Kawa Garmyani Was Killed, but His Struggle Lives On

Bnyamin Salam Ahmed

Today  5th  December 2025 in Manchester, I participated in a demonstration organized by Dakok to honor the memory of Kawa Garmyani, a Kurdish journalist and activist who was murdered in 2013 for speaking truth to power. Twelve years later, his name still echoes among Kurds who refuse to forget.

Kawa was killed, but his struggle remains alive in our hearts. His assassination was not just the silencing of a single voice; it was a warning sent to an entire society a message that truth, courage, and accountability come at a high cost in a region where peace and safety are never guaranteed.

We continue to fight for the rights of Kurds in a political environment where justice is selective and fear is used as a tool of control. Kawa stood against corruption, exposed abuse, and believed that journalism was a weapon for the people, not a service for political parties. That belief cost him his life.

The murder of Kawa Garmyani remains an open wound. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) carries the heavy moral responsibility for a crime that was never fully or transparently resolved. The blood of Kawa stains the conscience of those who benefited from silence and impunity. Justice delayed for over a decade is not justice it is denial.

For Kurds in the diaspora, Kawa’s case is not history. It is a living reminder of the dangers faced by journalists, activists, and reformers inside Kurdistan. We will remember this critical act of terror not out of hatred, but out of commitment to truth, to freedom of expression, and to the belief that Kurdish society deserves better than fear and repression.

Kawa Garmyani did not die for nothing. His words, his courage, and his sacrifice continue to inspire a generation that refuses to be silent. Remembering him is not just an act of mourning it is an act of resistance.