VZCZCXRO0665
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHMOS
DE RUEHKUK #0095/01 1111308
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P R 211308Z APR 06
FM REO KIRKUK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0627
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0589
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHKUK/REO KIRKUK 0655

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KIRKUK 000095 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
BAGHDAD FOR POL, PAO, ROL COORDINATOR, NCT, IRMO, USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  4/21/2016 
TAGS: PINS PGOV KDEM KCOR KISL IZ IR
SUBJECT: STUDENT UNIONS MAKE DEMANDS TO KRG ON HALABJAH DETAINEES 
 
REF: A)  KIRKUK 80, B) KIRKUK 79, C) KIRKUK 78 
 
KIRKUK 00000095  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: JBIGUS, PRT LEADER, REO Kirkuk, DoS. 
REASON: 1.4 (b), (d) 
 
 
 
¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY.  Students from Halabjah and As Sulaymaniyah 
issued a list of demands to the KRG following the violent 
protests in Halabjah (REFTELS), because detained protestors were 
being denied fundamental rights.  They told REO April 8 that 
they might go on strike or organize peaceful demonstrations if 
the KRG did not respond by April 15.  The students blamed the 
KRG, security forces, and the protestors (in that order) for 
turning the Halabjah demonstrations violent.  They claimed the 
KRG was not a democracy, because the KDP and PUK manipulated its 
justice system.  They complained the political parties funded 
and controlled KRG student and women's unions in order to 
monitor student activities.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Demands in Response to Halabjah 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (C)  Acting RC and IPAO on April 8 met with two students 
from Halabjah and three students from As Sulaymaniyah - 
representing five Kurdish student unions - to discuss their 
demands of the KRG following the violent protests in Halabjah on 
March 16.  Demands included releasing those detained as a result 
of the protests as soon as possible; facilitating a transparent 
investigation and trial of the security officer who killed a 
17-year-old student; permitting local and international NGO's to 
visit detainees; permitting representatives of student and youth 
unions to visit detainees; restoring a peaceful atmosphere by 
changing KRG language from pressure to understanding; and 
allowing representatives from student and youth unions to attend 
reconstruction meetings in Halabjah. 
 
¶3.  (C)  The student unions issued their demands because the 
detainees were being denied fundamental rights (REFTEL A). They 
also noted that while the students who participated in the 
protests remained in hiding, the KRG had not issued any type of 
amnesty policy.  The protestors remained scared because the PUK 
security forces continued to arrest alleged perpetrators. 
 
¶4.  (C)  The student unions sent their demands to the KRG's 
Council of Ministers, the KRG Interior Minister, and the 
Confederation of Student Unions.  They said the KRG had not 
responded yet to the demands, noting that if the unions had not 
heard anything by April 15, they would regroup and devise a plan 
of action.  Possible next steps included going on strike or 
planning peaceful demonstrations. 
 
All Groups Erred, but KRG Takes Most Blame 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶5.  (C)  Our interlocutors said that the March 16 Halabjah 
demonstrations were legal, but some groups used the 
demonstrations to commit crimes.  The students argued that the 
KRG deserved most of the blame, followed by the security forces, 
then the Halabjah residents.   The Students admitted that 
student unions could be blamed for two key components.  First, 
the student protestors lacked a fundamental understanding of how 
to demonstrate peacefully.  Second, the student unions did not 
coordinate on controlling the demonstrations. 
 
Halabjah Residents Undaunted by Security Response 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶6.  (C)  The students claimed that if the U.S. had a city with 
Halabjah-like conditions, the residents would demonstrate daily, 
and warned that if the KRG did not get serious about improving 
the city, the people would protest again.  They said that when 
the KRG Deputy Prime Minister visited Halabjah to discuss the 
situation, an older man stood up and warned that if the KRG did 
not start delivering on its promises, the older villagers "next 
time will rise up and it will be worse."  The students 
complained how the U.S. in 1988 did not respond to Saddam's 
attacks, yet it used Halabjah as part of its justification to 
oust the Ba'athist regime 15 years later. 
 
KRG Not a Democracy 
------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C)  The students said the Halabjah protests marked a 
turning point in democratic expression in the KRG.  They argued 
that the Kurdish people now would look to Halabjah when reacting 
to future injustices.  The students noted, however, that the 
Kurdistan region was not a democracy, and that public 
demonstrations only were possible because of the Coalition 
presence.  If the Americans withdrew, KRG security forces would 
crush future protestors.  Nonetheless, the students expected the 
 
KIRKUK 00000095  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
KRG would make changes as a result of the Halabjah protests. 
They noted, for example, the PUK already had changed its party 
leader in Halabjah. 
 
¶8.  (C)  The students stressed the need for a fair KRG justice 
system.  They complained that the KRG's courts were manipulated 
by the KDP and PUK.  The Kurdish parties maintained the former 
regime's legal system.  Trials, if administered, were neither 
fair nor transparent.  One student noted that Soran Kamal, a 
student of Salah ad Din University in Arbil, had been jailed for 
a year and seven months, without a trial.  Another student 
claimed the KRG at times had detained individuals for years 
before realizing it had the wrong person. 
 
Parties Monitor Students Via Student Unions 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (C)  The students complained that the political parties 
funded KRG student and women's unions and therefore controlled 
them.  They argued that the parties prohibited unions from 
becoming independent because unions were the means by which the 
parties monitored student activities.  They complained that the 
political parties laid traps to catch students writing and 
speaking out against the government.  One student said two of 
his friends were jailed for writing an article that defamed one 
of the parties.  Another student claimed KRG security forces 
several times had attacked his student union building in an 
effort to shut it down. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶10.  (C)  The PUK's track record of ignoring public demands 
suggests the students' demands will have little impact.  These 
young leaders were articulate and organized in their complaints 
against the KRG, and appeared to understand the negative impact 
of violent demonstrations.  They represent a new 
forward-looking, educated generation in Iraqi Kurdistan that is 
disillusioned with political party practices.  This is the 
second group of students we met this week that stressed the 
great divide that exists between their generation and the party 
leaders. 
BIGUS