The question of religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq

Transcription

1 Committee: Issue: Student Officer: Position: Human Rights Council The question of religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq Nathalie IJdema and Fleur van Loo President and Deputy President I- Introduction. The question of religious and ethnic minorities is a question that has been on the agenda of the United Nations (UN) since the signing of its charter in Maybe the core reason why religious and ethnic diversity is seen as such an important part of society, is the tendency that countries respecting and including a multitude of different cultural backgrounds are often more stable than those, which are not as inclusive. Although the international community has already made great advancements to promote religious and ethnic diversity and recognize that societies are not homogenous, there is a great deal more to be done. Cultural diversity cannot only stand for recognizing the fact that there is a plurality of people, religions end ethnicities in communities, but to actively work for guaranteeing equal rights and opportunities for everyone. Societies all around the world have problems coming to terms with the fact that it is not enough to merely acknowledge the existence of certain minority groups, but it requires active work to achieve equality and, at the same time, diversity. Especially in Iraq this is a big issue. Not only are there ethnic and religious minorities, but The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is also still causing trouble. While this is going on in Iraq, it might be harder to achieve such equality and diversity. However, the rights of these minorities have to be protected.

2 II- Parties Involved The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant Also referred to as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Islamic State (IS), the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is a terrorist organization infamous for their extremism, human rights abuses, and war crimes. ISIL currently occupies a large amount of landing spreading from western Iraq to eastern Syria, governing over an estimated 2.8 to 8 million people. Iraq Iraq (officially the Republic of Iraq) is a Middle Eastern nation bordered by the Persian Gulf as well as Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey. Iraq is a parliamentary democracy that gained independence in The official religion of the nation is Islam. However, there are a lot of ethnic and religious minorities, who are often facing an endangered future. Due to the growing extremism in the country, minorities continue to flee to other countries. Armenians There is a community of Armenians, which is living almost entirely in Baghdad. They are Christians, both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox. Most are descended from refugees from eastern Anatolia who fled the Armenian genocide and settled in Iraq. In general, Armenians seek to avoid notice, but they are also quite attached to their country and would consider themselves as part of Iraq. Ethnically, they are different from others, but they are culturally Iraqi. Assyrians An estimated Assyrians are part of a distinct ethno-religious group in Iraq, although official Iraqis statistics consider them to be Arabs. Assyrians are descendants of ancient Mesopotamian peoples and speak Aramaic. They live mainly in the major cities and in the rural areas of North-Eastern Iraq, where they tend to be professionals and businessmen or

3 independent farmers. Furthermore, they are Christians, belonging to one of the four churches: the Chaldean, Nestorian, Jacobite or Syrian Orthodox, and the Syrian Catholic. Kurds Kurds make up around 15 to 20 per cent of Iraq s population. The Kurds do not form ahomogenous whole. Those north of the Greater Zab River speak Kirmanji Kurdish, as do most Turkish Kurds, while those south of it speak Sorani and have greater affinity with Iranian Kurds. The majority is Sunni, but about in Baghdad and the Southeast are Shi a (locally known as Faili). In Baghdad the Failis were important both as traders. They government expelled most of them in the 1970s. Shabak The Shabak are an ethnic and cultural minority located in a handful of villages east of Mosul, and a small group in Mosul itself. Their language is a confection of Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic and Persian. About 70 per cent of the group is Shi a and the rest is Sunni. Shabak have been in Iraq since Turkomans The Iraqi Turkomans claim to be the third largest ethnic group in Iraq, residing almost exclusively in the North of the country. There were anything between and 2 million Turkomans before the war that began in March They are probably descended from Turkic garrisons or, in the Shi a case, fugitives from early Ottoman control. However, they claim to be descendants of earlier Seljuq Turks. Approximately 60 per cent of the Turkomans are Sunni. The Turkomans speak a Turkish dialect and have preserved their language, but are no longer tribally organized. Yezidi s Yezidis are dualists, believing in a Creator God, now passive, and Malak Ta us (Peacock Angel). They believe they are descended from Adam but not Eve, and thereby they believe that they are different from the rest of humankind. Excommunication, therefore, has dire implications. Conversely, one cannot become a Yezidi and marriage outside of the

