Institute for the Study of Human Rights

Dr. Najmaldin O. Karim, the Governor of Kirkuk in Iraqi Kurdistan, founding president of the Washington Kurdish Institute (WKI), and a prominent neurosurgeon in the Washington area, died on October 30, 2020. He was surrounded by family and loved ones.  

Dignity, honor, and strength are qualities that define Karim.

We met in 1988 when Karim brought photos of the chemical weapons attack by the former Iraqi regime on Kurds in Halabja. We travelled to Kurdistan together in 1992 and 1993 and we’ve been close collaborators and good friends ever since. His death is a great personal loss, a loss for the Kurdish people, and a loss for Kurdistan.

After joining the Kurdish national movement as a high school student, he became a member of the Peshmerga – “those who face death”. On March 7, 2010, Karim was elected to the Iraqi Parliament representing the Kirkuk governorate. Soon thereafter he was elected as the Governor of Kirkuk. Karim devoted his life advocating for the cultural and political rights of Kurds, and their struggle for self-determination.  

On October 16, 2017, following the Independence Referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan supported by 92.7 percent of voters, the Iraqi government, supported by its military and Iranian-backed militias, forcibly removed him from office. 

Dr. Karim is survived by his wife, four children, and four grandchildren. 

David L. Phillips
Director, Program on Peace-building and Human Rights
Institute for the Study of Human Rights
Columbia University