Police raided and shut down electrical workers unions across Iraq in mid-July, carrying out an order from the Ministry of Electricity that prohibits "all trade union activities at the ministry and its departments and sites" and authorizes police "to close all trade union offices and bases and to take control of unions' assets properties and documents, furniture and computers."

Former Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz and 15 other high-ranking former officials in the government of Saddam Hussein appeared in court over the weekend and were charged with crimes committed during Hussein's regime. According to his lawyer, Aziz will now stand trial on charges of squandering public funds. Aziz's lawyer contends that he has been denied access to his client and that the current Iraqi government is attempting to find a reason to execute Aziz.

The US military is preparing to hand over control of its last remaining detention center in Iraq, with Baghdad authorities to take charge of 1,600 of the 1,800 detainees at Camp Cropper, near the capital's airport. The US military has been asked to hold the remainder, some of them alleged members of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Earlier this week, 26 former members of Saddam Hussein's regime, including his deputy Tariq Aziz, were transferred.

Turkey's once-close relations with Israel are in jeopardy following the deadly Israeli naval attack on a Turkish-organized "Free Gaza" aid flotilla, with Ankara reportedly instating on a freeze on deals with Israeli defense contractors. But this has not kept the Turkish military from using Israeli-supplied drones against the Kurdish PKK rebels—inside Iraq. According to Turkish sources, the army has been using Israeli-made drones to locate PKK positions, both in eastern Turkey and northern Iraq. After delays of more than two years, a partnership of Israel Aerospace Industries and the Israeli defense firm Elbit delivered six Heron drones to the Turkish military in April. Four more are expected later this month. (Ha'aretz, Hurriyet Daily News, June 20)

Hundreds of Turkish soldiers made an incursion into Iraqi territory in "hot pursuit" of Kurdish guerillas June 16, Turkish government officials said. After a battle in Uludere district of Turkey's Sirnak province, the Turkish military said it sent three commando divisions and a special forces brigade two or three kilometers into Iraqi territory to chase down the rebels. Turkish warplanes also carried out a series of air-strikes against suspected rebel targets in Iraq. The Turkish military claimed to have killed four guerilla fighters in the battle, which also claimed the life of a Turkish solider. (CNN, June 17; AlJazeera, June 16)

From Human Rights Watch, June 16:

Iraqi Kurdistan: Girls and Women Suffer the Consequences of Female Genital Mutilation
Kurdistan Regional Government Should Outlaw the Practice
A significant number of girls and women in Iraqi Kurdistan suffer female genital mutilation (FGM) and its destructive after-effects, Human Rights Watch said today in a new report. The Kurdistan Regional Government should take immediate action to end FGM and develop a long term plan for its eradication, including passing a law to ban the practice, Human Rights Watch said.

A group of schoolchildren marked the lead-up to International Children's Day in Erbil June 9 with a protest against Iranian shelling of Iraqi Kurdistan. The children gathered outside the city's Iranian consulate to chant "No, no to war. Yes, yes to peace" and "Stop the shelling of Iraqi Kurdistan." They then handed in a letter to the consular officials, reading: "We as the children of Kurdistan want the immediate cessation of the Iranian artillery shelling of Kurdish villages of South Kurdistan. The artillery shelling kills people, scars children, displaces villagers. That is why we urge the Iranian regime to stop the bombardment of South Kurdistan border areas. In solidarity with the children, affected by this bombardment of Iranian artillery shelling, we, the Children of Erbil will not be going to celebrate the 'Children's International Day'." (Kurdish Media, June 9)

Amnesty International on June 7 urged European leaders to stop the upcoming deportation of asylum seekers to Iraq because their human rights may be violated in unsafe regions of the country. Authorities in the UK, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands are taking part in a joint effort to return the refugees to Iraq after the asylum petitions of many of the refugees were denied. Amnesty contends that the planned deportations violate the rules of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), which oppose forced returns to specific areas in Iraq considered too dangerous for civilians. The International Federation of Iraqi Refugees (IFIR) also condemned the return of refugees to high-risk areas in Iraq, alleging that more than 100 Iraqi refugees in the UK will be deported this week.