Far from any humanist principles, on fabricated charges, the KDP has imprisoned activists and journalists for simply expressing their opinion without judicial arrest warrant. They have been held in prisons for an undetermined period. The security forces usually arrest the journalists without the knowledge of juridical 
authorities and withhold their cases from reaching the courts.

The KDP is conducting mass surveillance of the people of Badinan, the areas of Kurdistan region controlled by the KDP. It severely monitors online platforms, including wildly popular social media. The authorities in Badinan do not tolerate any dissidents or demonstrations and prevent any political gatherings. It uses fear and coercion to suppress dissent and freedom of expression. 

It is normal to be arrested in KDP controlled regions for simply criticizing their way of ruling. 

As of April 2020, more than 100 journalists and civilians have been jailed on various charges that lack evidence. Many have been tortured and forced to confess to things they have not done.

Prisoners of Shiladzeh, a city in the northern Kurdistan region, have abstained from eating and drinking for almost 36 days due to KDP's inaction to process their cases. They have lost hope in the KDP and have written farewell messages to their families.

The KDP uses all methods of fear and torture and has made the region a giant prison for journalists and activists. A journalist who has fled the KDP rule on conditions of anonymity for fear of his life told KurdsatNews.