Author: ericlee

The GFIW has issued this statement. Labour Friends of Iraq is deeply concerned to hear of these raids. On 23 February, American and Iraqi forces raided the head office of the General Federation of Iraqi Workers (GFIW) and arrested one of the Union security staff. This unprovoked attack resulted in the destruction of furniture, the confiscation of a computer and fax machine and the arrest of employee who was released unharmed later same day. The same force repeated this unprovoked attack on 25 February and caused further damage. The GFIW while condemning this unprovoked attack and calls on the occupation … Continue reading GFIW condemns raids on its head office and calls for solidarity

Bakhtyar Amin the former minister for human rights in Iraq, argues that good governance and a culture of justice will only come with time for a state unused to such concepts.

LFIQ Joint President Dave Anderson today asked the party conference to back the Iraqi trade unions and called on the government to use its influence in reversing anti-union restrictions in Iraq.

The Sheffield Star reports on the LFIQ delegation to Iraq. THREE years after the invasion by British and American troops, Iraq remains a dangerous place. But the risk of kidnappings and bomb attacks did not deter a delegation of trade unionists, including Sheffield teacher Sue Rogers and former North East Derbyshire Labour MP Harry Barnes. Despite reports of carnage still taking place daily, they saw how recovery was beginning to take hold away from areas such as Baghdad and Basra, where insurgents remain a constant threat. Sue, who teaches history at King Edward VII Secondary School, Broomhill, was on the … Continue reading Iraq recce

Tim Lezard meets Iraqi journalist Huda Saber. Huda Saber, 26, lives in Arbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. A member of the Journalists union of Kurdistan and an activist in the Kurdistan Syndicate, she works for two newspapers, Workers Arm and Gengeland (Youthland). ‘I wouldn’t say the situation for journalists in Iraq is bleak,’ she says, ‘but it is extremely difficult because of a lack of security. In Kurdistan, though, the security situation is better than the rest of Iraq and we are free to move about and to conduct our daily life.’ ‘We’re relatively free to work without the fear of … Continue reading Iraqi Unions need help and support.

Freedom is not free is the inscription on a major statue here in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. This part of Iraq surely knows the cost of war and repression. It’s often not mentioned much but Saddams genocidal Anfal campaign murdered nearly 200,000 Kurds and razed hundreds of villages before the uprising and what everyone here calls the liberation in 2003. Yesterday we also visited the Red House in Sulamani which was the secret police headquarters under Saddam and where hundreds of people were tortured and murdered. It’s grim but not the worst one can find. It’s being maintained … Continue reading Freedom is not free, first report from LFIQ trip to Iraq

Cherie Booth told a recent conference that the destruction of the Iraqi marshlands during the 1980s and 1990s was symptomatic of the wider destruction of Iraq. It involved not just the destruction of land, but also of the people whose land it was. In the case of the Iraqi marshlands, most of its people were forcibly displaced not once but many times, leaving behind their possessions.The reconstruction of a nation cannot be achieved without involving the people of that nation in the reconstruction process.

Iraqis and Afghans are among most optimistic people in the world when it comes to their economic future, says a new survey for the BBC.