RJAK member Rashid: “KDP is targeting organized women”

Kurdistan Free Women’s Organization (RJAK) members Xewle Mihemed Hesen, Seyran Ehmed and Ciwana Ebdulbaqî were detained on August 5 by KDP forces in Hewler (Erbil) while returning from an event that marked the 7th anniversary of the Yazidi massacre that took place on August 3, 2014 in Shengal. A group of women and journalists launched a campaign for their release, and the KDP had to release Xewla Mihemed Hesen and Seyran Ehmed. The third activist, Ciwana Ebdulbaqî was released last Thursday (October 14, 2021).

‘KDP DOES NOT RECOGNIZE ORGANIZED WOMEN’

South Kurdistan (kr: Bashur) RJAK Assembly Member Reşid recalled that their members were arrested by KDP forces for no reason while on their way back from a commemoration ceremony in Shengal. “Our members do not carry out illegal activities, on the contrary, their work in the region is legal and official. The arrest of our members demonstrated that KDP officials do not accept any women’s organization other than their own. The KDP wants to control the organization of women and impose its political decisions on them,” she said.

Speaking to ANHA, Reşid stressed that the KDP wants women to deal with only housework by confining them to the home. “The KDP does not recognize organized women. Everyone knows what we are doing and what we are fighting and resisting for.”

‘WE WANT WOMEN TO HAVE FREE THINKING AND WILL’

“We and Ciwana’s family hired a lawyer for her release, but they did not release her. It is not the first time that a woman was arrested. Another politician had been arrested in Hewler last year. They are trying to destroy the idea of ​​free women and to use women for their own interests under the pretext of women’s freedom and rights. We want women to have free thought and will. This is the reason why our members were arrested and our official headquarters in Iraq was closed.”

The female politician emphasized that the KDP represents the mentality of the invaders and dictators with its policies. “When a woman is free, her opinion is targeted because the KDP is afraid of the emancipated women. All the politicians and journalists arrested were targeted because of their dissenting political opinions.”

The Kurdistan Free Women’s Organization (RJAK), an independent women’s organization that pursues the women’s philosophy and ideas of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, has been active in many parts of Kurdistan since 1997. RJAK, recognized as an official institution in 2002, deals with the problems of women in society and seeks suitable solutions for them.