May Day events organised by the Worker-Communist Party of Iraq (WCPI) and other groups, in Iraqi Kurdistan, attracted more than 200,000 people. In one city, Duhok, armed forces belonging to the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) attacked a May 1 gathering, destroying posters and leaflets, beating participants and arresting three organisers who are members of the WCPI.
WCPI activists have previously been targeted for killing, kidnapping and terrorising by the secret armed organisations of the dominant nationalist parties — the KDP and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) — in alliance with the Islamist movement.
One known WCPI activist, Nazir Omar Ali, was kidnapped and killed by the KDP following 1993 May Day activities, despite Amnesty International intervention. The WCPI newspaper, Bopishawa, has now been illegally shut down for the publication of an anti-Islamist article.
Grave fears are held for the lives of the three WCPI members arrested. The Australian organisation of the WCPI has appealed urgently for messages of protest to be faxed to the British offices of the KDP (0015 44 171 931 7765) and the PUK (0015 44 181 960 4728).