The Kurdistan Observer

In the Kurdish areas in the northern part of Iraq, the Kurds have had self-rule since 1992.
Now the population fears that Saddam Hussein will regain the military and political control
and commit new atrocities against the civilian population.

By Trude Falch and Ketil Volden

Trude Falch works as programme co-ordinator for human rights in Norwegian People’s Aid.
Ketil Volden is programme co-ordinator for the Middle East in the same organisation.
 
The sanctions that were introduced against Iraq in the wake of the invasion of Kuwait 2
August 1990, have had disastrous consequences for the Iraqi  civilian population. There is
an increasing national and international pressure to have the economic sanctions against Iraq
lifted, but few discuss what will happen in the Kurdish self-rule areas of  Iraq when  the
sanctions are lifted.

The Kurdish self-rule in Iraq was established as a consequence of  a series of events in the
aftermath of the Gulf War in 1991. In the spring of 1991, a large part of the population in
Iraq made a revolt against Saddam Hussein’s regime. When the uprising was quelled, 1,5 –
2 million people fled to Iran and Turkey.

6 April 1991 the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 688, which condemned Iraq’s
atrocities and demanded that international humanitarian organisations be allowed to operate
in Iraq. The UN also demanded the protection of national minorities, in special, and the
protection of the Iraqi civilian population, in general, and the respect of the human rights of
the Iraqi civilian population. The allied forces launched “Operation Provide Comfort” and
entered into northern Iraq to give the necessary protection so that the refugees could return to
their homes. The UN Security Council declared the area north of the 36th latitude a security
zone for the Kurds. The USA established a no-fly-zone over the same area, and the UN
concluded an agreement with Iraqi authorities on humanitarian assistance.

31 October 1991 Iraqi forces withdrew from the Kurdish areas north of the 36th latitude, but
also from areas as far south as Suleimaniya and from northern parts of the Kirkuk province.
Iraqi authorities renounced all economic responsibility for the region and initiated an
economic boycott of the area. This affected all trade and the payment of salaries and
pensions, and had severe repercussions on the legal system and the school and health sector.

In 1992 elections were held for a popularly elected assembly in Iraqi Kurdistan, and a
Kurdish regional administration was established. The Kurdish self-rule had neither support,
recognition nor follow-up from the international community. The UN and the Western and
Arab countries that participated in the alliance against Iraq during the Gulf War, wanted to
prevent a splitting up of Iraq. They chose not to work for a political solution, which would
entail an internationally recognised autonomy for the Kurdish part of the country, in
accordance with the wishes of the population.

In 1994, warfare broke out between the two major Kurdish parties, KDP and PUK. Since
then, the control over the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan has been divided between
the two parties.

The UN support to Iraqi Kurdistan depends on negotiations with the regime in Baghdad
which during the whole period since the Gulf War has opposed the presence of
non-governmental organisations in the northern parts of the country. The massive
presence of the organisations during the first years after 1991, when many villages were
rebuilt, was possible because Turkey allowed them to enter the Kurdish areas through its
common border with northern Iraq. In 1996 Turkey closed the border for organisations,
journalists and political representatives, and thereby blocked the main access road to the area
for all visitors who did not explicitly serve Turkish interests or who lacked acceptance by
Iraqi authorities.

Apart from Norwegian People’s Aid, which has been working in Iraqi Kurdistan since 1995
with support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are only seven other
international humanitarian aid organisations present in the area. The working conditions are
difficult and characterised by the area’s  isolation from the rest of the world, especially with
regards to communication and possibilities for travelling. The sense of isolation is of course
much stronger amongst the local organisations and in the civil society.

Through the “Oil for food” agreement, approved by the UN Security Council in 1996, 13
per cent of Iraq’s income from oil production goes to the three Kurdish governorates in
northern Iraq. This has improved the humanitarian situation, but the UN sanctions prevent a
sound, economic development in the area. Trade with the neighbouring countries will break
with the sanction policy of the UN, and the huge potential for agriculture is not exploited
because the “Oil for food” agreement does not permit purchase of grain and other food items
in the Kurdish areas. Instead food from other countries like USA and Australia is
distributed. The Kurdish society depends on humanitarian aid from the UN in the same way
as it under the Iraqi regime depended on centrally controlled goods and services.

The international protection of Iraqi Kurdistan is limited. The international society does not
react when Turkey and Iran bomb areas within the No-fly-zone. In addition, Turkey
repeatedly carries out military operations in the area without any international reactions or
sanctions. 15 August last year 32 Kurds, most of them women and children, were killed in a
Turkish air attack. Iraq’s massive military operation inside the Kurdish autonomous area in
September 1996 was only met with symbolic reactions.

Norwegian People’s Aid has followed the situation in Iraqi Kurdistan closely, and can only
conclude that ten years with the security zone and humanitarian assistance have not given
the Kurds the security that they have been struggling for. The international community’s
lack of will to consider the problem not only as a humanitarian, but also as a political issue,
has contributed to the fact that no lasting solution has been found.

The continuous threat from Saddam Hussein’s regime and the lack of political investment
from the international community lead to frustration, fear and hopelessness. The social,
economic and cultural structures in the area are breaking down. Every year 35 000 Kurds
from Iraq risk their own lives to find security in Europe.

If the present Iraqi regime return to the Kurdish controlled areas, it will represent a serious
risk for the population and most probably to gross violations of human rights and oppression.
The seriousness of the situation and the history of the Kurds in Iraq implies that UN should
immediately take the initiative to find a political solution in order to make the temporary and
de facto autonomy into a permanent and recognised autonomy. Norway, which leads the UN
Sanctions Committee for Iraq in the Security Council, can play an important role here.

A political solution must be based on the principle of peoples’ right to self determination and
the solution must secure minority rights and general human rights for the Kurds in Iraq. The
various alternatives must include different forms of  self-rule within a democratic Iraq. A
first step can be to send a UN appointed independent expert commission to the area to assess
different solutions and the wishes of the population.

The international community should guarantee that a reunion between the Kurdish self-rule
areas and the rest of Iraq does not take place before such a reunion has been approved of by
a democratically elected parliament in Iraqi Kurdistan.

In any future negotiations between the Iraqi regime and Kurdish representatives in order to
achieve an agreement within Iraq, it is necessary that the Kurds have strong international
support. Because of their weak negotiating position it is impossible to arrive at a viable and
credible agreement with the Iraqi regime without such a support. If the sanctions are lifted
before such a lasting, political solution has been found for the Kurds in Iraq, it is important
that they receive continuous international protection. The Kurds must, in addition, be
guaranteed their legitimate share of the Iraqi oil revenues.

If the Kurdish dimension in Iraq is ignored the world will most likely witness a new Kurdish
refugee tragedy similar to the one in 1991. After having been exposed to massive atrocities
during several decades, time is ripe for the elaboration of a political solution for the Kurds in
Iraq which takes into consideration the legitimate needs of the Kurds themselves.

* This opinion editorial has formerly been published in Norwegian in the Norwegian
newspaper Aftenposten on 25 May, 2001 under the following head line “The UN and the
Kurds in Iraq”

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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com