Open Letter to the International Community
To:
UN Secretary-General Mr. António Guterres
President of the European Council Mr. Charles Michel
Prime Minister of Iraq Mr. Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani
Concern: Call to end impunity concerning the extra-judicial killing of Nagihan Akarsel and all crimes of feminicide
One year ago on 4th October 2022, the Kurdish journalist, academic and women’s rights defender Nagihan Akarsel was assassinated when leaving her home in Bakhtiary district in the town center of Sulaymaniyah, in Southern Kurdistan-Iraq. Since then, our grief as well as our search for justice continues. So far no legal or political measures have been taken – either to enact justice for Nagihan Akarsel or to prevent further political killings. We call upon the international community, together with human rights defenders, journalists, artists and women’s organizations from every region of Kurdistan and across the world, to take urgent action.
One day after the assassination of Nagihan Akarsel the police of Sulaymaniyah announced publicly that they had arrested the perpetrators of the assassination. They were reported to be on the run towards Erbil, and captured rapidly after the crime as a result of intense investigation and cooperation between the security forces of Erbil and Koye.1 According to information disseminated in the media, the killer of Nagihan Akarsel was identified as Ismail Peker from the Turkish region Mamak in the city of Ankara. He was apparently hired by the National Intelligence Organization of Turkey (MIT) to carry out the assassination. The fact that Peker was employed by MIT was reinforced by a press statement by Ali Rızam Güney,2 the Turkish ambassador to Iraq. To date, no legal steps have been taken to convict the perpetrator and clarify the political background of this murder. Neither the Kurdistan Regional Government nor the Iraqi authorities have shown any efforts to resolve this extra-juridical killing, to convict those responsible, or bring accountability to the employers of the killer.
Nagihan Akarsel was targeted on her way to the Kurdish Women’s Library, Archive and Research Center in Sulaymaniyah, an officially registered institution which she established with other women. Nagihan Akarsel was targeted because she had a brave heart and a clear mind. She was aware of the origins of oppression that continuously denies freedom to women and the Kurdish people. She was a journalist and academic, a founding member of the Women’s News Agency JINHA and the Jineolojî Journal in North Kurdistan and Turkey, and an initiator of many research projects of the Jineolojî Academy. Through this work she committed her life to researching and revealing the truth. Nagihan Akarsel never kept silent in the face of oppression, occupation and injustice. She united women and people from all sections of society towards a common life of dignity and freedom. This is the reason why Nagihan Akarsel was a thorn in the side of the Turkish state and became a target. In her personality and attitudes she united the three elements of the Kurdish slogan “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” (Woman, Life, Freedom). This slogan was picked up and spread by women in Eastern Kurdistan and Iran who were rebelling against the killing of Jina Emini by Iranian state forces. This crime happened just 18 days before Nagihan Akarsel was assassinated by contract killers of the Turkish state.
The assassination of Nagihan Akarsel joins the systemic extra-judicial killings of Kurdish women committed by state forces during the last four decades. Especially since the beginning of the AKP-Erdogan government, extra-judicial killings targeting activists of the Kurdish Women’s Freedom Movement inside and outside the borders of Turkey have multiplied.
In November 2020, the Kurdish Women’s Movement in Europe (TJK-E) created the 100 Reasons campaign – namely 100 cases of extra-judicial killings of women – to prosecute Erdogan and the AKP government for their feminicidal politics.3 235,727 people signed their support of the demand to indict Erdogan according to international law.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls have reiterated their concern that a high number of predominantly Kurdish civilians, including many women, have reportedly been killed by the Turkish security forces under the pretext of “counter-terrorism operations”. At the same time they called upon the Turkish state to investigate, prosecute and adequately punish the perpetrators and to “establish an independent and impartial investigation mechanism for this purpose with international assistance”.4 None of these recommendations have been implemented.
