SCORES of people detained in Iraqi Kurdistan are being held illegally, suffering torture and having confessions extracted by force, according to a report published today.

Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor found that some 26 detainees arrested in the regional capital Erbil by the Parastin intelligence services, linked to the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), had suffered physical and psychological torture.

Civil activist Ayhan Saeed, brother of Shafan Saeed, a teacher who was detained, said: “My brother Shafan was arrested on October 22 2020 illegally by an unknown disguised security force and he has been under arrest since then. 

“He is in the Asayish [intelligence services] prison and suffers poor detention conditions and constant physical and psychological torture, the lawyer, who was allowed to visit him, told us. We, his family, are not allowed to visit him until now.”

The Euro-Med report said that many of the detainees were being held in inhumane conditions and security forces are defying court rulings that they should be freed.

They include trade union activist Baddal Barwari, who was forced to surrender to KDP forces after his son was kidnapped and tortured.

He was arrested after demanding payment of public-sector workers’ salaries. Teachers, nurses and civil servants have not received wages since April 2020, with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) claiming that Baghdad is blame for refusing to release northern Iraq’s share of the federal budget.

A court in Duhok cleared Mr Barwari of the charges against him and ordered his release, but he is still being held at an unknown location and denied access to visitors and his lawyers.

Last year, former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn wrote to KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani raising concerns over the safety and whereabouts of journalist Sherwan Sherwani, who was arrested in front of his family last October.

He was held in solitary confinement for two months and made a confession under torture, his lawyer said, adding that his client’s case file contains reports of confessions that he did not make. 

Mr Sherwani, who had written articles critical of the KDP and the powerful Barzani family prior to his arrest, has been charged with spying for foreign parties. His father died while he was behind bars, increasing the psychological pressure on him, and his health is said to be deteriorating.

Some nine people, including two children, were shot dead in the region during anti-government protests in December. 

People are demanding democratic change and an end to the broken political system that sees the region under effective rule by just two families: the Barzanis, who control the KDP, and the Talabanis, who dominate the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK).