An Announcement from Jihan Taha’s Family
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All Human Rights Organizations
All the political characters and political centers of the world
All news media around the world
As the Family of Jihan Taha, We write to express our grave concerns and to request a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding the untimely death of Jihan Taha, a resident and teacher of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. The incident, which occurred on October 26, 2023, involved a traffic accident that has raised several suspicions.
From the outset, the Kurdish community, including media personnel, journalists, activists, and freedom fighters, has perceived this incident as an act of state-sponsored assassinations. This perception is grounded in a pattern of similar incidents over recent years, including assassinations, arrests, beatings, and imprisonments of journalists and activists. The environment in Iraqi Kurdistan has increasingly become hostile to freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly and protest. Notable cases include the kidnappings and assassinations of journalists Sardasht Osman and Wadat Hussein, the assassination of Mullah Hoshyar Ismail, and the imprisonment of Sherwan Sherwani, Gohdar Zebari, Qareman Shukri, and others in Badinan. The recent arrest of Ali Rauf, a teachers’ representative, following the assassination of Jihan, ostensibly for organizing a demonstration, further underscores these concerns.
It is pertinent to note that demonstrations in Sulaimani and its environs, under the control of a different political party, have continued for nearly 4 months without interference, highlighting a stark contrast in the treatment of civic activities.
Jihan Taha, who resided in Erbil, was an outspoken critic of the authorities and the Ministry of Education, particularly regarding their neglect of teachers’ demands. Consequently, the Kurdish authorities in Erbil and Badinan are primarily accused by Jihan Taha’s family, the Kurdish populace, and freedom fighters globally, of being complicit in her assassination.
We present the following evidence to support our concerns:
1. Jihan is not a good driver in driving, especially when going out of the city, so she has never been out of the city in her life, finally went to Kirkuk with her mother by taxi because she could not drive out of the city It is difficult and one-sided, with many twists and turns and mountains and sorrows. There is even evidence that the scene was prepared for the crime. The question is why should a person take a difficult road that she has never driven before when she could have done it from her home in Erbil or used many other easier ways?
2. Jihan scheduled her day very normally and orderly on the day of her assassination. For example, school work, receiving salaries, shopping, communicating with family and friends, and making several promises to meet and do some important and necessary work in the following days. She promised to do something for her brother at 2:09 pm, and her voice sounded very normal, but at 4:10 pm she spoke with another family member and trembled so much that she appeared to be speaking under threat and pressure.
3. It is impossible for such a small car to start a fire that rises four meters as shown in the photos and videos. It is also a very typical crash that only rolled over once and it is even suspected that the car was manually overturned and then burned.
4. The strangest thing is that the place of the incident is located in Barzan. We and all Kurdish people and even foreigners know that the region is completely controlled by a ruling party that is at the top of the ruling party.
The hospital, court, police station, and all the belongings of Jihan related to the incident are all under the control of the authorities of the area.
5. We are aware and have evidence that the authorities have repeatedly entered the Facebook account of Jihan under the pretext of investigation and all other apps of Jihan’s social networks are under their control and have been used. They say her phone was burned without showing it to us, so we suspect the latest Facebook posts on Jihan’s account were posted by her.
6. Even the planned and hasty burial of Jihan’s body without the presence of her family. Jihan’s hand is said to have been broken but no medical report has been shown to her family.
7. Soran Civil Defense (Fire station) initially announced that this incident involved two women and men, but later changed the news to one person, who is Jihan, while dozens of other pages had shared the same news”The victims of the accident are more than one person”.
8. Since Jihan had a very strong and hopeful personality, she had her hopes and dreams. She has also always encouraged the girls, women, and students to be not hopeless and not give up on life. At the same time, she had two beautiful children, Baran and Birhat, whom she cared about and was very attached to them.
Therefore, the possibility of suicide is far from the personality of Jihan.
9. Jihan knew that her whole family had bought their plane tickets and would return to Kurdistan and her brother would get married. She went to her brother’s engagement and was happy with this news, she told her sisters ” We will wear Kurdish dress on the day of the wedding”.
10. The negligence of the authorities, the lack of attention to the case, and the failure to give any explanation to Kurdish people about the charges against them, as well as the control, minimization, and normalization of the incident with the family of Jihan done by themselves.
We, as a family of eleven members living in the United States and holding US citizenship, have the right to investigate the case of our only daughter, Jihan, who lived in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, and this case has strong political implications.
