Friday, February 4, 2022

On Monday, Kurdish police reported the murder of a transgender woman, identified as Doski Azad, in the small village Babûxkê, Mangesh district, within the borders of Duhok, Iraq.

Police reported Doski was open about her transition on social media, claimed that may be the motive for her murder, and identified her brother, Chakdar Azad, as her murderer in the preliminary investigation. Media reports and official statements reveal the culprit had lived abroad in an unnamed country in the European Union. He had premeditated Doski’s murder before finally returning to Duhok between 17-18 of December last year to carry out his plans.

Abdulsalam Aziz, Doski’s cousin, claimed his family was not aware of the murder and that they only found it out on Tuesday evening. He also revealed they were called in for a hearing by a judge during the burial ceremony. Dlovan Sadiq, Doski’s uncle, said in an interview to Rudaw that Doski had left her family house “five to six years ago,” and that he had not seen her since.

Media reports show that Doski was trying to build her life by working in a salon in a neighborhood called Masike, in the city of Duhok. Even though she was not living with her family, she received continuous threats from her family and distant relatives from her tribe. A friend, of Doski, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that Doski’s father had once took her passport and ID away from her. Doski had reported the harassment to the police, but they only advised her to “leave the city for her safety.”

Later media reports showed that Doski had been shot twice, once in the head, and once in the chest, and her body was reported only three days after the incident, just after the perpetrator had fled the country by driving north to Turkey and keeping from airports to hide suspicion. Police had not revealed much information about the suspect that could be used to identify him by the public, including his image. This led to criticism by activists.

Doski’s murder generated an outcry and led to the start of a campaign called “Justice for Doski Azad”, including pictures of Doski being shared on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with the corresponding hashtag. Social media users have demanded the Kurdistan government do more to find the perpetrator. The campaign led to statements by officials from the German and French Consulates in Erbil, issuing similar statements that “human dignity shall be inviolable”. The U.S. Consulate General followed with a statement:

Zhiar Ali, a Kurdish LGBT rights activist, told Rudaw the “to say that LGBT+ community was appalled by this heinous crime is an understatement. We are extremely alarmed by the continuous human rights violations against the LGBT+ community in the region”. He continued, “We are now demanding the government to take action, and creating more pressure than ever before. We have as much right as everybody else to live here in peace.”

A statement issued by the Office of Coordinator for International Advocacy claims that the police have launched a full investigation and that “security agencies have shared the name of the suspect at all airports and border points, and investigations are ongoing.”

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