Justice Minister Reassures Kurdish Farmers They Can Plough Their Lands in Kirkuk

PUKMEDIA

Iraqi Justice Minister Khalid Shwani & Kurdish Farmers' Representative Mohammed Amin.

Recommendations made by the committee addressing the Kurdish farmers' issues in relation to the incidents that occurred in Kirkuk, in several villages in the Sargaran district in Kirkuk province, were approved by the Iraqi prime minister. The Kurdish farmers were reassured by the Iraqi Minister of Justice that the Prime Minister had signed the committee's recommendations.

Iraqi Justice Minister Dr. Khalid Shwani confirmed during his reception of Muhammad Amin, the representative of Sargaran farmers, that the Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al-Sudani, signed the recommendations of the committee that was formed to follow up on the events that took place on 17 February 2025, in a number of villages affiliated with Sargaran district in Kirkuk province.

He said: "We were informed by the Prime Minister's Office of the approval of the recommendations related to agricultural lands in the villages of Sargaran in Kirkuk Governorate, and farmers can plough and use their lands."

Furthermore, Minister Shwani thanked the Kurdish farmers' representative, describing him as a symbol of protecting human rights and the rights of landowners." He also thanked Amin for his efforts to defend farmers' rights during the events in the Sargaran region.

Meanwhile, Amin expressed gratitude to the Iraqi Prime Minister for establishing the committee to look into the case's circumstances and for his assistance in resolving the issue.

He said that the Prime Minister had accepted the recommendations after they were presented to the committee charged with resolving the issue facing the Kurdish farmers in Sargaran.

The Iraqi military forces in the Shanagha village of the Sargaran district, Kirkuk province, violated the law passed by the Iraqi Parliament and the decision of the Iraqi Federal Court and forcibly prevented the Kurdish farmers from working in their lands on Monday, 17 February 2025. The army attacked the Kurdish farmers.

"In addition to pulling my scarf, they beat me, so I will file a lawsuit against the force," said the farmer who was attacked on his tractor.

On 21 January 2025, the Iraqi parliament voted on the three controversial laws: Amending the personal status law, the law to cancel the decisions of the Ba'ath Revolutionary Command Council, and the general amnesty law. The law to cancel the decisions of the Ba'ath Revolutionary Command Council is very important for the Kurds, as thousands of Dunams of occupied lands in the disputed areas will be returned to their original owners. On 13 February 2025, the Iraqi President Abdullatif Jamal Rashid approved the 3 laws.

Kirkuk is one of the territories disputed between the Iraqi Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, which are regions defined by Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution as being Arabised during the fallen Ba'ath regime's rule in the country.

Kurdish farmers in these regions often face threats of losing their regained agricultural land to resettled Arabs who took their lands during the Ba'ath regime's rule.



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