Workers' Liberty

P O Box 823, London SE15 4NA

+44 (0) 20 7207 3997 | fax +44 (0) 20 7207 4673

e-mail office@workersliberty.org | web www.workersliberty.org

10 May 2005

To the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan London office

Fax: 020 7840 0630

We write to express our concern about reports we have received of the arrest of Rebwar Aref, a member of the Worker-communist Party of Iraq, after a speech he made at a student protest in Sulamaniya on 4 May.

We hear that Rebwar Aref was arrested by PUK authorities and has been detained without charge, trial, or notification to his friends and family of his whereabouts.

Without freedom of speech, due process, and the right not to be detained without charges and a prompt hearing, there can be no democracy.

We are particularly concerned because we believe that the ideas of socialism and working-class unity promoted by Rebwar Aref and his party are vital to the possibilities of a free, democratic, and secular Iraq emerging out of the present bloodshed and conflict.

We ask you to pass on to the PUK authorities in Sulamaniya our request for:

1. Immediate freedom for Rebwar Aref.

2. An assurance of no detention of political activists without charge or trial.

3. An assurance of freedom to speak and organise for political parties, trade unions, and women’s organisations, including those which are critical of or in opposition to the PUK..

Thanking you in advance for a prompt reply,

Martin Thomas,

On behalf of the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty