Statement
To the Iraqi National Forums,
The United Nations,
The International Community
The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court issued on February 21, 2024, a decision in appeal no. 83 and its units 131 and 185 federal, whereby it annulled the seats of the special quotas for the national minorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (Chaldeans, Assyrians, Turkmens, and Armenians) established under Law No. 1 of 1992 and its amendments, which facilitated the first democratic parliamentary elections in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. This marked the first time these minorities participated in the legislative authorities according to their will.
The annulment of the Chaldean, Assyrian, Turkmen, and Armenian component seats by the Federal Supreme Court constitutes a clear constitutional violation. The Iraqi permanent constitution guarantees the rights of all components of the Iraqi people and emphasizes the rights of Iraqi national and religious minorities in several articles, including Article 49 and Article 125, ensuring their representation in the executive, judicial, and legislative authorities.
This decision undermines the democratic foundations, pluralism, and peaceful national and religious coexistence upon which the political experience in the Kurdistan Region was built. It also indicates a dangerous regression in democracy, human rights, and national partnership, which are the fundamental principles underlying the political process in Iraq since 2003. Continuing on this path will inevitably lead to further restrictions on freedoms and fundamental rights achieved through the blood and sacrifices of the Iraqi people, including the national minorities who made significant sacrifices over the past decades to attain their fair and legitimate rights.
The members of these minorities feel that the Federal Supreme Court’s decision to annul their representation in parliament is a political message carrying serious implications, the foremost being the retreat from recognizing their national existence within the national fabric, whether in the Kurdistan Region or later in Iraq as a whole. This paves the way for a policy of nullifying the different national and religious other, starting with small national and religious minorities, and eventually returning to concepts of political domination and majority dictatorship from which the Iraqi people liberated themselves after decades of struggle and sacrifices.
In light of the difficult situation faced by these minorities, we call on the national political forces to support their Iraqi national rights, affirm the unconstitutional nature of this decision by the Federal Supreme Court, and consider it a political blow directed at their rights without justification.
We also appeal to the United Nations, the official sponsor of the Iraqi political process, and the international community to play their role in supporting the rights of national and religious minorities and consider what they are subjected to as a violation of relevant international covenants and resolutions.
In conclusion, we demand the restoration of the special quota seats for (Chaldeans, Assyrians, Turkmens, and Armenians) in the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliament, with legal guarantees, limiting the voting for these seats, as well as for seats in the Iraqi Parliament, to members of these minorities, and ensuring their parliamentary representation is free from political and party conflicts by dedicating it to issues unrelated to minority representation and their fair and legitimate rights.
Erbil, February 27, 2024
Signed Parties:
1/Assyrian Democratic Movement
2/Beth Nahrain Patriotic Union
3/Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council
4/Abnaa Al Nahrain Party
5/Assyrian Patriotic Party
6/ The Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party