Head of Amnesty International meets Kurdish leaders

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Salil Shetty, the Secretary General of the human rights organization Amnesty International, met with the Kurdistan Region's President Massoud Barzani and Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani on Wednesday and showed his gratitude to the Peshmerga and Kurds for helping refugees.

"In his meeting with President Barzani Secretary General of the Human Rights Organization Amnesty International explained the Organizations' duties in the Middle East and Africa as well as in Kurdistan Region," the Kurdistan Region's Presidency said in a statement.

"The Secretary General also showed his gratitude to the Peshmerga and the Kurds for enduring the financial and humanitarian crisis,” the statement said. "He also praised people of Kurdistan Region for accepting and helping hundreds-of-thousands of refugees."

President Barzani talked about Kurdistan Region’s strategy regarding human rights and its strategy in war against ISIS.

"Our nation has been oppressed by dictators and terrorists, henceforth we understands the value of human rights," Barzani told Shetty according to the statement.

Shetty also met with Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and thanked him for the Kurdistan Regional Government's (KRG) cooperation which has allowed Amnesty International to go anywhere they want in Kurdistan to carry out investigations.

Kurdistan has undergone positive works when it comes to the protection of human rights Shetty said according to the KRG's official website.