On the contrary, the situation has continued to worsen. As perpetrators act with the certainty that their crimes will go unpunished, targeted political killings of Kurdish women have increased dramatically since 2022. These killings, which violate international law, are frequently carried out by drone strikes on Kurdish territory in Iraq and in North and East Syria. In the period between January and June 2023, 53 people were killed by targeted drone attacks of the Turkish military against the citizens of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Among them were women politicians and community leaders.5 On 23rd August 2023 a Turkish armed drone targeted a vehicle of the women’s TV channel JIN TV on the Qamishlo-Amude road. Due to the bombing, the channel’s employee Necmeddin Feysel was killed and the journalist Dalila Akid was severely injured. In another example, there is clear evidence showing that the Turkish state designed the executions of leading members of the Kurdish Women’s Movement in Paris 2013 and 2022. Yet again these crimes remain unpunished. In East Kurdistan and Iran dozens of women were assassinated or tortured to death by Iranian state forces during the uprisings that followed the murder of Jina Emini. None of the perpetrators have been prosecuted. [6]
All these examples show the systematic crime of extra-judicial killings committed by state forces against Kurdish women rights defenders. It is only through legally holding the offenders and their employers accountable that we believe an important step will be made towards ensuring justice for the individual cases and for all victims of extra-judicial assassinations. Ending impunity of political killings, bringing perpetrators and their employers to justice, means to prevent future crimes against humanity.
Therefore we appeal to the United Nations and all concerned institutions to take urgent and effective action. By demanding justice for Nagihan Akarsel, we demand justice for all women who have been subjected to extra-judicial killings and other forms of feminicide. By saying Ni una menos! we request that the international community takes urgent measures to defend the lives and rights of women.
These measures should include:
– The prosecution and conviction of the perpetrators responsible individuals for the assassination of Nagihan Akarsel and all other extra-judicial killings.
– Closure of Iraqi and Syrian airspace for the Turkish Air Force, including armed and unarmed UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles).
– Urging Turkey to stop its illegal attacks, politics of occupation, war, and systematic assassinations of women rights defenders and people living in any part of Kurdistan, especially with regards to the territories of Iraq and North and East Syria.
– Prosecution of war crimes and crimes against humanity – including genocide and feminicide – committed by Erdogan and the AKP government, in accordance with international law.
– Ensuring justice for Jina Emini and all other women in Iran who have been assassinated, tortured or imprisoned due to struggling for women’s rights and freedom.
As the signatories of this open letter we request that you take our demands as your own, and undertake immediate steps to obtain justice to prevent further killings.
[1] https://medyanews.net/nagihan-akarsel-murder-suspects-arrested-in-iraqi-kurdistan/
[2] https://medyanews.net/identity-of-nagihan-akarsels-assassin-revealed/
[4] cf. CEDAW/C/TUR/CO/7 (2016), CEDAW /C/TUR/CO/8 (2022), A/HRC/53/36/Add.1
[5] https://www.syriahr.com/en/301595/
[6] https://hengaw.net/content/upload/1/root/statistical-report.pdf
Yours sincerely,
Abha Bhaiya, national coordinator of the international campaign One Billion Rising to eliminate violence against girls, women and mother earth,
Himachal Pradesh/India;
Accion Lila, feminist collective of Manresa, Catalonia/Spain;
Ada Colau, Mayor of Barcelona 2015-2023, Catalonia/Spain;
Adriana Guzmán Arroyo, anti-patriarchal community feminism, Bolivia;
Afghan Women’s Association CISDA, Italy;
Agnès Golfier, co-director of Danielle Mitterrand Foundation, France;
Al- Shabba Sini Ibrahim, women’s rights defender, Western Sahara;
Alba Sotorra, film-maker, Catalonia/Spain;
Alessandra Pomarico, Free Home University, Italy;
Alessia Manzi, journalist, Italy;
