ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Independent Human Rights Commission of Kurdistan Region (IHRCKR) on Tuesday accused Sulaimani security forces of placing jailed People’s Front leader Lahur Sheikh Jangi in a lamentable detention facility, and decried the treatment of the opposition leader’s arrested fighters.

On August 22, forces affiliated with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) besieged the residence of People’s Front leader and former PUK co-chair Jangi, leading to Jangi’s arrest after a violent conflict that spanned hours and saw at least five killed and around 30 injured.

Representatives of the human rights commission conducted two public visits to the Kani Goma detention facility where Jangi and his brother Polad had been kept by internal security forces (Asayish) since their arrest: One in late August and another less than a month later.

“When we went to see Mr. Lahur at Kani Goma [in August], both of their rooms [Lahur and Polad] were not bad, they were good. However, after the head of the commission [Muna Yaku] visited them [in September], they transferred Lahur Sheikh Jangi to the main Asayish facility in the city,” Sleman Mohsin Sindi, the commission's head of media, told The New Region.

Kani Goma often holds pre-trial detainees and individuals arrested on security-related charges 

“Usually when an independent human rights commission visits a place, if there is an issue they must fix it and make improvements to the situation, but in this case the opposite happened - after we visited they moved them to a worse place,” Sindi continued.

Following their transfer, Jangi’s lawyer notified the commission that Lahur and Polad were being kept in a room which had “low oxygen, unpleasant smell, and humidity issues,” Sindi said, adding that after the commission head Muna Yaku sent a letter to Qubad Talabani, Kurdistan Region’s deputy prime minister and senior PUK member, they were transferred to a relatively better place.

Jangi is still not prosecuted and awaiting trial - nearly three months after his arrest.

Jangi’s detention has also put Newroz SC, a Sulaimani football club owned by the opposition leader prior to his arrest, in a dire financial situation. For years, the club has been one of the most popular teams in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq with a growing base of avid supporters.

Jangi reportedly told the PUK forces during his arrest that there was an “unburnt” room at Lalezer holding over two million dollars allocated for the financial needs of the club over the next few years.

“Until this moment, the money is missing. That money has been stolen,” said the human rights commission official.

Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Sunday provided 450 million dinars (about $343,000) to Newroz SC, in a bid to prevent the club’s looming demise and help them continue  “representing the Kurdistan Region at a high level.”

The commission also accused the Sulaimani security forces of mistreating Jangi’s detained fighters, estimated to number around 200 individuals, saying that seven families of the detainees told them they are not allowed visitation rights and the rest only get to see them behind a barrier.

Authorities in Sulaimani recently identified the burned body of one of the men from Lalezar gunfight as Rekar Abdulrazaq, after carrying out DNA testing, nearly three months after the incident.

“What sparks suspicion is that they [Sulaimani security forces] dragged this too long. The first time we spoke with them they knew it was Mr. Rekar… We as the commission also knew it was him but we did not want to be the bearer of bad news for the family,” Sindi said.

“To enjoy [putting his family through] this, if it is not brutality then what do you call it? It took way too long,” he lamented.

Following Jangi’s arrest, the PUK-affiliated Asayish published a seven-page document accusing the opposition leader of an assassination attempt against PUK leader Bafel Talabani.