EBRIL, Kurdistan Region - A rights watchdog on Monday urged the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga ministry to clarify the circumstances surrounding the arrest of Islam Zebari, a Peshmerga colonel and senior member of the opposition National Stance Movement (Halwest), who was detained a day earlier in the Region’s northern Duhok province.
The civil society and human rights coalition, Alliance 19, urged the Peshmerga ministry to “provide necessary information and explanation about the reasons” behind Zebari’s arrest. The watchdog is notably supervised by the Sulaimani-based Metro Center for Journalists’ Rights and Advocacy.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a source from the Peshmerga ministry told Rudaw on Monday that Zebari had repeatedly violated regulations.
The Peshmerga colonel was “warned about his violations in the military sector for over a year, but did not take them seriously,” the source said, without providing further details on the nature of the violations.
A day prior, on Sunday, Halwest had rejected Zebari’s arrest as politically motivated.
“In a series of political measures taken by the authorities against proponents of the National Stance Movement, our senior member, Islam Zebari, was arrested today [Sunday] for his [political stances] and is currently held at the Akre police station [in Duhok province],” the party said in a statement.
Zebari, an outspoken critic of alleged corruption and partisanship within the military establishment, had shed light on “tens of issues” online, exposing “corruption” within the Peshmerga ministry and the “poor conditions” of the Peshmerga forces, Halwest added.
The party urged Kurdish authorities to release the Peshmerga colonel.
On the same day, Halwest leader Ali Hama Saleh shared a statement on his official Facebook page characterizing Zebari’s arrest as an attempt to put “pressure” on the party.
Saleh also shared a voice recording, purportedly of Zebari, before his arrest.
In the audio file, a man, believed to be the Peshmerga colonel, is heard saying, “The issue [of my arrest] is political. They formed an investigative committee to look into the posts I share online about corruption and partisanship within the Peshmerga ministry.”
Zebari, a graduate of both military science and diplomatic and international relations, serves as one of Halwest’s leaders in the Badinan region of Duhok province.
On Sunday, a post from an account on X, believed to be Zebari’s, announced that he would be “leaving” the platform “temporarily” due to “special circumstances” and would not post “until further notice.” He has not shared any updates on X since.
