CPT began doing the trainings in 2014. It was inspired by the Alternatives to Violence Project - an initiative begun by Quakers in the 1970’s who went into prisons to engage with violent offenders.

The context in Iraqi Kurdistan is very different to an American prison, but violence has been a frequent part of life for many people here. Of course there’s the wars - six separate conflicts since the 1980’s, plus decades of Iraqi violent repression and Kurdish armed resistance. These days there is still an undeclared war being fought in the border regions, with Turkish bombings and incursions an everyday occurrence.

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When Ashti was a young woman barely out of her teens, she was arrested by Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athist regime. Her charge was being a member of a Kurdish independence organization. Her sentence: 15 years in Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad. She was the only Kurd in the prison, alongside 45 Arab women—Shi’a political prisoners who had also opposed Saddam’s government. Her ethnic isolation was a political tactic, meant to break her spirit. It didn’t work.

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There is one story that media outlets in Iraqi Kurdistan don’t report - that of the continual repression of press freedoms by the Kurdish government

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Iranian Kurds who left the oppressive Iranian regime in search of stability continue to be denied basic human rights of status and security in Iraqi Kurdistan.

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Ayub Warte is an independent journalist based in Erbil. His efforts to uncover and document injustices have brought Ayub into the harsh spotlight of the KDP and KRG security apparatuses. For his efforts, he has endured daily harassment, including three arrests, assaults and attempts to be 'bought off' with offers to work for politically aligned media agencies. His experiences offer an insight into conditions journalists in Iraqi Kurdistan face if they produce content critical of the local governing bodies. 

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“One person tied my legs, one tied my hands, one person stabbed me 17 times and while stabbing me penetrated the wounds even further This statement is a harsh reality shared by most activists and members of civil society in Iraqi Kurdistan. On April 11th, 2022, CPT met with civil activist Mr. Aram after he was seriously injured in an attack by unidentified perpetrators following a series of death threats he received following his continuous and persistent activism work.

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