From News Desk
Amid escalating tensions between Iran and Israel, a distinguished international panel in a press conference has raised urgent concerns about the erosion of rule of law and human rights in Iraq, citing Iranian influence over the country’s judicial system and the systematic targeting of the Kurdish population.
The Press Conference highlighted the ongoing ‘political starvation of the Kurdish people.’ Held virtually, the panel featured top legal minds, journalists and regional experts –
- Dr Ismail Musbah Al-Waeli, EU-accredited investigative journalist and owner of INS News
- Robert Amsterdam, international human rights attorney, founder and Managing Partner of Amsterdam & Partners
- Professor William Burke-White, University of Pennsylvania Law School and former U.S. State Department official
- Bakhtiar Saleh, Kurdish political commentator and journalist
One of the key highlights included the often unspoken reality of the systemic discrimination against the Kurdistan region.
In this regard, Dr. Al-Waeli detailed how the Iraqi central government, under Iranian influence, has failed to deliver constitutionally mandated financial transfers to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) since 2017. “Only a quarter of the salaries owed to public servants in Kurdistan have been paid in recent months,” he said, citing Article 140 disputes over oil and territory.
Robert Amsterdam, counsel in the high-profile Sara Saleem case, warned of a “judicial coup” orchestrated by Faiq Zaidan, head of Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council. “Zaidan has forced out key judicial leaders to eliminate independent centers of power—acting as an agent of Iranian interests inside Iraq,” Amsterdam said.“This is not only an internal matter, but a front in the broader regional conflict,” he dded.
Professor Burke-White emphasized that both the marginalisation of Kurdistan and manipulation of the judiciary violate Iraq’s obligations under international law. “The attack on self-determination and judicial independence undermines the very legal foundations of the modern Iraqi state,” he said.
Speaking from Erbil, journalist Bakhtiar Saleh described Iraq’s government as “controlled by militias, not civil institutions,” adding, “Kurds are being threatened, salaries withheld, and our basic rights ignored. This is not a country. This is a forest.”
Amsterdam also elaborated on the ongoing legal case in the United States involving Sara Saleem, a Kurdish-American woman who was abducted and tortured in Iraq after refusing to pay political bribes. The case names Zaidan as a defendant and underscores the alleged weaponization of the judiciary to silence political dissent.
Panelists urged the global community and press to closely monitor the situation in Iraq, where judicial independence is under direct threat and basic human rights are being ignored.
“This is a crisis moment,” said moderator Brent Roske. “The destabilisation of Iraq’s judiciary could have ripple effects far beyond its borders,” Roske added.
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