Kirkuk, located 238 kilometres north of Baghdad, is a multi-ethnic province home to Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen. [Getty]
The first group of detainees which were held in the Kurdistan region‘s Sulaimaniyah prisons has been transferred to Iraqi authorities in Kirkuk under a political agreement with Kurdish officials, an Iraqi lawmaker told The New Arab on Tuesday.
“As part of the political agreement between the three Arab bloc members allied with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) for electing Kirkuk’s local administration, the first topic was that all missing people held in Sulaimaniyah be freed,” said Iraqi MP Wasfi Al-Asi during a phone interview. “This political agreement should be fulfilled, but it should be within a legal context, as those people are now behind bars as per legal orders.”
The deal stems from a larger political agreement struck in August at Baghdad’s al-Rasheed Hotel. Under the terms, Rebwar Taha of the PUK was nominated as governor of Kirkuk, while Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hafidh from the Arab Qiyada Alliance was named council chief. In exchange, Arab political blocs demanded the release of detainees, the majority of whom are reportedly Arab.Â
The power-sharing agreement excluded key groups, including the Turkmen and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), sparking protests and claims of marginalisation from the process.
Al-Asi clarified that the detainees’ legal dossiers were transferred to Kirkuk as they are from the province. “The judiciary and security sides in Sulaimaniyah have moved to fulfil this agreement. The first group of those prisoners has arrived in Kirkuk, and their dossiers will be reviewed by related authorities in Kirkuk,” he said.
In terms of the detainees’ status, Al-Asi noted, “Some of the detainees had undergone investigations; some were sentenced; some are waiting for investigations; and others were just held without trial. The judiciary in Kirkuk will see all the dossiers as per law and will free those who are not convicted, and those who would be convicted would be sentenced as per the law.”
Azam al-Hamdani, spokesperson for the Azm Alliance, elaborated on the broader agreement, telling TNA, “During the early stages of establishing the local government in Kirkuk Province, certain Arab political parties reached an agreement with the PUK. As part of the deal, they pledged support for electing a Kurdish governor from the PUK in exchange for the release of all missing and detained Arabs from the Arab community, a group estimated to number over 3,000 individuals.”
“Under the agreement finalized three days ago, 30 detainees were transferred to governmental authorities. Of these, 10 are from Kirkuk, while the rest hail from various other Iraqi provinces. Some face terrorism-related charges, while others are accused of different offences,” he added.
Kirkuk, located 238 kilometres north of Baghdad, is a multi-ethnic province home to Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen. Its oil wealth and diverse population have made it a focal point of disputes between Iraq’s federal government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The region was under Peshmerga control between 2014 and 2017, during which time many detainees were transferred to Kurdish-controlled areas, including Sulaimaniyah and Erbil.
The status of Kirkuk remains unresolved under Article 140 of Iraq‘s constitution, which outlines a referendum to determine whether the province should remain under Baghdad’s control or become part of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. However, these measures have been stalled since 2007. In 2017, Iraqi forces retook Kirkuk from Peshmerga control, further intensifying tensions in the area.
While the detainees’ release is seen as a step toward easing these tensions, the exclusion of certain groups from the political deal continues to fuel controversy. Al-Asi also called for Kurdish officials in Erbil to take a similar initiative for detainees held there, stating, “There are many missing people from Kirkuk currently held in Erbil.”
Efforts to reconcile differences in Kirkuk come amid a backdrop of unresolved political, legal, and ethnic divisions that continue to complicate governance in the resource-rich region.
