Committees' recent meetings - 23 May 2021

A summary of Kurdistan Parliament's committees' recent work and meetings:

Parliament Affairs and Complaints Committee

19 May - The committee, led by chair Dr. Esmail Sgery (KIU), met with the Chief and Deputy Chief of the Diwan of Parliament (head of Parliament’s administration) to discuss Kurdistan Parliament’s budget.

The MPs asked about Kurdistan Parliament’s budget and expenditure, the Chief of the Diwan and his staff responded to all the questions and comments.

Committee on Social Affairs and Protection of Human Rights issues statement on media coverage of man’s self-immolation

It is with concern and sadness that we learned that on 18 May, a Kurdish citizen from Iran, Behzad Mahmoodi, also known as Muhammad, threatened to set himself on fire in front of the UN headquarters in Erbil as a protest about his circumstances. We are saddened that some media channels who were present with their microphones to speak with him, encouraged him to carry out his threat. Even more worrying was their filming and coverage of the man’s burning and screams of pain.

Our committee have always supported media freedom, but journalists and media outlets must know that human life is more important than news. The journalists present should have at the least prevented the victim’s self-immolation.

Our committee will officially ask the public prosecutor to file a lawsuit under Iraq’s Penal Code No. 111 of 1969 (Article 370, second paragraph) against the journalists for encouraging the man’s self-immolation through their speech and actions.

We ask journalists and media organizations to abide by journalism’s ethics and principles, and not to incite violence to increase their audience, likes, and social media comments.

19 May 2021

Social Affairs and Protection of Human Rights Committee

19 May – The committee, led by the vice-chair Gulistan Saeed, discussed their draft report on the committee’s visit to the Badinan prisoners and the draft amendments Law No. 22 of 2011, the Law on the Rights and Privileges of Persons with Disabilities and Special Needs.

The MPs discussed completing their report on their visit to the General Directorate of Asayish and their meeting with the Badinan journalists and activists who are serving prison sentences for espionage.

The committee decided to hold a meeting with Parliament’s Legislative Committee about the draft amendments to Law No. 22 of 2011. The first reading of the amendments was held at the sitting of 18 May.

The MPs nominated Shadi Nawzad (Independent) to meet with the ‘Task Force’ requested by the international NGO Heartland Alliance International. The task force is part of a project on protection of human rights, supported by the Netherlands Consulate in Kurdistan Region

The MPs also decided to form three sub-committees to follow up on the issues raised by the public in the Kurdistan Region governorates.

The committee reviewed the letters and requests sent by the public and responded to them.

Integrity Committee

19 May – The committee, led by the chair Shirin Amin (Change), met with Dr. Mohammed Rekani, a member of the Public Prosecution Office and Dr. Waadi Sulaiman, a legal advisor to Parliament, to discuss the second amendments to the Law on the Kurdistan Region Integrity Commission.

the committeediscussed the letters and requests sent by the public, responded to them and directed some of them to the relevant committees.

Dr. Mohammed and Dr. Waadi made their recommendations on how to strengthen the bill, and the committee asked them to direct the recommendations to Parliament’s presidency.

The MPs decided to invite the Chair of the Integrity Commission to get his views on the proposed second amendments.

All agreed that all the proposed amendments to the bill should be directed to the Integrity Commission, and that a workshop should be organized with the participation of the relevant authorities, in order to strengthen the bill.

Protection of Women’s Rights Committee

19 May - The committee, led by chair Lanja Dizayee (KDP), discussed finding a suitable mechanism for holding more meetings with relevant authorities. The committee decided to meet with the ministers of justice, interior, labour and social affairs, endowments and religious affairs, and with the High Council of Women’s Affairs.

The committee replied to several letters and complaints from the public, and sent others to the Parliament’s presidency for further follow-up.