Alexandra Uso i Carinena, president of Escola Valenciana, Spain;
Alliance of Internationalist Feminists, Germany;
Amal Basha, human rights advocate, Yemen;
Amine Kakebaveh, former MP, Sweden;
Ana Isabel Arambilet, social activist, Spain;
Ana Isabel Ruiz Gomez, Bizkaia Women’s Assembly, Bask Country/Spain;
Ana Miranda, MEP & member of the BNG executive council, Galicia/Spain;
Andrea Reinoso, MA cultural studies, Desde el Margen collective, Ecuador;
Angela Mickley, professor emer. of peace, conflict, ecology at Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, Germany;
Ann-Kristin Kowarsch, writer & activist, Germany;
Anna Gabriel, former MP of Catalonian Parliament, Catalonia/Spain;
Antiracist Legal Network, Catalonia/Spain; Ariel Salleh, sociologist & ecofeminist, Australia;
Aroha Nicolas, international section of Inter-syndical Confederation, Spain;
Arsenouhi Pilikian, political activist, Canada;
Arzu Demir, journalist, Turkey;
Assumpta Bardem, spokesperson for Intersindical Alternativa de Catalonia/Spain;
Asya Mecid Arif, human rights activist, Canada;
Atika Ettaife, head of women’s section of the Workers’ Democratic Way Party, Morocco;
Auro Lolita Chavez Ixcaquic, indigenous women leader & human rights defender, Guatemala;
Awezan Nuri, writer & activist, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Aynur Pasha, lawyer, AANES/Syria;
Ayse Guney, journalist, Turkey;
Azize Aslan, PhD. sociologist, Mexico;
Azra Talat Sazeed, International Women‘s Alliance (IWA), Pakistan;
Bafta Sarbo, social scientist, Germany;
Bahar Ali Qadir, feminist activist, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Barbara Steiner, political scientist & director of Transform!Europe, Austria;
Basma Hamdi, secretary general of the International Union of African Women, Tunisia;
Bayan Nasih, social worker, Sweden;
Beatriu Cardona, spokeswoman for the Union of Teaching Workers in Valencia, Spain;
Bedriye Akyol, Socialist Women’s Union (SKB), France;
Benedetta Argentieri, journalist & director, Italy;
Berivan Doski, honorary president of Kurdish PEN within PEN International, Kurdistan / Iraq;
Bertha Zuniga Cáceres, general coordinator of Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH), Honduras;
Bese Shamari, women’s rights activist, Kurdistan/Sweden;
Beverly Keene, Dialogo 2000, human rights defender, Argentine;
Bilqes Roshan, women’s human rights defender & former MP in Loya Jirga, Afghanistan;
Brigitte Vasallo, writer, researcher & lecturer, Spain;
Ca la Dona, women’s association, Catalonia/Spain;
Cansu Özdemir, chair of the Left Party Group in the Parliament of Hamburg, Germany;
Carmen Leccardi, president of Casa della Cultura & professor emerita of sociology and social research at the Bicocca University in Milan, Italy;
Caroline McKusick, PhD. cultural anthropologist, USA;
Caroline Moorhead OBE, author, UK;
Casa Delle Donne, women‘s association, Milano, Italy;
Cercle de Bruixes, women’s group, Catalonia/Spain;
Ceyran Rostemi, women’s human rights defender, Iran/Germany;
Choman Herdi, writer & scholar, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Cihan Bilgin, journalist, Kurdistan/Turkey;
Cihan Cilo, co-chair of the Autonomous Administration Council of Shengal/Iraq;
Cihan Saleh, women’s secretary of Kurdistan Green Party for Environment, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Clara Peya, pianist & composer, Spain;
Claudia Corel, feminist activist, Argentine;
Claudia Krieglsteiner, district council member for LINKS-KPÖ in Vienna, Austria;
Coni Ledesma, International Women’s Alliance (IWA), Philippines / Netherlands;
Consuelo Nunez, anthropologist & human rights activist, Spain;
Coordinadora 8M Lleida, 8 March coordination, Catalonia/Spain;
Corinne Gobin, senior researcher, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium;
Corinne Morel-Darleux, writer, France;
Council of Armenian Community, AANES/Syria;
Council of Syrian Women, Syria;
Danielle Simonnet, MP of La France Insoumise in National Assembly of France;
Debbie Bookchin, journalist, USA;
Debbie Brennan, organizer, Australian section of Radical Women, Australia;
Diana Restrepo, lawyer & academic, Colombia;
Dilar Dirik, political sociologist & writer, Kurdistan/UK;
Dilek Ocalan, former MP of Peoples’ Democratic Party HDP in National Assembly of Turkey;
