Decade of Conflict Had Put Iraq Under International Scrutiny, says KRG Official
Shafaq News/ Kurdistan Regional Government's International Advocacy Coordinator, Dindar Zebari, on Tuesday said that the unparalleled intensity of the conflicts Iraq has faced over the past decade has placed it under international scrutiny, with nearly half a million people killed since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime.
"What has occurred in Iraq over the past ten years was unmatched elsewhere in the Middle East with major wars taking place against terrorism, from Jund al-Islam and al-Qaeda, the Naqshbandi Order, passing through the Baathists and ending with ISIS," he said during a panel discussion in Sulaymaniyah today.
The consequences of these tumultuous years have led to heightened international monitoring of Iraq and its security forces, he explained.
Observations primarily fall into two categories: the first being Iraq's ongoing battles against terrorism, and the second involving accusations pertaining to the movements and administrative dealings of the security forces.
Regarding international organizations, Zebari noted that they have initiated close surveillance of Iraq. From Human Rights Watch to Amnesty International, along with dozens of other entities, each with a specific objective, whether regional or global.
"There is no international human rights organization without underlying political motives, despite their claims to the contrary."
Zebari shed light on the international critique of Iraq, indicating that since 2011, up until the previous Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi assumed power, Iraq has faced 120 international reports related to human rights violations and other issues.
This criticism, he pointed out, multiplied in 2015 and 2016, and in 2019, the number reached 300, suggesting that there is hardly anything left in Iraq that has not been subject to international criticism.
Zebari said that more than half a million Iraqi citizens have been killed since 2003, with their killers' identities remaining unclear.
