IRAQ: Religious and ethnic minorities want rights enshrined in new constitution

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

BAGHDAD, 20 Apr 2005 (IRIN) - Iraqi NGOs, representing minority ethnic groups in the country, held a two-day conference in the capital Baghdad this week to ensure that their rights are enshrined in the new constitution being drafted by the transitional government.

"Through this conference, we have tried to highlight the fact that Iraqi minorities have the right to be involved in the preparation and writing of the new constitution to ensure our rights are the same as other groups such as the Muslims and Christians," director of the Iraqi Commission for Civil Society Enterprises (CCSE), Basel al-Azawi, told IRIN in Baghdad.

The event, organised by the CCSE, came to an end on Tuesday. It resulted in the formation of a committee which will liaise with the new government to ensure that minority rights are genuinely protected under the new constitution.

“Promises of participating in the new government were given from the bigger parties like the Shi’ite Iraqi Alliance, but nothing has been done so far and we are afraid that we will lose our rights when they write the constitution," a member of the Mandaean Democracy Congregation (MDC), working to protect the rights of the Mandaean community, Sameea Dawood Salman, told IRIN.

Iraq consists of a number of ethnic and religious groups. According to the US State Department, 97 percent of a population of 22 million people are Muslim.

Shi’ite Muslims, predominantly Arab, although some come from Turkomen, Kurdish and other ethnic origins, constitute 60 percent of the population. Sunni Muslims make up 37 percent and the remainder are Christians, comprised of Assyrians, Chaldeans, Roman Catholics and Armenians.

There are also a small number of Jews, Mandaeans, who follow the teachings of John the Baptist and Yazidis, who follow a mixture of religions. It is these smaller groups, particularly the latter two and the Assyrians, which are voicing their concerns.

The Yazidis live near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, with smaller communities in Syria, Turkey, Iran, Georgia and Armenia, and are estimated to number 500,000. The Mandaeans are smaller in number at some 100,000 and live mainly in southern Iraq, according to members of both groups.

Under the former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, who ruthlessly promoted his Sunni brethren, a campaign of persecution against religious leaders and followers of the majority Shi’ites was carried out, as well as no acknowledgement of Assyrian,
Chaldean and Yazidi groups, according to human rights observers.

In addition, the minority groups were not allowed to participate in elections with their own independent parties.
Following the fall of Saddam’s regime in 2003 and the 30 January election, minority religious groups want to make sure that there will be no more discrimination against them.

"The people from minorities who have been neglected after the [30 January] elections are some of the oldest residents in Iraq," Santa Mikhail, a member of the Assyrian Women’s Union (AWU), told IRIN.

"We want to have a clear vision through the media and through the people who believe in our rights as Iraqi citizens and [we want] civil society foundations that care about minority rights," al-Azawi added.

Some 12 local NGOs, and many university professors and researchers participated in the event. "We are part of Iraqi society, we had original roots and civilisations on this land, but we are afraid that the winners in the parliament will forget or ignore us," director of the Iraqi centre for interlocutions and religion NGO, Khezhal al-Khalidy, told IRIN.

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