Growing Social Unrest and Violence in Kurdistan

The discovery of the body of a 17-year old girl in the Kurdish town of Bookan in West Azerbaijan, the child kidnapping attempts in front of a school in Saghez and the suicide of a student in Ilam have prompted socialogists in the Kurdistan region of Iran to conclude that social violence here is out of control and on the rise. This comes as human rights activists also have expressed their alarms over a rise in child kidnapping incidents in Kurdish towns.

Rooz spoke with Khaled Tavakoli, a Kurdish sociologist to learn more about the situation. He believes that conflict of values, curtailment of social freedoms and the rise of groups with fundamentalist views are the causes of a rise in social disorders which have resulted in greater violence in the region. According to him the “lenient and convenience” driven approach of judicial authorities in the towns is another cause for the disorders and violence.

Makrian news agency last week reported the discovery of a 17-year old woman under the Amirabad Bridge in the town of Bookan in West Azerbaijan province according to which belonged to Somaye F. who had been reported missing a few days earlier. The coroner’s office confirmed that the woman had lost her life some days earlier but law enforcement authorities have till now not concluded on the causes of the death of the woman.

In a related development, Human Rights Watch which has published a number of reports on child kidnapping Bookan reported that the residents of this town have been “complaining about double standards and disregard of officials over political and personal security issues” that have been taking place in there.

During the same week, news agencies have reported that a futile attempt was made in front of Ferdowsi School in the town of Saghez to kidnap a primary school student. The reports indicate that a person who tried to stop the kidnapping was injured by a knife by the assailants.

Khaled Tavakoli, the researcher and professor of sociology in the town of Saghez told Rooz that statistics related to social violence in recent months indicate an abnormal rise in social violence in Kurdish populated areas and have resulted in a public outcry.

Tavakoli said that such violence was normally the result of a growth in urban population, unplanned migration from rural areas to towns, conflict between traditional and modern values, disregard for individual freedoms have all contributed to the rise in violence.

“In recent years some Kurdish towns have witnessed a notable growth in fundamental groups on the edges of towns and some have succeeded in attracting outcast and impoverished youth. Furthermore, modern values propagated through the Internet and satellite transmissions on a daily basis, push society towards greater secularism. The clash of these two sets of values can increase social violence,” he said.

Tehran in recent years has held some fundamental Islamic groups in various Kurdish towns to be the cause of political and social unrest in these regions. Tavakoli now says that their activities at the social level cause gender violence.

Talking about the legal punishments for such crimes, Tavakoli said, “The approach that judiciary officials take in dealing with urban violence varies between large cities such as Tehran and Isfahan, and smaller towns. In large cities, officials display little tolerance and crackdown on social crimes very severely and execute harsh punishments on violators. But in areas such as Kurdistan, authorities take a more lenient approach and some judges even make personal judgments on cases. One reason for this could be to prevent the youth from political activities, but no matter what, judiciary officials take a softer attitude, rather than a strictly legal approach in small rural towns such as those in the Kurdish populated areas.”

Tavakoli advocates more research and investigations into the causes and various aspects of these social issues and cites the expansion of economic opportunities and better urban planning as ways to confront this rise in violence.

200 Suicides in One Year

Last year, Kurdish populated areas where among the regions with the highest social violence in the country. At the same time, according to statistics published by the ministry of health, in 2006 the lowest indices of hope in life in the country were among the residents of Kurdish areas and Ilam. Law enforcement officials however have announced that they are treated social violence more severely now.

The head of the public security police in Kurdistan announced in October/November that anyone who disrupted public order in his region would be confronted very seriously. Mohammad Shah Mohammad named “hooligans” to be the cause of the terror atmosphere in the province and threatened to arrest them. In the same month the head of the police had announced the presence of 69 individuals whom he called “hooligans and hoodlums.” He said 39 of them were spread out among the public who “undoubtedly engaged in various crimes.”

One of the most prominent cases of violence in Kurdish areas over the last few years was the one involving an armed Bank Sepah robbery in Kermanshah in which four individuals including three officers and an assailant were killed. In December/January three people were hung in public as accomplices in the same case.

In the 2011, several reports were published indicating a rise in crime in the province of Ilam, another Kurdish populated area which included armed robberies, family feuds and in some cases armed domestic clashes in the public domain. Last year, Ilam topped other Iranian provinces in its high number of suicides.

Last October/November the Majlis representative from Ilam said, “Unemployment in Ilam is so high that it has created psychological issues for the youth which has resulted in highest number of suicides in the province.” Last year, this province lead the country in the number of suicides with 1,200 cases who took their lives which were attributed to financial, unemployment, and inability to marry issues.