All the political powers monopolizing authority, whether Arab (Shiite or Sunni) or Kurdish, do not deal sincerely with the rights of smaller ethnic components. They are not honest in their claims of believing in these rights or in respecting the choices of these components, which are based on their free will as partners in the nation. These components fulfill their obligations but are denied their rights.
Attached to this post is a rightful, fair, and legitimate demand, signed and sealed by five active nationalist parties and eight churches representing Iraqi Christians of various denominations. It calls on the Presidency of Parliament to ensure the right of Christians to elect their representatives in the Council of Representatives without interference from politically driven or corruptly bought votes.
This demand represents the majority of Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Christians, and it reflects their will and their fair and legitimate right. If you truly believe what you claim, then why is this right not acknowledged?
I remind the Kurdistan Democratic Party and its leader, Mr. Masoud Barzani, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and its leader, Mr. Bafel Talabani, of the sacrifices made by our people and our stance alongside the Kurdish people in their struggle, their sacrifices, and their historical responsibility in confronting dictatorial regimes. Have you forgotten the bread we broke together during the days of struggle, sacrifices, and martyrdom?
Have you forgotten the dozens of Assyrian villages that were leveled to the ground during the black Anfal campaigns because they harbored and supported the Peshmerga?
Have you forgotten the dozens of Assyrian martyrs whose blood mixed with that of Kurdish martyrs in the struggle against the fascist Ba’ath dictatorship?
Have you forgotten the martyrs of our Assyrian Democratic Movement, its sacrifices, and its armed struggle?
Have you forgotten our movement’s stance during the internal Kurdish conflict, its active role in preserving peace, its sincere efforts to stop the fighting, and its pursuit of peaceful solutions and political understandings? Its balanced political positions helped preserve political legitimacy and prevented the dissolution of parliament and the collapse of the regional experiment.
To our brothers in the Shiite political leadership of which there are many today, review yourselves and reflect on how you treat the ethnic and religious components different from you.
We fought alongside you when the fascist Ba’ath dictatorship oppressed you and silenced every voice that called for your rights. The diaspora communities of our people, who were displaced by that tyrannical regime, played a key role in bringing your suffering to the attention of international decision-making centers. They directly influenced the first condemnations issued by international human rights organizations against Saddam’s regime, especially when members of the heroic Al-Hakim family were executed. Likewise, when Grand Ayatollah Muhammad Sadiq al-Sadr and his two sons were martyred at the hands of the defunct Ba’ath regime, our movement was among the first to condemn the treacherous act, accuse the regime, and bring the injustice to global platforms to shed light on the crimes committed against Shiites.
And today, under your rule, our people are being displaced, our homes and properties are being seized, our areas in the Nineveh Plain are subjected to demographic change, our electoral will is being hijacked, and our parliamentary seats are handed over to individuals who hold no esteem or roots in our community. Worse, they offend it with behavior alien to its values and traditions as if your scales have tilted away from justice, especially regarding the rights of Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Christians.
This document and its rightful demands submitted by the elders of the Chaldean Syriac Assyrian community and its religious and political leadership with strong roots in society present the full truth. It deserves your attention and consideration to bring justice to this people who simply ask to express their will in electing their representatives in the legislative authority. Just as you have the right to reject others choosing your representatives, our people have the right to refuse having their representatives chosen by politically driven votes from outside the community. These votes do not express their will and do not defend their rights and interests.
We have made appeals to all political leaders, presidencies, and even to the Federal Supreme Court. In its ruling No. (99, 104, 106/Federal/2018), the court stated that restricting voting for quota seats does not violate the constitution. These are executive procedures and electoral instructions pertaining to the Independent High Electoral Commission. But all this has been to no avail.
What we have suffered as Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Christians since 2003 from killings, displacement, land confiscations, targeted attacks, church bombings, and the killing and kidnapping of clergy and community members is the worst we’ve endured in decades. As a result, our population has diminished, and over one and a half million Iraqi Christians have been displaced. And yet, you still deny this ancient, sacrificing, and oppressed people the right to elect their own representatives in the legislature without interference from outside forces?
Today, we appeal to you, Arabs (Shiite and Sunni) and Kurds to grant justice to our people, and to guarantee their right to freely elect those who represent them in the Council of Representatives with an independent, national Iraqi will. This is the essence and purpose of the quota system. Its legislative philosophy is to ensure that minorities elect their own representatives without interference from majority votes. Otherwise, there is no point in having a quota system if it fails to fulfill its intended purpose.
You accept for our people what you would not accept for your own. So where is the justice in that?!
Yacoob G. Yaco
Secretary-General of the Assyrian Democratic Movement – Zowaa
Note: Priest Mina of Jerusalem later withdrew his signature.
