Caring for Victims of Human Rights Violations in Iraq 12
Kirkuk Center for Torture Victims
»All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.« »Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.« »No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.« - Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Welcome Our Mission The Kirkuk Center for Torture Victims is a human rights organization assisting traumatized victims of torture, persecution and violence in Iraq. We seek to restore the dignity of survivors by offering them medical, psychosocial and legal services free of charge. We educate the public about the suffering of victims and advocate for their right to obtain rehabilitation and ensure adequate redress.
Our Vision We believe in a democratic and pluralistic society where the dignity of the human person is respected, where adults and children enjoy the right to life and liberty, and where citizens are free from torture and terror.
Our Values The core values guiding our work are derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We help victims of abuses and atrocities regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity or spiritual beliefs.
Your Support Helping victims of torture in Iraq is a difficult task. If you would like to get involved in this endeavor, please consider making a donation – each contribution, no matter how small, will make a difference.
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Kirkuk Center for Torture Victims
Background Human Rights Violations in Iraq During the rule of Saddam Hussein, the United Nations repeatedly condemned the all-pervasive repression, widespread terror, broad-based discrimination and grave violations of human rights in Iraq. Human rights abuses included arbitrary executions, enforced disappearances, systematic torture and inhuman punishment. In northern Iraq, more than 100,000 Kurdish civilians died in the course of genocidal campaigns that involved ethnic cleansing, concentration camps and chemical warfare.
Scars of Violence Up until the present time, the survivors of these atrocities and their children suffer from the consequences of collective trauma. At the same time, citizens of Iraq continue to endure ongoing sectarian violence and terrorist attacks.
Supporting Survivors In 2005, we established the first rehabilitation center for victims of torture in Iraq. We started our services in the city of Kirkuk – a cultural melting pot with a unique multiethnic history where people of Kurdish, Turkmen, Arab and Assyrian origin have lived together for centuries. Since 2008, we have been extending our help to the Kurdistan Region, reaching out to survivors of persecution, victims of gender-based violence and traumatized children living in urban and rural areas.
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Where We Work Turkey Duhok F
Iran Erbil Nineveh
A C
B
A
D
Sulaymaniyah E
Kirkuk
Salah ad-Din
Diyala
nbar
Baghdad
Iraq / Kurdistan Region A B C D E F
Kirkuk Karbala Center in Kirkuk Kirkuk Center in Sulaymaniyah Kirkuk Center in Erbil / HewlĂŞr Kirkuk Center in Chamchamal Kirkuk Center in Halabja Kirkuk Center in Duhok
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Kirkuk Center for Torture Victims
Our Work Physical Level Our medical team offers free medical rehabilitation services, including diagnostics, medical treatment, physiotherapy as well as surgery, in cooperation with local hospitals.
Psychological Level Our psychotherapeutic team offers trauma assessment, therapy for individuals and families, special psychotherapy for children and psychiatric consultation.
Social Level Our social counseling team provides all clients with advice regarding legal redress, welfare, and educational opportunities.
Political Level Our team offers interviews and reports for the media, open information events for citizens’ and victims’ associations, as well as public seminars for health workers, pedagogues and lawyers.
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Our Clients The most frequent human rights violations experienced by our clients are severe physical and psychological torture, long-term detention under degrading conditions, domestic violence, and rape or other forms of sexual abuse. In addition, we treat clients who have suffered physical and psychological trauma due to recent military conflict and terrorist attacks. Our clients suffer from complex disorders that affect them on a physical, psychological and social level.
Consequences of Torture scars – pain – infections – impairments – paralyses panic attacks – fear – flashbacks – feelings of shame and guilt – despair – nightmares – depression suicidal thoughts – helplessness – alienation social isolation – loneliness – loss of meaning in life Each year, the Kirkuk Center treats about 2,000 victims of human rights violations. Approximately 38% of those who seek help are female adults while 28% are children and adolescents. Most of our clients are of Kurdish origin, followed by Turkmens, Assyrians and Arabs.