4 community is forbidden. In general, the Yezidis are cultivators and herdsmen who have a strictly graded religio-political hierarchy. They also tend to maintain a more closed community than other ethnic or religious groups. According to current statistics, there are approximately Yezidis in Iraq. For ethnic reasons, Yezidis are caught between Arabs and Kurds in Iraq. III- Definition of Key Terms. Ethnic minority Ethnic minorities are groups within countries, which have different cultural or national traditions from the main population. Ethnic minorities or ethnic groups are not always considerably smaller than the main population, but can regardless be negatively affected by the main population. Religious minority Religious minorities are groups within countries, which practise different religions compared to the dominant religion in the area. Religious minorities and their religions should be respected in the same manner as the main religion and its followers. However, in many cases of violations against religious minorities, the main religion or people with authority do not accept other religious and even see them as a treat. Shia A Shia is a member of the second largest religious movement in Islam, based on the belief that Ali, a member of Mohammed s family, and the teachers who came after him were the true religious leaders Sunni A member of the largest Islamic religious group, which follows the teachings only of Mohammed, not those of any of the religious leaders who came after him

5 Christianity A religion based on the belief in God and the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians also believe in the Bible. Yezidism The Yezidism is linked to ancient Mesopotamian religions and combines aspects of Islam, Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Judism. The Yezidis cultural practices are observably Kurdish. The Soviet Union considered the Yezidis to be Kurds. The Yezidis are monotheists, believing in God as creator of the world, which he has placed under the care of seven holy beings or angels. Shabakism The Shabakism is syncretic faith, incorporating aspects of Islam, Christianity and Yezidism, practiced by the Shabak people of northern Iraq. The primary Shabak religious text is the Byruk or Kitab al-managib (Book of Exemplary Acts) and is written in Turkoman Yarsanism The Kakai faith, also known as Yarsanism, is a syncretic mystical faith that is believed to have originated in Kurdish dominated parts of western Iran in the 14 th century. Its followers speak a dialect of Kurdish known as Gorani. The Baha i Faith The Baha i Faith is a monotheistic religion that emphasizes the spiritual unity of all humankind. Three core principles establish a basis for Baha i teachings and doctrine: The unity of God: there is only one God who is the source of all creation; The unity of religion: all the major religions have the same spiritual source and come from the same God; The unity of humanity: all humans have been created equal;

6 The unity in diversity: diversity of race and culture are seen as worthy of appreciation and acceptance. According to the Baha i Faith s teachings, the human purpose is to learn to know and to love God through such methods as prayer, reflection and being of service to humanity. Mandaeism Mandaeism is a gnostic religion with a strongly dualistic worldview. Its adherents, the Mandaeans, revere Adam, Abel, Seth, Enos, Noah, Shem, Aram, and especially John the Baptist, but reject Abraham, Moses and Jesus. The Aramaic manda means knowledge. Mandaeism is based more on a common heritage than on any set of religious creeds and doctrines. A basic guide to Mandaean theology does not exist. The corpus of Mandaean literature, though quite large, covers topics such as eschatology, the knowledge of God and the afterlife in an unsystematic manner. Judaism Judaism is an ancient monotheistic religion, with the Torah as its foundational text (part of the larger text known as the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh), and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash and the Talmud. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship that God established with the Children of Israel. With between 14.5 and 17.4 million adherents worldwide, Judaism is the tenth-largest religion in the world. IV- General Overview Iraq counts various minority groups, who are currently facing an endangered future. Due to the increasing religious extremism in the country, minorities continue to migrate because of their exposure to violence. Minorities in Iraq Iraq has several ethnic and religious minorities since its early establishment as a modern state. These Iraq s minority groups have a long history of suffering. The situation of minority groups is connected with the nature of the political system: political stableness is consistent

7 with Iraq s minorities living in peace, and at the same time, revolutions and uprisings in the country entail an unstable situation for minorities. Therefore, the war between Iran and Iraq has left a bad impact on the minorities, and so did the situation with The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) once again. Ethnic minorities The most dominant ethnic in Iraq are the Iraqi or Mesopotamian Arabs. These account for approximately 75% of the population. They are a fusion of old Mesopotamian, Iranian, Arabian, and other populations, who now speak Mesopotamian Arabic. All other ethnic groups in Iraq are ethnic minorities. These include: Armenians, with their community almost entirely in Baghdad. Assyrians account for approximately 2% of Iraq s population, with an estimated community of 250,000 Assyrians. They comprise a distinct ethno-religious group in Iraq, although official Iraqi statistics consider them to be Arabs. Kurds, which make up around 15-20% of Iraq's population. They inhabit the mountains, foothills and parts of the plain, and in the north-west the Kurds are Yezidi. They do not form a homogenous whole, since they speak different languages in the different areas of Iraq. Shabak, which are located in a handful of villages east of Mosul, in the Nineveh Plains, and with a small group in Mosul itself. About 70% of the group is Shi'a while the remaining 30% is Sunni. They have been in Iraq since 1502, and today most of the Shaba are farmers. Turkomans account for approximately 2% of Iraq s population. They claim to be the third largest ethnic group in Iraq. Their community resides almost entirely in the north of Iraq. Before the war started, in 2003, there were between 600,000 and 2 million Turkomans. Around 60% are Sunni, while the rest is Ithna'ashari or Shi'a. Although they are no longer tribally organized, the Turkomans speak a Turkish dialect and have managed to preserve their language. Yezidi s tend to maintain a more closed community than other ethnic or religious minority. According to current statistics, there are approximately 500,000 Yezidis living in Iraq.

