Asayish (Kurdistan Region)
| Asayîşa Herêma Kurdistanê ئاساییشی هەرێمی کوردستان | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1992 |
| Headquarters | Erbil, Duhok and Sulaymaniyah |
| Employees | 10000+ - 12000+ |
| Agency executive |
|
| Parent agency | Kurdistan Region Security Council |
Asayîş or Asayish (Kurdish for security[1]) is the Kurdish security organization and the primary intelligence agency operating in the Kurdistan region in Iraq. The organization was established in September 1993[2] and has been often referred to as an "intelligence agency",[3] "security force",[3] "security service",[4] "security",[5] "secret service",[6] "secret police",[7] or just "Kurdish police."[3] Asayesh coordinates and shares information with Parastin u Zanyari, the investigative arms and intelligence gatherers operating in the Kurdistan region in Iraq.
It acts under the command of the Kurdish National Assembly and the Kurdistan Regional Government.[2]
Its official goals according to the Kurdistan authority are:
- Counter-drug trafficking
- Counter-terrorism
- Counter-espionage
- Gathering intelligence
- Assessing threats to Iraq's national security.
The organization has jurisdiction over:
- Economic crimes
- Smuggling
- Political crimes
- Espionage
- Sabotage
- Terrorism.
Issues
In 2009 Amnesty International accused Asayesh of abusing human rights, including torture and other ill-treatment, and claimed that the agency was "above the law" in Iraqi Kurdistan.[8] The Kurdistan Regional Government criticized Amnesty by stating:
Most of the information provided in the report chronicles problems we had just after the fall of Saddam, when we were still subject to Saddam-era penal codes...Amnesty had a particular agenda and used dubious information, often very old, to paint an unrealistically harsh picture of the security forces in our Region by bringing up allegations of abuse at a prisons such as Aqra, which have long been closed.
— Kurdistan Regional Government[9]
See also
- List of armed groups in the Iraqi Civil War
- Kurdistan
- Peshmerga
- List of armed groups in the Syrian Civil War
- Asayish (Rojava regions)
References
- ^ Miller, Judith (1993-01-03). "Iraq Accused: A Case of Genocide". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
- ^ a b Mew
- ^ a b c "Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)". Archived from the original on 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
- ^ McNair, James (2006-07-03). "Gary Trotter: My Life In Media". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on July 14, 2006. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
- ^ Mounting social crisis in Kurdish Iraq
- ^ Shadid, Anthony; Fainaru, Steve. "Militias Wresting Control Across Iraq's North and South". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
- ^ "A detour with Kurdish secret police |The Agonist". Archived from the original on 2008-06-18. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
- ^ "Iraq: Hope and fear: Human rights in the Kurdistan region of Iraq". Amnesty International. 2009-04-20. Archived from the original on 17 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
- ^ "Statement in response to Amnesty International Report". Kurdistan Regional Government. 2009-04-20. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
 | This Iraqi Kurdistan-related article is a stub. You can help Justapedia by expanding it. |
 | This government agency–related article is a stub. You can help Justapedia by expanding it. |