Syrian Kurdish journalist disappears in Iraqi Kurdistan
Name(s):
Sulaiman Mohammed Ahmad
Status:
Detained
Year of birth:
1989
Profession:
Journalist
Nationality:
Syrian
Date of arrest:
Sulaiman Ahmad is a Syrian Kurdish journalist for RojNews, an Iraqi Kurdish news website, residing in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. On October 25, 2023, while returning from a visit to his family in Syria, Ahmad was apprehended by Iraqi Kurdish authorities at the northern Faysh Kabush border. Subsequently, he was brought to an unknown location and forcibly disappeared for several months. Since, he has been detained in the Duhok Security Directorate prison and charged with espionage under the Kurdish national security law. On July 29, 2024, he was sentenced to three years of imprisonment.
Ahmad is a Syrian Kurdish journalist working for RojNews, an Iraqi Kurdish website. He usually resides in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. On 25 October 2023, Ahmad was arrested by Iraqi Kurdish authorities at the northern Faysh Khabur border and taken to an unknown location. According to his relatives, Ahmad was returning from a visit to his family in Syria when his family lost contact with him at Faysh Khabur, which is part of the Duhok Governorate. Since that day, no contact with Ahmad was made possible.
On October 30, 2023, the Duhok Security Directorate of the Kurdish Security (Asayish), responsible for border security in the Duhok Governorate, issued a statement on their Facebook page regarding Ahmad’s arrest. They stated that his arrest had nothing to do with journalism but was related to his “secret and illegal trafficking” for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Asayish’s Facebook statement also alleged that Ahmad had confessed to his actions during the investigation and would be brought to court.
RojNews has hired a lawyer, Nariman Ahmed, who has tried to find Ahmad in Duhok prison several times, but the prison authorities have denied him access. On November 11, 2023, the lawyer tried to visit Duhok prison, but the prison staff informed him that Ahmad was not incarcerated there. Yet, released inmates had told the lawyer that Ahmad was detained in the prison, and even gave his cell number. Nariman Ahmed has also reported the case to the UN Mission to Iraq (UNAMI).
Ahmad’s family and CPJ staff have attempted to contact security forces to inquire about his fate and whereabouts, via phone and messaging apps but have received no response. CPJ tried to make a phone call to Zerevan Barushki, director of Asayish, but did not receive a response. Ali Auni, head of the Duhok bureau of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which controls Duhok Governorate, declined to comment. On March 27, 2024, CPJ contacted Ashti Majeed, Asayish’s spokesperson in Duhok and Erbil, but received no further updates. Ahmad’s family contacted the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq and the Autonomous Administration of Syrian Kurds, but received no answer.
Human rights organisations have denounced human rights violations committed against journalists in the Kurdistan region of Iraq for years. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has documented numerous incidents of journalists being attacked, arrested, or detained in Iraqi Kurdistan. As highlighted by the CED following its country visit to Iraq in November 2022, there is a pattern of enforced disappearance perpetrated by Asayish forces in the Kurdistan region.
Due to the lack of information surrounding the journalist’s situation since October 25, 2023, MENA Rights Group and CPJ submitted an Urgent Action to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances, asking the Iraqi government to clarify Sulaiman Ahmad’s fate and whereabouts.
On May 22, 2024, Ahmad’s lawyers were able to visit him in Duhok Security Directorate prison, where he has been detained. It is only then that they were able to receive official recognition as his legal team, as Ahmad’s enforced disappearance had left him with no legal representation until then.
His family has not been allowed to visit him.
Ahmad was charged with espionage under Article 1 of Law No. 21 of 2003 governing matters of national security, which punishes by up to life imprisonment "anyone who deliberately and in any way engages in an act intended to harm the security, stability and sovereignty of the institutions of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and causes such harm”.
Similarly to the case of Sulaiman Ahmad, journalists in the K-RI are routinely charged with espionage under the K-RI's national security law as reprisals for their journalistic work. Even more concerning, a number of these journalists have been subjected to torture and ill-treatment and sentenced to lengthy prison terms following trials marred by serious violations of fair trial standards and high-level political interference.
Fearing that Ahmad risks facing the same fate, on June 5, 2024, MENA Rights Group, American Bar Association and CPJ filed an urgent action to the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, urging them to take action on Ahmad’s case and call on Iraqi Kurdish authorities to drop his charges and release him.
Ahmad’s trial, initially set to take place on June 30, 2024, has been postponed to July 29, 2024. According to Ahmad’s lawyer, the postponement was requested by the judge for further evidence review.
On July 29, 2024, Ahmad was sentenced to three years of imprisonment for espionage on behalf of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). RojNews, the news outlet Ahmad works for, is pro-PKK and regularly reports on the party’s activities. The PKK was officially banned by the Iraqi government a week prior to Ahmad’s sentencing.
