Sep 28, 2005

Iraqi Turkman Denounce Manipulations Concerning the Referendum on the Constitution


In his latest report SOITM presented one more aspect of manipulation in the preceding Iraqi general election and asserted that there will be extensive manipulation in the forthcoming voting processes
In his latest report1 SOITM presented one more aspect of manipulation in the preceding Iraqi general election and asserted that there will be extensive manipulation in the forthcoming voting processes. The facilitating factors were also discussed.

Due to the influences of the Kurdish hegemony in northern Iraq, the Independent High Commission for Election unfairly appointed a large number of Kurds as chiefs of the election centers in Kerkuk: 12 Kurds, 7 Arab and 5 Turkmen.

At the start of the registration, or more exactly, when the election lists were being renewed, tens of buses and cars bearing the number plates of the provinces of Erbil and Sulaymaniya (mainly Kurds) were pouring to the election centers which had Kurdish chiefs. These numbers reached levels which exceeded the capacities of the mentioned centers. A large number of these Kurds were then directed to the other centers in Turkmen regions, for example, Palestine Secondary School for Female on 16 and 17.08.2005. The enormity of the number of newly registered people (227.253) raises the possibilities of earlier arrangement of the election lists.

Illegal documents were used during registration: Papers from Azadi police station, Papers from Kurdish Neighborhood’s Headmen (Mukhtars) and Oil Ration Cards were used for registration in several centers. Even dead people were registered as in the case of Layla Tahir Huseyin in Shorja Election centre. In several cases, empty registration forms were found with these people. Also, people, who are not Iraqis, applied for residency with the support of neighborhood Headmen,2 and used as application documents for registration.

Turkmen political parties complained to the Independent High Commission for Election and stated that this is an additional attempt to “Kurdify” the Turkmen regions.3

Declaration of the renewed Election lists by the Independent High Commission for Election confirmed our expectation. It was found that the increase in the number of voters in Kerkuk (227.253) was the height and approximately ¼ of the increase in the number of additional voters’ (996.352) in all Iraq. Furthermore, the increase in the number of voters in Kerkuk is approximately 2 times that in Nineveh, the third largest Iraqi province (127.323), where the majority of the inhabitants are Sunnis who recently decided to participate in voting process.

Given all the steps in Kerkuk province administered by the Kurdish authorities with USA backing, to secure the election, the extent of the manipulation in the next voting process (Referendum, Election) can easily be predicted. It is worth noting that the new lists are valid for the referendum on the constitution and the Iraqi general election which is planned to be held in the early part of 2006.


References:
1. SOITM report, “Another aspect of manipulation in the preceding Iraqi General Election”, launched on 3 August 2005 on web page:
http://www.turkmen.nl/ElectionP.pdf
2. Oral clarification made by Mr. Y, headmen of a neighborhood in Kerkuk, in a TV program. The documents from Headmen were accepted for registration during the first 20 days of the one month registration period, which banned afterward by the Independent High Commission for Election.
3. Clarification published by Turkmeneli Party launched on 20 September 2005 on web page. http://www.bizturkmeniz.com/ar/showArticle.asp?id=6691

 

 

Source: Iraqi Turkmen Human Rights Research Foundation