UN Report Shines Light on ‘Deeply Worrying’ Pattern of Restrictions in Kurdistan

OCHA/Charlotte Cans. People pray in Erbil, the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
OCHA/Charlotte Cans. People pray in Erbil, the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
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UN Report Shines Light on ‘Deeply Worrying’ Pattern of Restrictions in Kurdistan

OCHA/Charlotte Cans. People pray in Erbil, the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
OCHA/Charlotte Cans. People pray in Erbil, the capital and most populated city in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.

Freedom of expression in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq has been increasingly curtailed over the past year, according to a UN report issued Wednesday.

The report documents a concerning pattern, observed from March 2020 to April 2021.

“The pattern of repression documented in this report is deeply worrying," it read.

The report came a week after an appeals court upheld six-year jail sentences for five journalists and activists.

It said 33 journalists, activists, or human rights defenders had been arrested without being told why, denied access to lawyers or held without their families being informed.

Journalists Ayaz Karam, Kohidar Zebari, and Sherwan Sherwani, along with activists Shivan Saed and Harwian Issa, faced multiple charges including "inciting protests and destabilizing" Kurdistan, as well as "spying", and "misuse of electronic devices".

"These men were sentenced because of a biased political will," charged Belkis Wille, senior researcher at HRW.

Sherwani is known for his investigations into corruption and has criticized Kurdish premier Masrour Barzani on Facebook. On October 7, he was arrested for no legal justification and without a judiciary order.

“They had contacted the American consulate and German consulate and took money from them,” reads the appeal court’s ruling, which was made public last week.

Meanwhile, Germany’s Foreign Office has strongly refuted the court’s allegations.



Iran Seeks to Turn ‘New Page’ in Ties with Lebanon

 In this photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, right, shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)
In this photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, right, shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)
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Iran Seeks to Turn ‘New Page’ in Ties with Lebanon

 In this photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, right, shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)
In this photo released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, right, shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Baabda, east of Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP)

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Lebanese officials on Tuesday that Iran wanted to turn a "new page" in relations with Beirut, hinting at a shift in diplomatic ties that were long grounded in supporting Tehran-backed armed group Hezbollah.

Hezbollah was once a powerful armed movement and political party with sway over Lebanon's state, but it was severely weakened by Israel's bombing campaign last year. Since then, Lebanon's army commander was elected president and a new cabinet with curtailed influence for Hezbollah and its allies took power.

Araqchi's one-day trip to Beirut on Tuesday was his first since February, when he attended the funeral of Hezbollah's secretary general Hassan Nasrallah, killed in Israeli air strikes in September.

Araqchi told both Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi that he wanted to "turn a new page" in Iran's ties with Lebanon, according to statements by Salam and Raggi's offices.

"Araqchi affirmed his country's keenness to open a new page in bilateral relations with Lebanon, based on mutual respect and non-interference in each other's internal affairs," Salam's office said. Araqchi also extended a formal invitation for Salam to visit Iran.

The statement from Raggi's office said the pair had a "frank and direct discussion," including on establishing the state's monopoly on the use of arms - an apparent reference to possible negotiations on the future of Hezbollah's arsenal.

The top Iranian diplomat briefly addressed reporters on Tuesday after meeting with Lebanon's parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who is a key Hezbollah ally. Unlike previous addresses by Iranian diplomats, his comments did not mention Hezbollah.

The visit followed several turbulent episodes in ties between the two countries.

Lebanon's foreign ministry summoned Iran's ambassador to Beirut in April over comments alleging that plans to disarm Hezbollah were a "conspiracy".

Last year, then-Prime Minister Najib Mikati also issued a rare rebuke of Iran for "interfering" in internal Lebanese affairs.

In February, Iran blocked Lebanese planes from repatriating dozens of Lebanese nationals stranded in Tehran after Lebanon said it would not allow Iranian aircraft to land in Beirut because of Israel's threats that it would bomb the planes.