Bob Filner: “Mr. Chairman, my amendment earmarks crucial funding in this bill for the Kurdish Human Rights Watch, a nonpolitical…”

“Mr. Chairman, my amendment earmarks crucial funding in this bill for the Kurdish Human Rights Watch, a nonpolitical, nonprofit Kurdish-American service organization. For a decade and a half, this group has been working in Northern Iraq providing critical assistance to victims of torture and ethnic cleansing, rebuilding villages, teaching grassroots democracy building, monitoring human rights, and providing training on civil society. Here is what the Kurdish Human Rights Watch does everyday. First, through community-based programs, it supports the urgent needs of Anfal victims, the internally displaced refugees and other victims of ethnic cleansing, torture and human rights abuses in Northern Iraq. A special emphasis is placed on helping women cope with grief of family loss and income. Outreach workers help each family conduct an assessment of their family's health and prevention plans. Counseling is provided alongside concentrated extensive case management for problems such as generating income, family reunification, and other survival issues. Secondly, they assist in the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the destroyed infrastructure by years and years of war. The villagers most affected were women, children, and the elderly. With this aid, new wells will be drilled and pipes for drinking water supplied to the villages. The organization's engineers will help in the reconstruction of roads and houses.”