According to Ahmad’s lawyers, the court had no evidence for the conviction and the legal process was “very unfair”. They were reportedly only allowed to attend the trial following pressure exerted by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and foreign consulates.
| Name(s): |
Sulaiman Mohammed Ahmad
|
| Status: |
Detained
|
| Year of birth: |
1989
|
| Profession: |
Journalist
|
| Nationality: |
Syrian
|
| Date of arrest: |
|
Ahmad is a Syrian Kurdish journalist working for RojNews, an Iraqi Kurdish website. He usually resides in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. On 25 October 2023, Ahmad was arrested by Iraqi Kurdish authorities at the northern Faysh Khabur border and taken to an unknown location. According to his relatives, Ahmad was returning from a visit to his family in Syria when his family lost contact with him at Faysh Khabur, which is part of the Duhok Governorate. Since that day, no contact with Ahmad was made possible.
On October 30, 2023, the Duhok Security Directorate of the Kurdish Security (Asayish), responsible for border security in the Duhok Governorate, issued a statement on their Facebook page regarding Ahmad’s arrest. They stated that his arrest had nothing to do with journalism but was related to his “secret and illegal trafficking” for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Asayish’s Facebook statement also alleged that Ahmad had confessed to his actions during the investigation and would be brought to court.
RojNews has hired a lawyer, Nariman Ahmed, who has tried to find Ahmad in Duhok prison several times, but the prison authorities have denied him access. On November 11, 2023, the lawyer tried to visit Duhok prison, but the prison staff informed him that Ahmad was not incarcerated there. Yet, released inmates had told the lawyer that Ahmad was detained in the prison, and even gave his cell number. Nariman Ahmed has also reported the case to the UN Mission to Iraq (UNAMI).
Ahmad’s family and CPJ staff have attempted to contact security forces to inquire about his fate and whereabouts, via phone and messaging apps but have received no response. CPJ tried to make a phone call to Zerevan Barushki, director of Asayish, but did not receive a response. Ali Auni, head of the Duhok bureau of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which controls Duhok Governorate, declined to comment. On March 27, 2024, CPJ contacted Ashti Majeed, Asayish’s spokesperson in Duhok and Erbil, but received no further updates. Ahmad’s family contacted the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq and the Autonomous Administration of Syrian Kurds, but received no answer.
Human rights organisations have denounced human rights violations committed against journalists in the Kurdistan region of Iraq for years. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has documented numerous incidents of journalists being attacked, arrested, or detained in Iraqi Kurdistan. As highlighted by the CED following its country visit to Iraq in November 2022, there is a pattern of enforced disappearance perpetrated by Asayish forces in the Kurdistan region.
Due to the lack of information surrounding the journalist’s situation since October 25, 2023, MENA Rights Group and CPJ submitted an Urgent Action to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances, asking the Iraqi government to clarify Sulaiman Ahmad’s fate and whereabouts.
On May 22, 2024, Ahmad’s lawyers were able to visit him in Duhok Security Directorate prison, where he has been detained. It is only then that they were able to receive official recognition as his legal team, as Ahmad’s enforced disappearance had left him with no legal representation until then.
His family has not been allowed to visit him.
Ahmad was charged with espionage under Article 1 of Law No. 21 of 2003 governing matters of national security, which punishes by up to life imprisonment "anyone who deliberately and in any way engages in an act intended to harm the security, stability and sovereignty of the institutions of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and causes such harm”.
Similarly to the case of Sulaiman Ahmad, journalists in the K-RI are routinely charged with espionage under the K-RI's national security law as reprisals for their journalistic work. Even more concerning, a number of these journalists have been subjected to torture and ill-treatment and sentenced to lengthy prison terms following trials marred by serious violations of fair trial standards and high-level political interference.
Fearing that Ahmad risks facing the same fate, on June 5, 2024, MENA Rights Group, American Bar Association and CPJ filed an urgent action to the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, urging them to take action on Ahmad’s case and call on Iraqi Kurdish authorities to drop his charges and release him.
Ahmad’s trial, initially set to take place on June 30, 2024, has been postponed to July 29, 2024. According to Ahmad’s lawyer, the postponement was requested by the judge for further evidence review.
On July 29, 2024, Ahmad was sentenced to three years of imprisonment for espionage on behalf of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). RojNews, the news outlet Ahmad works for, is pro-PKK and regularly reports on the party’s activities. The PKK was officially banned by the Iraqi government a week prior to Ahmad’s sentencing.
According to Ahmad’s lawyers, the court had no evidence for the conviction and the legal process was “very unfair”. They were reportedly only allowed to attend the trial following pressure exerted by the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) and foreign consulates.