Dimen Mahmud, president of Organization Anfal Stories Kirkuk, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Dona Jaalouk, lawyer, Lebanon;
DonesxDones, anti-militarist feminist group, Catalonia/Spain;
Donna Achara, British Black Anti-Poverty Network, UK;
Dr. Anjila Sultan AL-Maamari, expert researcher & president of the Center for Strategic Studies to Support Women & Children, Yemen;
Dr. Annette Lawson OBE, PhD. sociologist, UK;
Dr. Arianne Shahvisi, senior lecturer in ethics, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, UK;
Dr. Barbara Pade, physician & lecturer on modern matriarchy research, Germany;
Dr. Bhargavi Rao, senior fellow/trustee, Environment Support Group, India;
Dr. Christine Löw, deputy professor in political science with focus on gender studies, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen, Germany;
Dr. Dana Pietsch, University of Tübingen, Germany;
Dr. Dersim Dağdeviren, physician & co-chair of Network of Kurdish Academics Kurd-Akad, Germany;
Dr. Hourig Attarian, PhD, assistant professor & researcher, Armenia/Canada;
Dr. Kerime Hafnawi, pharmacist & writer, Egypt;
Dr. Mechthild Exo, researcher in peace and conflict studies, University of Applied Studies Emden/Leer, Germany;
Dr. Nikola Ashref Shaly, lecturer, Suleymaniyah University, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Dr. Parwin Noory Arif, university lecturer & expert on oral history, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Dr. Rabiha Al-Farisi, Libyan Women Network for Peace-building, Libya;
Dr. Roya Sadeqî, women’s human rights defender & former political prisoner, Iran/Sweden;
Dr. Ruth-Gaby Vermot-Mangold, former MP, Member of the Council of Europe, President of Peace Women Across the Globe, Switzerland;
Dr. Vishwas Satgar, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa;
Efser Eziziyan, women’s human rights defender, Iran /Germany;
Ela Gandhi, chairperson of Gandhi Development Trust, South Africa;
Elahe Sedr, women’s rights activist, Iran/Germany;
Elif Berk, editor of Jineolojî Journal, Turkey;
Elif Kaya, member of Jineoloji Center Brussels, Kurdistan/Netherlands;
Elif Sarican, writer, UK;
Elisabeth Decrey Warner, associate fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) & former president of the Parliament of the Republic and Canton of Geneva, Switzerland;
Emine Ozmen, writer, Kurdistan/Turkey;
Estella Schmid, Campaign Peace in Kurdistan, UK;
Evin Cuma, co-chair of Human Rights Organization Region Cizire, AANES/Syria;
Êzidî Women’s Council of North and East Syria;
Fadime Iraqi, women’s human rights defender, Iran/Germany;
Fatima Kerimi, PhD, sociologist & researcher, Iran/France;
Fatin Azad Hemed, Arch Association, Palestine;
Fatma Bilen, co-chair of municipality, Makhmur Refugee Camp, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Fatma Kocak, journalist, Turkey;
Fazela Mohamed, Kurdish Human Rights Action Group, South Africa;
Fedile Tok, activist & coordinator of Ishtar Women’s Council, Makhmur Refugee Camp, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Feminist Commission of the Young Muixeranga, Valencia/Spain;
Feministas del Abya Yala, feminist organisation, Latin-America;
Fereshte Musevi, women’s human rights defender, Iran/Germany;
Fetan Cewkar, women’s human rights defender, Finland;
Filiz Budak, co-chair of the People’s Assembly of Makhmur Refugee Camp, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Filiz Kocali, journalist & writer, Turkey/Belgium;
Firoozeh Farvandin, researcher & lecturer, Humboldt-University, Iran/Germany;
Font idi Pace, peace association, Italy;
Francine Bolle, historian, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium;
Franziska Stier, party secretary of BastA! & author, Switzerland;
Fusun Erdogan, journalist & writer. Turkey/Netherlands;
Gareth Peirce, Birnberg Peirce Solicitors, London, UK;
Gasha Dara Hafid, jurist & former MP of PUK in Kurdistan Regional Parliament/Iraq;
Gemeinsam Kämpfen, feminist organisation for self-determination and democratic autonomy, Germany;
Gita de Bruixa, anti-capitalist feminist collective, Catalonia/Spain;
Gökay Akbulut, sociologist & MP of federal parliament, Germany;
Gulistan Said Mohamed, MP and head of the parliamentary group of Change Movement (Gorran) in Kurdistan Regional Parliament/Iraq;
