A Clan-Led Government Has No Place in the 21st Century

Gmo Karim

In the 21st century an era that boasts progress, human rights, and global accountability we are still witnessing brutal acts justified by archaic notions of honour and ownership. Day after day, fathers and brothers murder their daughters over petty reasons, not in secret, but under the full view of a society that claims to be modern. Why? Because they still view their daughters as household property something to be owned, controlled, and, when defied, eliminated.

This mindset is not isolated to households. It is the very culture that governs our region. The same patriarchal dominance that rules the home has shaped the way our country is ruled. We have leaders who respond to the smallest criticism with fury not with dialogue, but with bloodshed.

One of the most recent and horrifying examples took place in Erbil: a young woman was gunned down by her own brother. She was struck with more than ten bullets. Her crime? That remains unclear or perhaps it is just too familiar.

These are not just individual crimes; they are political. They are the logical outcome of a clan-based system that has turned family honour into an instrument of control, and normalized violence as a form of governance both at home and in public office.

A government that functions like a tribal household where criticism is treason and women are possessions has no legitimacy in this century. It is time we called this system what it is: regressive, violent, and incompatible with the principles of human dignity and justice.

If Kurdistan is ever to be free, then we must dismantle not just the authoritarian regimes, but the authoritarian culture that feeds them.