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

Reuters AlertNet, UK
April 20 2005

20 Apr 2005 14:16:14 GMT

Source: IRIN

BAGHDAD, 20 April (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.