The Kurdish Human Rights Action Group, based in South Africa, has released its December newsletter and it is available to download here. The newsletter includes an article by a Cape Town activist who recently travelled to north Kurdistan on the invitation of the DTK. Judge Essa Mossa, chairperson of KHRAG and member of the International Peace and Reconcilliation Initiative (IPRI), will be speaking at this year’s EUTCC conference which is taking place this week.
“Is the peace process back on track”: KHRAG Newsletter
The latest newsletter from the Kurdish Human Rights Action Group has been published, featuring articles on KHRAG’s work in South Africa, as well as articles from across world’s media on Kurdistan.
KHRAG publishes November newsletter
The South Africa-based Kurdish Human Rights Action Group (KHRAG) has published its November newsletter, which is available to download (pdf). KHRAG’s chairperson, Judge Essa Mossa, will be speaking in Belfast next week as part of the Challenging the Oppression of Lawyers in Conflict conference at Queen’s University.
Download the newsletter here.
KHRAG send open letter to US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton
The Kurdish Human Rights Action Group have sent an open letter to the US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton calling for the US to demand the freedom of Abdullah Ocalan:
We are writing to you this open letter regarding the Kurds, a people of over 40 million, and its incarcerated leader, Abdullah Öcalan. 
In 1999, your government, through the CIA, abducted the revered and popular Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, who was on his way to South Africa to seek political asylum. He was abducted in Kenya and handed over to the Turkish authorities. This was supposed to bring an end to the uprising of the Kurds in Turkey who have been fighting for their basic democratic rights for decades. But the Kurds cannot be expected to relinquish their most basic human rights like full citizenship rights, freedom of expression, freedom of association or the use of the Kurdish language as their mother-tongue in public schools. Continue reading “KHRAG send open letter to US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton”
KHRAG publishes news bulletin
The Kurdish Human Rights Action Group has published a news bulletin, featuring news from the campaign to free Ocalan and more round up of important news from Kurdistan from the last few months. You can download a pdf of the bulletin here (pdf).
Their new website is also full of news, updates and further resources, as well as information on how to add your signature to a growing list of supporters calling for the release of Ocalan from Imrali prison. You can sign the petition by going to their Facebook page – you do not need to be signed up to Facebook to be able to add your name. And then make sure you send it on to family, friends, neighbours and workmates…as many people as you can!
Call for release of Ocalan and human rights for Kurds at KHRAG AGM
Kurdish Human Rights Action Group (KHRAG) Media Release:
Thursday 24 May 2012
KHRAG held its AGM at the District Six Museum in Cape Town on Wednesday 23 May, during which participants reiterated the call for the release Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan and the extension of basic human rights to millions of Kurds in the Middle East.
About 70 people, many from a range of civil society organisations, attended the meeting, which was addressed by High Court Judge Vincent Saldanha.
Saldanha reflected on the oppressed status of the Kurds, the repression they faced and the complexities which a negotiated solution would present. He stressed the importance of South Africans expressing solidarity with the Kurds, given our own history of oppression and struggle.
Marcus Solomon, former Robben Island prisoner, spoke on behalf of the Solidarity Forum which included groups such as Friends of Cuba Society and the Palestine Solidarity Group. He urged collaboration between advocacy groups in order to strengthen their respective causes.
Messages of support were delivered by Dr Joey Moses of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers (Nadel) and Mandisi Mjoli of the Struggle Veterans Actions Committee. Continue reading “Call for release of Ocalan and human rights for Kurds at KHRAG AGM”
KHRAG commemorates Halabja and celebrates Newroz
The Kurdish Human Rights Action Group has published a statement on behalf of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and their other members who stand in solidarity with the Kurdish people, as they commemorate the horrors of the Halabja attacks in 1988, and celebrate Newroz 2012: Continue reading “KHRAG commemorates Halabja and celebrates Newroz”
KHRAG media release: Closure of Roj TV an attack on fundamental freedoms
The Kurdish Human Rights Action Group has released a statement condemning Eutelsat’s decision to close down Roj TV. You can read the statement below, and its also available in pdf here.
KHRAG Media Release
Friday 26 January 2012
The Kurdish Human Rights Action Group condemns unequivocally the decision by French satellite
provider Eutelsat, to close down Kurdish TV station ROJ TV, by denying it satellite services. Continue reading “KHRAG media release: Closure of Roj TV an attack on fundamental freedoms”
KHRAG publishes December newsletter
The Kurdish Human Rights Action Group (KHRAG) has published its December newsletter, which includes a round-up of the latest news from Turkey’s recent clampdown on Kurdish political and cultural expression. It is available to download below: Continue reading “KHRAG publishes December newsletter”