A police-imposed ban on the use of flags of the "Yesid resistance units Sinjar" ( Yekîneyên Berxwedana Şengalê – YBŞ) at demonstrations is unlawful. This was determined by the Kassel Administrative Court in a judgment dated January 5, 2021 (Case No.: 6 K 6483/17.KS) without an oral hearing.
On October 7, 2017, a rally under the motto "Peace in Kurdistan – Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan" took place in Kassel. During the rally, the police commander in charge prohibited participants from using a flag of the Yekîneyên Berxwedana Şengalê (YBŞ), a Kurdish-Yesid unit fighting against ISIS in Iraq. The police stated that there were indirect links to the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), as the Yazidis had been trained by the Kurdish-Syrian People's Protection Units (YPG).
The administrative court declared this ban unlawful. Neither the YPG nor the YBŞ are banned. Furthermore, the court stated that, in light of the assembly's motto, " Peace in Kurdistan," it was incomprehensible " why the flag of a Yazidi militia, founded in response to the IS terrorist organization's summer offensive in 2014, should not be displayed ."
Public attention was intense when ISIS attacked the main settlement area of the Yazidis in Sinjar in 2014 and committed genocide against the population. It was primarily the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) who opposed ISIS and helped the Yazidis. " It is not only in this context that it is strange and cynical that German security authorities are quick to issue bans as soon as flags of Kurdish self-organizations appear in connection with gatherings in Germany, " criticizes lawyer Sven Adam, who represents the plaintiff, questioning why the proceedings even had to take place.
For further questions, please contact attorney Sven Adam using the contact details provided.
The judgment of the Kassel Administrative Court of January 5, 2021 can be found here: Kassel Administrative Court – Judgment of January 5, 2021 – Case No.: 6 K 6483/17.KS
