Autonomous Administration for North and East of Syria (AANES) urged the international community to intervene and halt Turkey’s “water war policy” in the region, which has left millions of Syrians without access to water. In recent years, as part of its campaign against the Kurdish-led AANES, the Turkish government has significantly reduced the flow of the Euphrates River into Syria, violating an international treaty signed between Syria and Turkey.
- According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the Turkish organization “White Hands” has inaugurated a new housing complex for families affiliated with the Turkish-backed faction in the occupied Afrin. The newly established settlement comprises 80 apartments located in the Shirawa district. Since the Turkish occupation of Afrin in 2018, thousands of housing units have been constructed as part of Turkey’s demographic restructuring plan, primarily aimed at altering the ethnic composition of the region by resettling non-Kurdish populations.
Turkey
- During the Newroz celebration, the jailed Kurdish politician, Gültan Kışanak, who is running for a co-mayorship from her prison cell, released a message via a fellow party member, vowing to “build bridges of social peace from Diyarbakır to Ankara.” Thousands of pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM Party) members gathered in Ankara as the local elections will be held on Sunday, March 31. Since March 16, the DEM Party has held dozens of public events, coinciding with the Newroz celebrations, many of which called for a solution to the Kurdish questions and ending the isolation of the jailed Kurdish leader, Abdullah Ocalan. Separately, the DEM Party accused the government of “smear campaigns” after pro-government released footage of a person claiming a hidden agreement between the pro-Kurdish party and CHP in the mayoral race of Istanbul. “The government and the media apparatus under its control, which previously targeted our party with lies, slander, and montage videos, have made hostility to the DEM Party and Kurds the main policy in this election as well,” read a statement by the party.