In most Third World countries, like Iraq, the security agencies consider the sword over the necks of innocent people. These agencies have done things that are both shameful and against or in line with heavenly or international standards and values. They committed violations of human rights in various and most heinous forms of torture and intimidation, out of sight of the law. Every Iraqi has become vulnerable to the oppression of those sadistic security agencies. With or without reason, the Iraqi citizen’s breaths are counted on him, the freedom of speech has disappeared, and social and political hypocrisy has prevailed among Iraqi society, including the Kurdistan region. Every Iraqi has become vulnerable to the oppression of those sadistic security agencies. With or without reason, the Iraqi citizen’s breaths are counted on him, the freedom of speech has disappeared, and social and political hypocrisy has prevailed among Iraqi society, including the Kurdistan region. The security agencies were found to serve the people in developed countries, but in Iraq, including the Kurdistan region, the security services were found to serve the leaders, governing party, militia, and to achieve the interests of the members of the agencies themselves who are in charge.
Asayish forces are the internal security and intelligence service for the Kurdistan region of Iraq, and the purpose of establishing this agency is to maintain security in Kurdistan. But the Asayish are like the other security services in Iraq. In other words, the Asayish apparatus’s main goal is to help Barzani’s family, the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, as well as to serve the Asayish members’ own interests. Asayish forces have cracked down on Kurds before Arabs, violated freedom of the press in Kurdistan, and displaced many Arab families on the pretext of terrorism. Asayish imprisoned many men and women out of sight of humanitarian organizations; suppressed peaceful demonstrations under the guise of preserving security in the Kurdistan region; and barred many Arabs and Kurds from entering Kurdistan under the guise of preserving regional security. But reality teaches us different facts. The Asayish was and is still a repressive institution for the Kurds and Arabs. They try to eliminate any competitor of Barzani’s and Talabani’s families and take a hard line on any matter that threatens the interests of the two political parties or the people who work in the same institute.
The prolonged detention, torture, and killing of people with political backgrounds by the Kurdistan authorities, like the Asayish forces, are systematic means of suppressing or defeating any thought or any movement calling for changing the situation of the people in Kurdistan. Human Rights Watch, through its periodic reports based on documented testimonies, has repeatedly accused the authorities in the Kurdistan Region of systematically using torture in their prisons. One of the examples was about taking confessions from detained children by using electric shocks. It is interesting to note that the DOS said in their 2017 annual report on human rights that there are many cases of torture in the prisons of the Kurdish security forces known as “Asayish,” including torture using electricity and water so as not to hurt the bodies of the prisoners.
Reports also say that the Asayish forces are mostly to blame for the arbitrary arrests of journalists, activists, and political opposition figures in the Kurdistan region. This is done to silence other free voices and scare other press activists. Amnesty calls anyone who is in jail for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of speech a “prisoner of conscience” and wants him or her to be freed right away and without conditions. It is common knowledge that a journalist cannot be arrested and investigated without first informing the Press Syndicate or the Union of Journalists. The way they do it is against the law, but most arrests happen without telling the Union of Journalists. One of the reasons for the arrests is newspaper articles or online articles that criticize government members in the Kurdistan region. Most of the time, they held them without charges or trials for a few weeks to a year. In a climate of impunity, arrests, detentions, and other violations of the rights of journalists and government critics in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq occur in a climate of impunity. Members of the Asayish or other security forces have never been brought to justice for abusing their power, violating the human rights of detainees, or arresting journalists who were covering the protests. The Asayish have always tried to suppress freedom of expression as part of a specific plan. In the last few years, there have been many kidnapping cases carried out by the Asayish forces, whether in the Kurdistan region, Kirkuk, or Mosul, as well as some political reckoning in the region. The word “kidnapping” is only said to an illegitimate party, for example, the Mafia or a gang, but the wonder is the Asayish’s continued activities in this gangster style. They are the ruling authorities and can arrest anyone they want, openly and loudly.
The regimes that successively governed Iraq, including the Kurdistan region, adopted the principle of creating fear in the hearts of their people and applied the theory of “It is better to be feared than loved.” Fear and threats have become the main tools of every Iraqi regime, and spreading fear in the name of keeping people safe has become a way for every governor and leader in Iraq to get ahead. The amplification of the roles of the security agencies (such as the Asayish) and intelligence in the country has become a necessity for every despotic and oppressive regime, not to serve the people but for the sake of legitimizing the regime’s actions. as well as to strip the regime’s opponents of legitimacy and describe them as conspirators, treasonous, corrupt, and disturbing security. Finally, to suppress the freedom of the people and press. Ibn Khaldun said, “The ruler turns his apprehension and jealousy of his people into fear for his possession, and he takes them to death and insult.”