Asayish (Kurdistan Region)

Asayîş or Asayish (Kurdish for security[1]) is the Iraqi 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] Asayish coordinates and shares information with Parastin u Zanyari, the investigative arms and intelligence gatherers operating in the Kurdistan region in Iraq.

This article is about the intelligence and security agency in Kurdistan Region. For other uses, see Asayish (disambiguation).
Kurdistan Asayish
Asayîşa Herêma Kurdistanê
ئاساییشی هەرێمی کوردستان
Agency overview
Formed1992 (1992)
HeadquartersErbil, Duhok and Sulaymaniyah
Employees10000+ - 12000+
Agency executive
  • Dr. Xesrew Gul Ismet Erguşî
Parent agencyKurdistan Region Security Council

It acts under the command of the Kurdistan Parliament and the Kurdistan Regional Government.[2]

Its official goals according to the Kurdistan Regional Government are the following:

The organization has jurisdiction over:

Issues

In 2009 Amnesty International accused Asayish 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 prisons such as in Akre, which have long been closed.

— Kurdistan Regional Government[9]

See also

References
  1. Miller, Judith (1993-01-03). "Iraq Accused: A Case of Genocide". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  2. Mew
  3. "Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG)". Archived from the original on 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
  4. 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.
  5. Mounting social crisis in Kurdish Iraq
  6. Shadid, Anthony; Fainaru, Steve. "Militias Wresting Control Across Iraq's North and South". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-04-25.
  7. "A detour with Kurdish secret police |The Agonist". Archived from the original on 2008-06-18. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
  8. "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.
  9. "Statement in response to Amnesty International Report". Kurdistan Regional Government. 2009-04-20. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
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