20 May 2010
To Ms Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman
KRG representative in the UK
Fax +44 (0)20 7170 4301

Dear Ms Rahman,

Abduction and killing of Mr Sardasht Osman

We have read the KRG's statements on the abduction and killing of the journalist Mr Sardasht Osman on 4-6 May. We put it to you that further
measures are necessary to reassure people in the Kurdistan Region, their friends and families abroad, and everyone worldwide who is concerned for
the freedom of the press.

Sardasht Osman's brother, Beshdar Osman, has said that Sardasht Osman received a threatening phone call in January, telling him to leave
Erbil, and understood that the reason for the threats was his journalistic work. The investigation into Mr Osman's death should look
into those threats, and whether they came from those circles connected with the KRG or with parties represented in the KRG which were
criticised by Mr Osman in his work as a journalist.

Mr Sardasht Osman was abducted on Tuesday morning, 4 May 2010, after being dropped off by his brother Sardar Osman in front of the Fine Arts
Institute at the University of Salahaddin in Erbil. There is a round-the-clock guard of at least half a dozen soldiers there. The
investigation should look into the response of those guards.

Mr Sardasht Osman was found dead on 6 May in Mosul. His abductors must have travelled through security checkpoints to reach Mosul from Erbil.
The investigation should look into the response of the guards at those security checkpoints.

The operation in which Mr Sardasht Osman was abducted and killed was "beyond the capability of one person or one small group,” as a statement
issued on Thursday 6 May and signed by 75 Kurdish journalists, editors and intellectuals pointed out. The investigation should consider what
groups may have had sufficient resources for such an operation, and how they were able to carry it out.

Mr Sardasht Osman's family have asked to be fully involved in the investigation of the abduction and murder, so that they can be sure that
such questions will be looked into. I hope you will raise these concerns with the KRG.

Yours sincerely

Martin Thomas
for Workers' Liberty