For Immediate Release

202.483.6444

July 10, 2000

AKIN Office Ransacked

The Police Does Not Rule Out Hate Crime

The American Kurdish Information Network (AKIN), an advocacy office for Kurdish political rights in Washington, DC, was found ransacked this morning. Kani Xulam, the director of AKIN, who arrived at the scene of crime at 8:52 a.m., reported the break-in immediately. The Washington police who showed up at about 9:12 a.m. undertook a through investigation. After about an hour, the police officers questioned Kani Xulam about the possibility of a hate crime and wanted to know if he had ever been threatened.

Kani Xulam told the police officers that he had received over at least 100 threats directed at him through e-mails, phone calls or letters in recent years and that he had notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) about some of these threats.

The police officers noted that the burglars usually go for the valuables, but here, there seems to be open hatred directed towards the property. He went on to say, "The broken door and destroyed book shelves certainly give one this impression. In addition, thrashing the place in this manner is not the way intruders who seek valuables operate."

Kani Xulam who was allowed into his office at about 10:30 a.m. later noted that, "When I saw the broken glass and paper all over the floor, I felt sick. Kurds have gotten used to expecting this kind of treatment in the Middle East; in America, I could not believe what my eyes had just witnessed."

Asked what if he thought of the break-in, Mr. Xulam said, "It feels like being violated. Thank God, our computers were intact. But then, it is also too early to be sanguine. The appearance could be rather deceiving. I want to believe that the damage is reparable. It could be that those who wanted to a copy of our records got away with their catch."

One of the missing items was a VCR with a copy of videotape called Coup.

"Last night, I had watched it, a documentary about the Turkish militaryís perennial take-over in Turkey by the Turkish filmmaker, Elif Savas. The too-long film felt like a horror story. In the morning, to my utter dismay, I discovered that its horror had hit AKIN as well. It felt surreal."