Hazar Uchar, writer & teacher, Makhmur Refugee Camp, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Helen Gilbert, national organizer, Radical Women, USA;
Helin Kara, spokeswoman of the education committee, Makhmur Refugee Camp, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Irene Ansari, feminist & political activist, Iran/France;
Irene Gimenez, sustainability technician, Spain;
Jana Seyda, writer & poet, Kurdistan/Syria;
Janet Biehl, writer & member of New York Kurdish Cultural Centre, USA;
Jessica González Herrera, MP of Catalonian Parliament;
Jineolojî Academy;
Jineolojî Centre of Brussels, Belgium;
Joly Talukder, politician, Bangladesh;
Julie de Lima-Sison, International Network of Philippine Studies, Philippines/Netherlands;
Kafiye Suleyman Abdullah, women’s rights activist, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Karla Lara, feminist singer, Honduras;
Kate Horsted, policy advisor, UK;
Kejal Heme Reshid, human rights defender, Kurdistan / Iraq;
Kerima El Tay, human rights defender, Iraq;
Khadija Baker, artist, Kurdistan/Canada;
Khalida Jarrar, MP & political leader, Palestine;
Kner Abdullah Heme Aziz, writer, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Kongra Star, Women’s Congress, Rojava/Syria;
Korea Association, NGO, Germany;
Kumru Bilici, journalist & photographer, Turkey/Canada;
Kurdish Women’s Library, Archive and Research Center, Kurdistan/Iraq;
La Maquia – Azadî Jin, autonomous transfeminist group, Catalonia/Spain;
Laurence Cohen, senator PCF, France;
Laurence Patrice, deputy mayor of Paris, France;
Leyla Arzu İlhan, archaeologist & teacher, Makhmur Refugee Camp, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Liliana Daunes, artist, Argentine;
Lisa-Marie Taylor, CEO FiLiA, UK;
Liz Davies, barrister & author, UK;
Lonko Juana Calfunao Paillalef, ancestral authority of the Mapuche Nation People, Chile;
Lorena Lopez, member of the executive of Eusko Alkartasuna & president of European Free Alliance, Bask Country/Spain; Louisa Morgantini, trade unionist, peace activist & former MEP, Italy;
Lucia Morale, International Network for Security Innovation (RISE), Catalonia/Spain;
Macide Dekhil, first deputy of the Ezidi Freedom and Democracy Party PADÊ, Shengal/Iraq;
Manijeh Daneshpour, Ph.D., LMFT, clinician, researcher & professor at Alliant International University, USA;
Margara Millan, professor, UNAM, Mexico;
Margaret Gallagher, South Lanarkshire UNISON Secretary, UK;
Margaret Owen, human rights lawyer, UK;
Margo Okazawa-Rey, professor emerita, educator, writer, and social justice activist, founding member of the Combahee River Collective, USA;
Margot Muller, federal spokesperson of the Feminist Party, Germany;
Mari Davtyan, lawyer & head of Centre for Protection of Victims of Domestic Violence, Russian Federation;
Maria Carvalho Dantas, former representative of the Republican Left of Catalonia in Congress, Catalonia/Spain;
Maria de Jesus Martinez, Marichuy-Mexican indigenous leader, representative indigenous spokeswoman of the National Congress of Indigenous Peoples CNI, Mexico;
Maria Isabel Nieto Cuartero, Bizkaia, Bask Country/Spain;
Marie Nassif Debs, university professor, Lebanon;
Mariluz Gonzalez, head of the Women’s Organization of the Intersyndical Confederation, Spain;
Marina Sitrin, lawyer, associate professor & chair of the sociology department at Binghamton University, USA;
Marion Böker, consultancy for human rights and gender issues; Germany;
Mariya El Oceyli, writer, Syria;
Mary Davis, visiting professor Royal Holloway, University of London, UK;
Maryam Namazie, spokesperson for One Law for All & Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, UK;
Maxine Peake, actress, UK;
Mehdokht Behmeni, women’s human rights defender, Iran/Germany;
Mehnaz Darabi, women’s human rights defender, Iran/Germany;
Mehnaz Rostemi, women’s human rights defender, Iran/Germany;
Melanie E L Bush, PhD, MPH. Adelphi University & writer, USA;
Melissa Cardoza, feminist poet, Honduras;
Mermer Sadeqî, women’s human rights defender, USA;
Meryem Fethi, spokeswoman of Free Women’s Association of Eastern Kurdistan KJAR – Europe, Kurdistan/Iran;
Maha El Saban, women’s rights activist, Iraq;
Miriam Miranda, Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH);
Mirta Lojo Suárez, professor of therapeutic pedagogy & Spanish language and literature, Catalonia/Spain;