All Centers
2009 Total = 1777
2010 Total = 2728
1200
1030
1000 800 600
847
730
851
609 438
400 200 0 Men
Women
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Children
Kirkuk Center for Torture Victims
Program for Women In order to address the severe and long-lasting consequences of gender-specific violence, three departments for women in the cities of Kirkuk, Sulaymaniyah and Erbil offer medical care, psychotherapeutic treatment, socio-legal counseling and family therapy to women and their relatives. Psychoeducation helps women understand their situation while family and group therapy aims at prevention of further aggression within families. At the age of 14, Dinya was married without her consent to a man seven years older than she was. Being a heavy alcohol abuser, her husband was very aggressive, would beat her and lock her in. When one day Dinya stayed at her sister’s home without his permission, he broke into the house and shot 12 bullets at her. She was able to survive by pure chance but lost three fingers and had several operations for her legs. Since the incident, she suffers from a severely depressed mood, sleeping disturbances, re-experiences the traumatic events and has pessimistic thoughts about herself and her future. She expressed death wishes, showing all symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. Psychotherapy and social support helped her to overcome her depression. With the help of physiotherapy, Dinya could leave her wheelchair and learned to walk with crutches. After psychoeducation sessions, the father accepted his responsibility and promised to care about his daughter. With on-going multi-method intervention we are observing gradual improvements in her mood, cognition, behavior and self-care.
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Program for Children In line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, our program for children and youths is designed to promote the physical and psychological recovery of traumatized children in a protective and supportive environment. Our staff offers medical and pediatric treatment and a range of age-specific psychotherapeutic interventions. These include long- and short-term psychotherapy for young individuals and groups, as well as family counseling and crisis intervention, protecting children and youths from domestic violence. Verbal and non-verbal approaches such as play, sandplay, art, occupational and music therapy help children express their feelings in words and action.
Awareness Raising and Human Rights Education In order to educate the public about children’s rights and needs, the Kirkuk Center started a series of seminars and lectures in schools, prisons and for other members of the health and social systems. All children’s departments run a human rights education program for local schools and students.
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Kirkuk Center for Torture Victims
Seite 13: Photo Page Fotos wie in Jahresbericht Photopage?
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Kirkuk Center for Torture Victims
Victims of Chemical Attacks With the support of the German Foreign Office, the Kirkuk Center runs a rehabilitation center and a mobile team for victims of chemical attacks in Halabja. The project offers medical and psychosocial care for survivors of the 1988 attacks and their families. Due to the frequent occurrence of extreme physical ailments among the clientele, this project puts emphasis on specialized medical treatment. As the chemical attacks also affected the rural areas surrounding Halabja, a mobile team rotates between the towns of Khurmal, Sirwan, Tewele and Biyare.
In the course of the so-called Anfal operations, the Iraqi Army destroyed about 5,000 villages by means of chemical attacks and systematic destruction campaigns. Halabja, a city near the Iranian border, became tragically known for the poison gas attacks on the 16th and 17th of March, in 1988. During these two days, at least 5,000 people died as a result of exposure to lethal mustard gas and various neurotoxins. It is estimated that up to 10,000 people were severely injured, some of whom died during their attempts to leave the country. Approximately 17,000 persons took refuge in Iranian refugee camps. Upon return, they found their homes razed to the ground and in many cases, were themselves deported or imprisoned. Due to the destruction of the infrastructure and family bonds, the region is one of the poorest in North Iraq with a high rate of unemployment, social conflict and domestic violence.
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Minorities in Iraq Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Art. 18)
Iraq is home to several religious minorities, including Armenian, Assyrian, Chaldean and Syriac Christians as well as Baha’is, Jews, Mandaeans, Shabaks, and Yazidi. In recent years, central Iraq has experienced alarming levels of extremist violence directed against vulnerable communities that have driven more than 500,000 members of religious minorities into exile, threatening the survival of their ancient linguistic and cultural heritage.
