2008 News | KHRP | Kurdish Human Rights Project

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2008 News

KHRP Legal Team Meeting Tackles Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction

The latest meeting of members of the KHRP legal team at London’s Brick Court Chambers on 17 June featured a discussion of the complexities surrounding extra-territorial jurisdiction, an issue which has been brought into particular focus in recent months amid a series of cross-border operations by Turkish forces in Northern Iraq.

Keir Starmer QC, a member of KHRP’s legal team, gave a presentation on the theme ‘Pushing the Boundaries of Extra-Territorial Jurisdiction’. Recent cases at the European Court of Human Rights have established that the Court has jurisdiction over state agents operating outside a state’s territory under certain circumstances, in particular when the state in question has ‘effective control’ over the area in which its agents are operating. But despite this recognition of extra-territorial jurisdiction in principle, in practice it remains challenging for applicants to prove that the necessary conditions apply.

Executive Director Quoted in the Guardian

KHRP Executive Director Kerim Yıldız was quoted in the Guardian newspaper on 9 June in an article focusing on a series of cases filed by the organisation before the European Court of Human Rights in recent months concerning cross-border operations by the Turkish military in northern Iraq.

To read the article click here

KHRP's Deputy Director Speaks about the 'Role of Kurdish Women in Peace & Democracy Building'

On 24 May 2008, KHRP Deputy Director Rachel Bernu delivered a speech at Garden Court Chambers as part of a seminar on 'The Role of Kurdish Women in Dialogue, Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction'. The event featured a number of prominent speakers on the issue, including Leyla Zana, the Kurdish politician and former political prisoner, Dr. Susan Breau, Reader in International Law and Assistant Associate Dean for Research at the School of Law at the University of Surrey, and Houzan Mahmoud, Spokesperson of the Organisation of Women's Freedom in Iraq (OWFI).

Ms. Bernu's speech can be accessed in the downloads section of KHRP's site, as can her accompanying paper entitled 'The Role of Kurdish Women in Dialogue, Conflict Resolution and the Struggle for Human Rights.'

KHRP Condemns Gun Attack on Women’s Shelter in Kurdistan, Iraq

KHRP strongly condemns the recent gun attack on the Asuda Women’s shelter in Sulemanya, Kurdistan, Iraq.

The shelter, one of only a handful operating in Iraq, came under a hail of gunfire on the night of 11 May 2008 by unidentified gunmen. One woman, a resident of the shelter and mother of three, was seriously injured and remains in hospital following emergency surgery.