Mitra Derwishiyan, women’s human rights defender, Iran/Germany;
Mitra Sadeqi, activist, Iran/USA;
Mujeres y disidencias de la Sexta en la Orta Europa y Abya Yala, international women’s network in support of the Zapatista Movement;
Muna Sahib Kazim, journalist & civil society activist, Iraq;
Münevver Azizoğlu-Bazan, PhD student, University of Bremen, Germany;
Nahide Sosan, women’s rights activist, Libanon;
Narmin Othman, activist, Austria; Natalya Paladiy, actress & singer, Russian Federation;
National Collective for Women’s Rights, France;
Nazan Üstündağ, independent scholar, Turkey;
Necibe Mahmud, journalist, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Necibe Qeredaxi, writer, journalist & researcher, Kurdistan/Belgium;
Negin Vatani, journalist, Kurdistan/Sweden;
Nemat Koko, director of Centre for Gender Studies, Sudan;
Nerea Barjola, PhD in feminism and gender, Spain;
Nermin Osman, poet, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Nesreen Nasir, teacher, Shengal/Iraq;
Niyaz Abdulla, activist & journalist, winner of International Press Freedom Award, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Nora Cortiñas, Mother of Plaza de Mayo – Founding Line, Argentine; Nou Barris Feminista, collective Barcelona, Catalonia/Spain;
Novembre Feminista, organization of for the eradication of violence against women and girls, Catalonia/Spain;
Nuran Sezgin, co-chair of the health committee, Makhmur Refugee Camp, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Nursel Aydogan, politician, former MP of Peoples’ Democratic Party HDP in National Assembly of Turkey;
Oda Becker, graduate nuclear physicist & independent scientific advisor on nuclear risks, Germany;
Oihana Etxebarrieta, MP of EH Bildu in the Basque Parliament, Bask Country/Spain;
Olcay Kanlibash, trade unionist of KESK, Turkey;
Pamela Philipose, journalist, India;
Patricia Botero-Gómez, professor & researcher, Centre for Independent Studies, Color Tierra, Colombia;
Pekhshan Muhamed Mahmud, activist, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Perwa Eli, former MP of Kurdistan Regional Parliament/Iraq;
Perwane Behador, head of Institution for Scientific Development of Afghan Women, Afghanistan;
Perwin Aziz, activist, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Peyman Izeddin, lawyer, former MP of Kurdistan Regional Parliament/Iraq;
Post Growth Institute, USA;
Premilla Nadasen, associate professor of History at Barnard College, Columbia University, USA;
Prof. Dr. Anurada Chenoy, retired professor, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India;
Prof. Dr. H. Nese Özgen, lecturer of sociology and anthropology at Osnabrück University, Institute for Migration Research and Interculturel Studies (IMIS), Germany;
Prof. Dr. Targol Mesbah, associate professor at anthropology & social change department at CIIS, Iran/USA;
Prof. Jules Falquet, lecturer of philosophy, University of Paris, France;
Prof. Laura Corradi, Gender Studies and Intersectional Methodology, Italy;
Prof. Margarita Tsomou, cultural scientist, author, dramaturge & curator of HAU, Greece/Germany;
Prof. Shehrzad Mojab, writer, academic & teacher at University of Toronto, Iran/Canada;
Radha D’Souza, professor of international law, UK;
Rahila Gupta, writer & chair of Southall Black Sisters, UK;
Randah Fakhr Al-Din, president of the Union to Combat Violence against Women and Children, Egypt;
Red de Feminismos Descoloniales, Network of Decolonial Feminisms;
Red Rojo y Violeta, network for defence of women’s rights, Columbia;
REPAK – Kurdish Women’s Relations Office, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Reporters Without Borders, international NGO;
Rete Jin, Women’s Network, Italy;
Revolutionary Association of Women in Afghanistan (RAWA);
Rezan Sheikh Dilêr, lawyer & former MP of Council of Representatives of Iraq;
Riham Hesen, co-chair of the executive board of Autonomous Administration of Shengal/Iraq;
Riham Hicho, spokeswoman of the Êzidi Women’s Freedom Movement TAJÊ, Shengal/Iraq;
RJAK, Organisation of Freedom-seeking Women Kurdistan, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Rojin Mukriyan, PhD candidate in government and politics, University College Cork, Ireland;
Ronja Mintuu, investigative journalist, Belgium;
