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Report on Assyrians in Iraq Calls for Humanitarian, Military Aid
2014-08-20 09:04 GMT
The report also discusses the plight of Yazidis, Shabaks and Turkmen, who were also targeted by ISIS.
The report outlines the actions of ISIS in Mosul and the Nineveh Plain, home to the largest concentration of Assyrians in Iraq. Among that actions taken by ISIS were:
- Imposing Sharia law in Mosul
- Imposing jizya on Assyrians
- Destroying Christian religious institutions
- Ordering women to completely veil themselves and not
leave the home without a male escort
- Ordering unmarried women to report for "sexual
Jihad"
- Killing Unveiled Christian women
- Killing Thousands of Shiites and Yazidis
- Cutting of water and electricity to the Nineveh Plain
- Confiscating homes of Assyrians
- Seizing the Chaldean Patriarchate
- Marking Christian homes to identify them
According to the report:
The
Assyrians in Iraq currently number between 300,000 and 450,000. In 2003 their
population was estimated at 1-1.5 million, and they now constitute a third of
Iraqi refugees in neighbouring countries. This has come about as a result of
Assyrian churches, businesses and homes throughout Iraq becoming the target of
coordinated attacks. Kidnappings, as well as verbal and written threats to
convert to Islam, pay jizyah (an extortion tax imposed upon non-Muslims), leave
the country or else suffer death, have also been commonplace. In February 2008,
the Chaldean Catholic Archbishop of Mosul, Mar Paulus Faraj Rahho, was abducted
and killed. Other priests and religious figures have also been murdered or
kidnapped. In total, more than 413 Christians were killed between 10 April 2003
and 23 March 2012, and 46 churches were attacked or bombed, leaving 95 dead.
Some of the recommendations of the report are:- Designate as disaster areas the towns and districts of
Sinjar, Bakhdida (Qaraqosh/Hamdaniyah), Bartillah, Ba'shiqah, Tel-Kayf,
Alqosh, Shaykhan, Tal-A'far, Tuz, Amerli, Bashir and Taza
- Provide all means of support, including immediate
shipments of food, water, tents and other emergency relief aid to agencies
coping with the current humanitarian crisis in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region.
- Clear the areas from ISIS, restore security and
stability, and return the displaced people to their homes safely.
- Designate the acts perpetrated by ISIS against
Assyrians, Yazidis, Shabak and Turkmen in north Iraq as crimes against
humanity, denounce them as genocide, and demand the prosecution of the
perpetrators.
- Allow the formation, training and armament of new Iraqi
military and police units manned and commanded by Assyrians, Yazidis,
Shabak and Turkmen, to aid in the liberation of their areas from ISIS.
- Implement the agreement, made by Iraqi Parliament and
Cabinet on January 21, 2014, to create new provinces not only in areas
where the existence of minority groups is under threat, such as the
Nineveh Plain, Tel-Afar, Tuz-Khurmatu, but also in Sinjar.
- Stop regarding the Assyrians (including Chaldeans and
Syriacs) as a religious minority, and refrain from calling them
Christians. They are the oldest inhabitants of Iraq and, as such, they
should have the same rights enjoyed by the Arabs, Kurds and others in the
country.
- Issue an international resolution for the establishment
of one or more safe havens for people from Iraq's embattled minority
groups and, if need be, send in UN peacekeeping forces to protect them and
ensure that refugees are restored to their homes safely.
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