ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Security forces in Kirkuk city have arrested at least 20 males for not wearing pants longer than three-quarter-length, also known as "Bermuda" style shorts, following the implementation of a strict evening dress code or for riding a motorcycle at night during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
"This decree is issued by Joint Operations Command for Ramadan nighttime," Brig. Gen. Afrasiyaw Kamil, the spokesperson for the Kirkuk Police Department, told Rudaw on Sunday.
The original decree — dated on April 28 — is signed by Ali Kamal Abdulrazaq, the head of the Kirkuk Provincial Police.
He claimed that following abundant complaints filed by locals that "youth wearing shorts harass people and display an ugly image at public places far from social customs," the decision was implemented.
A Twitter user posted a photo allegedly showing youth being rounded up for wearing “Bermuda” style shorts.
صورة من #كركوك
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لاعتقال الشرطة من يلبس البرمودا ( الشورت) والسبب اخلال الذوق العام
والقانون ليس بشهر رمضان وانما جميع ايام السنة pic.twitter.com/rE4NA2Tyne
Since the new regulations have been enforced "a large number of youth [20] wearing pants shorter than three-quarter-length" have been arrested and their cases refereed to court, according to Kamil.
"But before they are released, we will take legal measures against them and we will get them to sign a written pledge not to repeat such acts," he explained.
The new rules also target motorcyclists.
"Except for delivery motorcycles, a curfew will be imposed on other kinds of motorcycles from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. every night," Kamil explained.
The decision has gone viral on social media with some users praising the decision and others condemning it for violating individual freedoms.
"I do appreciate this decision. Wearing three-quarter-length pants is very disgusting in public," Araz Omer, wrote on a Rudaw Facebook page in Kurdish.
Mohamad Osman, a youth from Kirkuk downplayed the decision: "it seems to them that Kirkuk does not have any problems, except those who wear three-quarter-length pants."
Ahmed B. Muhammed echoed Osman’s position.
"Why do not you go arrest the corrupt? Why do you not go close the cafeterias that have become places for dealing drugs,” he asked.
This is the first time in recent memory that such a decision has been issued in Kirkuk.
The disputed or Kurdistani city fell to the Iraqi federal forces and Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi in October 2017 after the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga withdrew from the oil-rich and diverse province.
Since then, Kurds have lost dozens of administrative and military positions in the city and its new governor Rakan Saeed al-Jabouri is accused of reviving Baath-era Arabization policies.