Ruth Richardson, secretary general & advisor at International Network of Liberal Women (INLW);
Samar Sihyoun, Lebanese Youth Movement – women’s affairs secretary, Lebanon;
Samia Ammour, Amazighe feminist activist & singer, France;
Samiran Odiso, president of the Iraqi Women’s Association, Iraq;
Sara Women’s Organization, association for ending violence against women, AANES/Syria;
Sara Yaneth Fernandez Moreno, researcher at Antioquia University, feminist activist, in involuntary exile, Columbia;
Sarah Mauriaucourt, member of Jineolojî Centre Brussels, Belgium;
Sediqe Ibrahimi, women’s human rights defender, Iran/Germany;
Seher Hesen, chair of the Ezidi Women’s Aid Association, Shengal/Iraq;
Semira Velid, women’s human rights defender, Iran/Germany;
Shadiye Bekir Abdullah, lecturer, Suleymaniyah University, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Shafak Arabaci, journalist, Turkey/Netherlands;
Shahrzad Arshadi, photographer & feminist, Canada;
Sheena Baba Ali, journalist, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Shehin Puya, women’s rights activist, Germany;
Shehla Sholever, women’s human rights defender, Iran/Germany;
Shema Salim El Necar, Communist Party of Iraq;
Sherarh Mesumi, women’s human rights defender, Iran/Germany;
Shereen Kafi, poet, Germany;
Shereen Kerim Muradkhan, women’s rights defender, USA;
Shereen Muhamad Tahir, writer, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Shewnim Mihamed Garib, engineer, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Sheyda Mahrouf Mahmud, women’s rights defender, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Shrishtee Bajpai, researcher & activist, India;
Shukufa Efxan, activist of RAWA, Afghanistan;
Simeon Gallu, translator, France;
SKB, Socialist Women’s Union, France;
Sofia Rusova, women’s rights defender, Russian Federation;
Somayeh Rostampour, PhD, sociologist, university lecturer & researcher, Kurdistan/France;
Southall Black Sisters, women’s organisation, UK;
Sozdar Abdulkadır Abdulrahman, activist, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Stefanie Prezioso, professor, historian & MP of the Swiss National Council, Switzerland;
Suad Abdurrahman, Palestinian Women’s Council;
Suad Sileman, teacher, Shengal/Iraq;
Sylvie Jan, chair of France-Kurdistan association Sixtine Van Outryve, PhD candidate in law at UC Louvrain, Belgium;
Tatyana Odintsova, journalist & ecological activist, Russian Federation;
Trishko Kerim Hasan, women’s rights defender, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Union of Armenian Women, AANES/Syria;
UNITIERA Collective Fabric La Tierra University, Colombia;
Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, writer & co-general coordinator of Progressive International, India;
Vasna Ramasar, senior lecturer and research affiliate at Lund University Centre for Sustainability Studies (LUCSUS) in Sweden, South Africa/Sweden;
Vezire Celal Seid, activist against genocide, Kurdistan/Iraq;
Vida Ehmed, head of Human Rights Organization for War Victims in Afghanistan;
Vilma Rocio Almendra Quiguanas, indigenous Nasa/Misak people, Pueblos en Camino, Colombia;
Women’s Council of North and East Syria;
Women’s Office of Future Syria Party, Syria;
Women’s Rights Research and Protection Center, AANES/Syria;
Workshop of Critical Transfeminist Antiracist Combative Interventions (t.i.c.t.a.c ), Catalonia/Spain;
Xarxa de Dones per la Salut, feminist network, Catalonia/Spain;
Xezal Resho, Spokesperson of the Relation Committee of the Autonomous Administration of Shengal/Iraq;
Yelda Ehmed, psychologist & Afghan women‘s rights defender, Germany;
Zehra Doğan, artist, Kurdistan/Turkey;
Zeman Mesudi, women’s rights activist, Iran/Germany;
Zenubiya Women’s Organization, AANES/Syria;
Zohre Bozaci, researcher & writer, Turkey;
Zozan Sima, member of Jineolojî Academy, Rojava/AANES;
Zulma Rojas, executive of the People’s Rights Movement, Columbia;
8 Mil Motius, anti-repressive and feminist campaign and support group of Catalonia/Spain.
Contact:
International Initiative Justice for Nagihan Akarsel
justicefornagihanakarsel@gmail.com
c/o Jineolojî Centre Brussels
jineolojicenter@riseup.net
Download the letter as a pdf here: https://www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Open-Letter-Concerning-Justice-for-Nagihan-Akarsel.pdf
Open Letter Concerning Justice for Nagihan Akarsel