Leyla Qasim

She was the third out of five children born to a Kurdish farmer, Dalaho Qasim, and his wife Kanî. She was born in Xaneqîn but was relocated to Irbil when she was four years old. The Qasims lived in wretched poverty, relying on rations for food and clothes.

Leyla and her brother Çiyako were taught Arabic and agriculture by their mother when they were aged six and eight. In 1958 she entered elementary and later finished secondary school in Xanekîn. In 1971 she moved to Baghdad to study sociology at the University of Baghdad.[1]

Leyla Qasim was sixteen years old as Abdul Rahman Arif was overthrown by Ba'ath party leader, General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr in 1968.[2] Leyla was disturbed by the violent takeover in the capital. During the late 1960s, Leyla and Çiyako wrote pamphlets on the horrors of the Ba'ath party including the new leader, Saddam Hussein, whom they described as being against Kurdish independence.

Leyla spoke to several Kurds in the Northern region of Iraq about the Ba'ath regime and the loose morals of the members. Leyla was told that her words were inspiring sedition.

In 1970 she joined the Kurdistan Students Union and the Kurdistan Democratic Party.[1]

On 28 April 1974 she was detained together with four others and accused of attempting to hijack a plane.[3] She was arrested, tortured and, in Baghdad on 12 May 1974, ultimately hanged after a lengthy show trial, broadcast throughout Iraq.[4] She was the first woman to be hanged by the Iraqi Ba'ath party.[5][6] Executed along with Qasim were also Jawad Hamawandi, Nariman Fuad Masti, Hassan Hama Rashid and Azad Sleman Miran.[7]

Many Kurdish families named her children Leyla after her. Every year the anniversary of her death is remembered by many Kurds.[1] In Kelar there exists a Leyla Qasim Park.[8]