Workers' Liberty

By Houzan Mahmoud, on behalf of the campaign to support students in Basra against Islamic repression

The first student congress since the US-led invasion will be held in Iraq on June 15th, 2005. Student committees set up in December last year have been working hard under extremely dangerous conditions to organise students and create a progressive student organization to defend the rights and freedoms of young people in Iraq.

The March student uprising against repression by Moqtada al-Sadr’s Basra militia has made the need for a national student organisation clear. Currently Islamist political groups are enforcing the Islamisation of Iraqi society, with a direct effect on every campus and school. In many parts of Iraq, female students are being forced to wear the veil, while in others male and female students are being segregated.

Armed Islamist militias have attacked students and interfere in the university campuses. Students across Iraq have united to actively resisting these human rights violations. As a result, students from Baghdad, Kirkuk, Basra, Sulamaniya, Mosul and Arbil will attend the first student congress in Baghdad due on 15th June.

The congress agenda will include students’ role in Iraq’s ongoing political crisis, human rights, education and the struggle against privatization, as well as an exhibition of documents and photos from the Basra uprising against al-Sadr’s thugs. There will also be a session for resolutions and the election of national representations.

Above all, the congress needs financial support. We face a bill of something like £12,000 for hall rental, accommodation, transport of students from outside Baghdad, food, literature and of course security provision. Your financial support is crucial to making this student congress happen.

Please send donations to:

Dar Es Salaam Investment Bank, Al-Saadoon Tunis Street, 101/3/3, Baghdad.

The transfer can be done through Western Union money transfer in the name of: Adil Salih, Coordinator of Students’ Committee in Baghdad

For more information: 7956 883 001 or houzan73@yahoo.co.uk