From al-Sulaymaniyah.. former political prisoners urge Baghdad to defend their violated rights

Shafaq News/ A group of former political prisoners in al-Sulaymaniyah on Wednesday urged the Iraqi parliament to defend their rights and revoke the practices of the Kurdistan region's legislative and executive authorities.

"Our constitutional rights, that the Iraqi constitution guaranteed in Article 132 and Iraqi parliament ratified in law no.4 of 2006, have been violated," Mohammad Jaff, a representative of former political prisoners in the Kurdistan region, said in a press conference at the parliament's headquarters in al-Sulaymaniyah.

Jaff called for enlisting the former political prisoners residing in the Kurdistan region on the federal government's payroll instead of the region's government to "avoid manipulations".

The former political prisoners' representative urged the Iraqi parliament to enforce federal law no.4 of 2006 in lieu of law no.11 issued by the region's parliament in 2011.

Jaff called for transferring the portfolios of the region's former political prisoners to the federal foundation in Baghdad and enrolling them directly in it.

Lawmaker Beryar Rachid said he endorses the demands of the region's former political prisoners, calling for according them equal treatment to their peers in the southern and central governorates.

Rachid said that the lawmakers of the Kurdistan region might appeal to the federal court to ensure that the region's former political prisoners receive equal rights