The continuous armed and cultural struggle of the various classes and segments of South Kurdistan since 1931, despite its ups and downs, led to the spring uprising of 1991, which resulted in the liberation of the Kurdistan Region. Since its founding in 1953 until the spring of 1991, the Kurdistan Students Union did not hesitate, despite all obstacles and difficulties, to struggle for the Kurdish people to reach this safe shore.
The period between the seventh and eighth congresses of the Kurdistan Students Union lasted more than 21 years. During this period, many changes occurred in the organization and structure of this entity, and several conferences were held at different times to reorganize and better align it with local and regional developments, the last of which was the spring uprising of 1991. After the uprising and the stabilization of the situation in the Kurdistan Region, Kurdistan Democratic Party held its 11th Congress in 1993, and the elections for the Kurdistan National Council were conducted, so the Kurdistan Students Union decided to hold its own congress. Especially after the unification congress of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which required the reorganization of all mass organizations and unified parties.
In the sixth meeting of the Kurdistan Democratic Students and Youth Union on March 10, 1993, it was decided to hold the "Freedom Congress" at the headquarters of the Kurdistan Students Union secretariat in the Sheraton building in Erbil. It was also decided to add 13 members from all branches to the staff of the Executive Committee, which consisted of the following gentlemen:
1- Luqman Ismail and Bashar Hamid - Duhok-Nineveh Branch
2- Reber Ahmed Khalid and Khanzad Ahmed Abdul - Erbil Branch
3- Aram Mohammed Abdullah, Arkan Tahsin Sadiq, and Jalal Mohammed - Sulaymaniyah Branch
4- Omar Sharif and Salam Hussein Abdullah - Kirkuk Branch
5- Sasan Awni and Mustafa Salim Hamadamin - Salahaddin University Committee
6- Gohdar Ismail - Secretariat Office Headquarters
The Secretariat Office after the uprising was as follows:
1- Abdullah Khalo Ali - Secretary
2- Rifat Saeed Hamadamin - Member of the Secretariat Office
3- Faryad Shafi Mohammed, known as Faryad Barzani - Member of the Secretariat Office
4- Adil Ali, known as Adil Botani - Member of the Secretariat Office
5- Kurdistan Birdawud Qadir - Member of the Secretariat Office
6- Ibrahim Mustafa Mohammed - Member of the Secretariat Office
7- Haji Abdulrahman Darwish - Member of the Secretariat Office
8- Dizwar Faiq - Member of the Secretariat Office
The branch officials were as follows:
1- Reber Ahmed Khalid - Official of the Erbil Branch
2- Haji Abdulrahman - Official of the Sulaymaniyah Branch
3- Azad Faiq Ghafoor, known as Dizwar Faiq - Official of the Kirkuk Branch
4- Ibrahim Ismail - Official of the Refugee Branch
5- Ibrahim Mustafa Mohammed - Official of the Duhok-Nineveh Branch
After these changes and based on the above decisions, the (Azadi - Freedom Congress) was held on October 16-20, 1993, in Erbil in the presence of 793 delegates and under the slogan (Science - Peace - Reconstruction) in the presence of President Masoud Barzani, where President Barzani, the representative of the Political Bureau, the Minister of Education, and the President of Salahaddin University delivered speeches at the Congress.
The Congress delegates were distributed among the students and youth to elect the two organizations. As for the Kurdistan Students Union, the following were elected to the Executive Committee:
1- Sasan Osman Awni - Secretary
2- Hankaw Abdullah Khan - Official of the Relations Department
3- Nazim Rashid - Relations Department
4- Gohdar Ismail - Official of the Media Department
5- Reber Ahmed Khalid - Official of the Erbil Branch
6- Amin Osman - Official of the Sulaymaniyah Branch
7- Ali Awni Nimat - Media Department.
8- Tavka Omar Rashid - Media Department
9- Mustafa Salim - Official of the Organization Department
10- Shakir Abu Bakr Aziz - Organization Department
11- Faris Omar - Official of the Duhok-Nineveh Branch
12- Shno Amin Mansour - Official of the Kirkuk Branch
13- Fariq Sulaiman Harni - Official of the Financial Department
14- Dilshad Shahab - Official of the Salahaddin University Committee
15- Tariq Jafar Faily - Organization Department
Alternate members of the Executive Committee:
1- Abdullah Majid
2- Arshad Hito, known as Arshad Balte
3- Bashar Hamid
All branches of the Students Union consisted of: Erbil Branch, Kirkuk Branch, Sulaymaniyah Branch, Duhok-Nineveh Branch. On August 18, 1993, the decision was issued to open the Salahaddin University Branch. On February 1, 1996, the Akre Branch was opened. On February 1, 1996, it was decided to open the Soran Branch.
Congress Administration:
On October 23, 1993, in the presence of all members of the Executive Committee, the members of the Secretariat Office were elected in this form in Erbil, and the Secretary was elected from among the members of the Secretariat Office:
1- Sasan Osman Awni - Secretary
2- Hankaw Abdullah Khan - Member of the Secretariat Office and Official of the Relations Department
3- Gohdar Ismail - Member of the Secretariat Office and Official of the Media Department
4- Mustafa Salim - Member of the Secretariat Office and Official of the Organization Department
5- Fariq Sulaiman Harni - Member of the Secretariat Office and Official of the Financial Department
After the Azadi Congress, the first branch officials were as follows:
1- Faris Omar, known as Faris Barwari - Official of the Duhok-Nineveh Branch
2- Reber Ahmed Khalid - Official of the Erbil Branch
3- Shno Amin Mansour - Official of the Kirkuk Branch, and she is considered one of the first women to take responsibility for branches in the history of the Kurdistan Students Union
4- Amin Osman - Official of the Sulaymaniyah Branch
5- Shaban Shaban Ahmed - Official of the Akre Branch
6- Faisal Sadiq Tawfiq - Official of the Soran Branch
Sources and footnotes:
1- Erfan Aziz Aziz, Congresses and Conferences of the Kurdistan Students Union, First Edition, (Erbil - Rojhalat Printing House - 2012), p. 104.
2- Sasan Awni, Kurdistan Students Union: Aspects of Struggle and History, (Erbil - Ministry of Education Printing House - 1998), pp. 175-176.
3- Same source, p. 177.
4- The Azadi Congress begins its work, Brayati Newspaper, organ of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - Unified, No. 1772, Erbil, Sunday, October 17, 1993 AD, pp. 1, 4.
5- Luqman Gharib, Martyr Haji Abdulrahman: A Stage Full of Giving in the History of the Kurdistan Students and Youth Movement, (Erbil - Roshinbiri Printing House - 2003 AD), p. 165.
6- Erfan Aziz, previous source, p. 109.
7- Same source, pp. 109-117.
8- Final statement of the first meeting of the Executive Committee of the Kurdistan Students Union, Pishkawtin Newspaper, organ of the Kurdistan Democratic Students and Youth Union, No. 48, Erbil, November 1993 AD, p. 3.
9- Sasan Awni, previous source, pp. 194, 193, 234, 240, 241.