Protecting Pluralism Many of those who try to escape ongoing religious persecution in Iraq seek refuge in the northern provinces of the Kurdish region. In June 2011, with the support of the Foundation Wings of Hope, we launched a rehabilitation program for traumatized victims and internally displaced persons living in Dohuk, Erbil and the Nineveh Plains. The program is carried out in close cooperation with local communities and serves victims of persecution regardless of their faith or ethnic affiliation.
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Kirkuk Center for Torture Victims
Team The mission of the Kirkuk Center is carried out by a team of more than 120 professionals, including medical doctors, psychiatrists, counselors and social workers as well as pedagogues, lawyers, researchers and administrative staff. Since its inception, the Kirkuk Center has cooperated very closely with the Berlin Center for Torture Victims. In Germany, a team of project coordinators, psychologists and volunteers provides our employees with technical support and management know-how. Furthermore, an international group of medical advisors, psychotherapeutic trainers and experienced supervisors ensures that our therapeutic activities adhere to high quality standards. If you are interested in getting involved in our work as a professional, intern or volunteer, please send an email to info@kirkuk-center.org.
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Donors and Supporters International Bodies
European Commission United Nations Office for Project Services United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Governments
German Foreign Office
Non-Governmental Organizations Zentrum ร BERLEBEN Berlin Center for Torture Victims Misereor
Wings of Hope
Heinrich Bรถll Foundation Amnesty International German Section
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Kirkuk Center for Torture Victims
Make a Difference Your support allows us to restore the dignity of children, women and men whose lives have been shattered by torture. Each contribution, no matter how small, can make a difference in the life of an individual or a family.
Support the Survivors Your US$ 5 will allow a traumatized mother without income to reach us by public transport to receive freeof-charge treatment. Your US$ 25 will equip a young child living in a survivor family with toys and therapeutic material. Your US$ 50 will enable us to provide an elderly torture victim living in poverty with essential medicine, glasses or artificial dentures. Your US$ 100 will allow a father who was tortured in prison to receive physiotherapeutic and orthopaedic treatment. Your US$ 250 will give a victim who was disabled or disfigured by torture, a chance to undergo reconstructive surgery.
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Breaking the Silence Amir, a 10-year-old boy from Kirkuk, had not spoken ever since he witnessed the killing of his mother by Iraqi security forces. While Amir’s father was hiding in the basement, his mother tried to prevent intruders from finding her husband. When they shot his mother, Amir was standing next to her. Later, he watched them taking his father to prison. As his father recalls later, Amir was unable to move and wet his pants. During the time his father was tortured in prison, Amir stayed with his relatives but would not speak to anybody. Luckily, his teachers accepted his muteness because he studied and passed the tests. After his release from prison, Amir had been prescribed different medications, which he later claimed to have despised. It took more than six months of individual and family therapy at the Kirkuk Center, until Amir started to respond non-verbally. When one day he set up the killing of his mother with the help of toys and a big red piece of paper, he cried for the first time. This was the turning point for Amir and after more than 30 sessions, he uttered, “but I still do speak“. When, after the session, Amir told his father that he then wanted to speak, his father responded with tears of joy. Further sessions helped to work up his traumatic experiences and allowed Amir to become a normal and active child.
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Kirkuk Center for Torture Victims
Contact Kirkuk Center for Torture Victims 25 Almas • Kirkuk • Iraq Phone: +964 (0)770 1001020 Email: info@kirkuk-center.org
Press Enquiries Kirkuk Center for Torture Victims Turmstr. 21 • 10559 Berlin • Germany Phone: +49 (0)30 30390649 Email: press@kirkuk-center.org
Bank Account Kirkuk Center for Torture Victims Bank fuer Sozialwirtschaft Berlin BIC/SWIFT: BFSWDE33BER IBAN: DE14100205000003139601
Website www.kirkuk-center.org
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