Stichting Kavien’s Justice Foundation
at the memorial website of Kavien Begikhani
Today, on November 9, 2022, on Kavien’s birthday, a new foundation was formally set up, named the Stichting Kavien’s Justice Foundation. The goals of the foundation are to pay tribute to Kavien Suleiman (-Begikhani), who cared deeply for and was committed to international law, human rights, and peace. The notarial deed of the foundation (“Stichting”) was done by Mr. Daemen at Notariaat Pas in Beek, the Netherlands on November 9, at 11:00 AM. The foundation has set up an award named Kavien Justice Award, read about it on the award page (new, 2025).
Recently, the Kurdish Chronicle published an interview with Mr Simon Minks. Minks went to Kurdistan to promote the Kavien's Justice Foundation. “We must motivate young people to engage with topics like justice, especially now that the world seems to be moving in a different direction. This is how we can draw attention and inspire the younger generation,” he said. Minks met with KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani, who thanked him “for decades of work on genocide and terrorism cases, some of which involved Saddam Hussein’s use of chemical weapons and others that involved Yezidi victims of ISIS.” Minks also spoke at the Fourth International Kurdish Studies Conference (see photo). The full article in this link: interview in Kurdish Chronicle.
The formal goals of the foundation (“Stichting”) are: to pay tribute to Kavien Suleiman (-Begikhani), who cared deeply for and was committed to international law, human rights and peace; supporting and encouraging young people to be active in the field of international law, human rights and peace. The Foundation may pursue its purpose by any lawful means, particularly including the generating of funds in order to award thesis prizes to students at the field of international law, human rights and peace.
In the following links, Simon Minks is interviewed by Diaspora presenter Hemin Abdulla from Rudaw. In addition to build up on Kavien’s achievements and his dreams and ideas for justice, one of the main tasks of the KJF is to give a prize to a university student based on competition for the best thesis on Justice:
Simon Minks interview in online newspaper
Rudaw interview with Simon Minks on youtube
In the following links, the Kurdish government, the Kurdistan Center for International Law, and the Kurdistan Chronicle report on the visit of the chairman and two more board members of KJF to Kurdistan in the week of April 22 to April25, 2025:
KJF board meets prime-minister Masrour Barzani
KJF board meets the Kurdish Center for International Law at the Dutch Consulate
KJF board meets the Kurdish Center for International Law at the Dutch Consulate (in Kurdish)
KJF board meets Top Judicial Officials
The board proudly presents an annual thesis prize for students (from a restricted set of universitites, starting with Leiden University College, LUC, in 2025). The award stimulates students in the field of international (criminal) law, human rights, peace, accountability, or justice. The first edition of Kavien Justice Award was presented in 2025 on July, 4 during the graduation ceremony of "Class of 2025" of Leiden University College (LUC). Read about it on the award page (new, 2025).