8 Religious minorities An overwhelming majority of Iraqis follow Islam, namely 96%. 51% of them says to be Shia, 42% says to be Sunni, and the remaining 7% is nor Shia nor Sunni. The other 4% of Iraq s population follows other religions. These include: Christians, this is one of the largest religious minorities and counts several hundred thousand members. Christianity accounts for 0.8%. Yezidis, this is, together with the Christians, one of the largest religious minorities and also counts several hundred thousand members. Shabaks Mandaens Kaka is, who live mainly in Northern Iraq. Baha'i. Their religion was banned in Iraq by law in This was lifted in April 2007, but they are still facing a lot of obstacles. Jews. However, only a small number of Jews remained in Iraq following the establishment of the state of Israel in The Iraqi nationality law effectively excludes Jews who left Iraq from regaining Iraqi nationality. [Note that some minority groups, such as Yezidi s and Shabaks, are mentioned both in the Ethnic minorities and Religious minorities part. This is because they are ethnoreligious groups.] Human rights violations For years, members of religious and ethnic minority communities are targeted for violent attack, including abductions and killings. The minority groups are more vulnerable due to their occupations, customs and because they are generally lacking political power in Iraq. For instance, Yezidis and Christians sell most of the alcohol in Iraq, which makes them a target for some armed Islamist groups and militias. The places where people gather to express their faith are targets in particular for attacks. The perpetrators justify their crimes on the basis of the victims faith. Since someone s religion or ethnicity can often be found out through identity cards, members of minorities often fear to show their identity cards because they are afraid to be attacked. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion and belief stated about this phenomenon: "Indicating a person's religious affiliation on official documents carries a serious risk of abuse or subsequent discrimination based on religion or belief, which has to be weighed against the

9 possible reasons for disclosing the holder's religion." 1 The Iraqi constitution of 2005 and guarantees religious freedom to other religions, explicitly mentioning Christians, Sabean-Mandaeans and Yezidis. It also specifies arabic and kurdish as the official languages and guarantees the rights of linguistic minorities to be educated in their mother tongue, referring especially to Armenian, Syriac and Turkoman. Religious and ethnic minorities not mentioned in the constitution include Baha'is, Jews, Kaka'is, Roma and Shabaks. V- Timeline Date Event 10 December 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights 21 December 1965 International Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 3 January 1976 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 22 May 2004 Arab Charter on Human Rights VI- Previous Attempts to solve the Issue The question of ethnic and religious minorities, is not a question that can be solved with a single treaty or convention. There has been work done in order to improve the situation since the very signing of the UN charter. There have been multiple treaties that deal with the question in one-way or another. The Declaration of the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, can be seen as a key document that outlines the rights of minorities and it includes the right to express their culture. Furthermore, one of its goals is also to get attention of the wider public to minority rights. VII- Possible Solutions. It is important for the delegates to take the current atmosphere against multiculturalism around the world into consideration. The fact that some countries do not even recognize having some particular minorities has to be dealt with also. In general there should be strengthening of already existing international commitments, but also generating new ways to 1 work/countries/middle- east- and- north- africa/iraq/background- religious- minorities- in- iraq- face- persecution

10 improve the situation. Developing concrete ways to implement these agreed measures, so that they do not only remain as celebratory language. These concrete measures should include ways to improve the means of engagement in society for minorities, because giving a voice to everyone is a basic human right. Some more concrete solutions include putting emphasis on education of minority rights. If information about minorities and their rights is educated from a young age, people will more likely put more effort in the well being of literally everyone in society. This is not only necessary in schools, but also more broadly. The lack of knowledge and critical thinking could lead to ignorance. Inspiration can also be found from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as goals 4, 10 and 16 are at least somewhat linked with the topic. VIII- Useful documents and links. Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, 18 December 1992 (A/RES/47/135) 2 Promotion of Declaration on Rights of Minorities, 22 October 1996 (A/51/536) 3 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 16 December 1966 (A/RES/2200A) 4 Arab Charter on Human Rights, 22 May 2004 (CHR/NONE/2004/40/REV.1) 5 Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, 22 February 2016 (A/RES/70/166) dds- ny.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/g04/146/87/img/g pdf?openelement 6 Type=DOC.

11 IX- Bibliography world- factbook/geos/iz.html EN.pdf work/countries/middle- east- and- north- africa/iraq/background- religious- minorities- in- iraq- face- persecution resource.php?resourceid= kakais- protect- culture html development- goals/