Assyrian Lobbying group of EU Parliament Gathers Momentum

From left to right: Mr. Hannu Takkula MEP, Dr Susanna Kokkonen, Mr. Ninos Warda at the European Parliament's seminar "Persecuted Christian Minorities".

Eva Shamouel
Great Britain

The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) organised a seminar in the European Parliament on Wednesday the 5th of March on the topic of Persecuted Christian Minorities. One of the speakers was Mr. Ninos Warda, the Project Director of Assyria Council of Europe (ACE), a body established to lobby for the protection of economic, social and political rights of Assyrians in post-Saddam Iraq.

Mr Warda’s presentation was poignantly entitled "Assyrians in Iraq: From Liberation to Annihilation". After giving a brief background of the history of Iraqi Assyrians, Mr Warda gave examples of persecution both before and after Saddam Hussein’s regime. This included the Ba’ath regime’s Arabization policy when censuses obliged Assyrians to choose between an Arab or Kurdish nationality. He also described the often overlooked effect the Anfal campaign had on Assyrians. According to the International Federation for Human rights, 1,000 Assyrians went missing and 196 Assyrian villages were destroyed.

Since 2003, the Assyrian population of Iraq has decreased dramatically and disproportionately due to continued persecution and increased instability. One in three Assyrians are now refugees. Mr Warda cited UNHCR’s July 2007 report which states that Christians from Iraq now constitute 15 and 20 percent or refugees in Jordan and Syria respectively.

The types of persecution fall under many categories. Assassinations, kidnappings and intimidation are rife; religious and political representatives of Assyrians have been targeted; businesses have been attacked, churches have been bombed (40 since 2003, killing and injuring dozens of people). Assyrians and other minorities in Iraq have also been the victims of electoral fraud. Mr Warda reported that in the 2005 Iraqi election at least 100,000 Assyrians were prevented from voting in the Nineveh Plains area.

The best solution to prevent further annihilation in Mr Warda’s view should be a three way one, namely, through humanitarian aid; strengthening of security; and legitimate governance. Aid is needed in order to assist affected communities to remain in Iraq but it should also be given to specifically targeted areas such as the Nineveh Plains as the towns and villages here receive a huge influx of IDPs. In terms of security, Mr Warda recommended that as the Iraqi Security forces are under immense strain, it should train and equip members of minority communities to protect themselves. In fact, two attempts were made in 2005 and 2006 by the US, in conjunction of Iraq’s Ministry of the Interior to create a local police force for the Nineveh Plains but unfortunately both attempts were blocked.

The third, and probably the most important solution for the long-term is the question of governance. Mr Warda cited Article 125 of the Iraqi Constitution; “This Constitution shall guarantee the administrative, political, cultural and educational rights for the various nationalities, such as Turkmen, Chaldeans, Assyrian, and all other constituents, and this shall be regulated by law”. Constitutional experts agree that this provision was inserted to protect minorities in Iraq and calls have already been made for the creation of an administrative unit in the Nineveh Plains where the majority of the population are Assyrian Christians.

Among the Iraqi proponents of the creation of an Administrative area for minorities are Vice President Adil Abd Al-Mahdi, member of the Shiite Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution; Ameen Jijo, a Yezidi Member of the Iraqi Parliament, Dr Hunain al-Qaddo, a Shabak and Chairmen of the Iraqi Minorities Council (IMC); and the Assyrian Democratic Movement with the support of all attendees at the Chaldean Syriac Assyrian General Conference in October 2003, Baghdad.

All in all, it was a very constructive day and I came away feeling that although Mr Warda has only freshly been appointed to this position, he has already proved himself as being more than capable of making significant achievements. There was some positive feedback by the hosts and in particular from MEP István Szent-Iványi which lead the participants to really feel that these issues are going to be put on the EU agenda as a matter of urgency.

Indeed, a few days later, the EU Parliament adopted a new resolution (click here) about the EU’s future role in Iraq but with some points being of specific concern to the Assyrian minority in Iraq. It offers recommendations to the Council and Commission of the EU on a new strategy in Iraq. As a community we need to act concertedly to make sure our lobbying is most effective. If you live in Europe, please write to your MPs and MEPs to ask them to put this issue on their agendas and to act on the resolution. Also, financial donations you can give to ACE will make it much easier for them to continue to do the job they are doing. It’s a very small investment for what will hopefully be a very big yield in the long term for the benefit of our people.

At the start of the seminar, we were treated to a song by Finnish gospel band, EXIT, lead by Mr Pekka Simojoki. He had written the song after seeing a statue in Rome of a young 3rd century martyr, St Cecilia. He told us of her bravery and defiance in the face of death. Two thousand years after St. Cecilia’s time, I would like to dedicate Mr Simojoki’s song to Archbishop Paulous Faraj Raho.

CECILIA
by Pekka Simojoki

I want to sing and tell this story.
It's a song I made for you.
It's a song of tears and glory,
I want to tell what faith can do.
You took your cross, you did not bend.
You walked your way right to the end.

I want to light my torch with fire,
that will never, ever die.
I want to stand and lift it higher,
I want to shout, I want to cry.
Your life and soul were torn apart,
but they never got your heart!

CECILIA, CECILIA,
TELL ME, WHERE THE ANGELS ARE.
CAN YOU SEE THE LAND OF HEAVEN IN YOUR HEART?
CECILIA, CECILIA,
YOU ARE SHINING LIKE A STAR.
SHOW US THE WAY, TELL US HOW TO LOVE, CECILIA.

Still today you keep on shouting
stronger than I've ever heard.
To my heart so cold and doubting
you can speak without a word.
We need courage from above,
we need faith and hope and love.

* Quelle: Zindamagazine.com