Fighting for the Underserved

Diya Butros Sliwa (left) and Hamid Murad (right), president of the Iraqi Human Rights Society in the US. Photo by Weam Namou

The Rights of Religious and National Minorities in Iraq

By Weam Namou

Diya Butros Sliwa, a Chaldean political activist, lives in Erbil, Iraq, but he gives talks around the world on human rights. He visited North America recently where he gave talks and interviews in Michigan, in Canada, and he also plans to travel to Washington, DC. His goal is to bring awareness to the status of the rights of religious and national minorities in Iraq and Kurdistan.

On Saturday, September 2, 2023, he lectured at the Mandaean Association of Michigan in Warren. The Iraqi Human Rights Society in the US, established in 1994, hosted the lecture.

“Today Nineveh is in danger,” said Sliwa. “It’s in a terrible dire state. I say this with honesty and confidence.”

Sliwa is the president of the Civil Rights and Citizenry Organization; for over 20 years, he has watched the situation for Christians and other minorities in Iraq go from “worse to worser.” After the American-led coalition forces ousted Saddam Hussein on March 19, 2003, attempts to create a new constitution began. In October 2005, a national referendum approved a new constitution.

“Regrettably, the new and current constitution that was adopted in 2005 had many glitches,” Sliwa said. Then he brought forth several examples.

The constitution establishes Islam as the official religion and states that no law may be enacted contradicting the established provisions of Islam. Freedom of Religion or Belief Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) says we all have the right to our own beliefs, to have a religion, have no religion, or to change it. Yet in Iraq, if someone changes from Islam to another religion, they face the death penalty. Furthermore, if either parent of a child is Muslim and the child is under 18 years of age, the child must be Muslim.

“So where is the freedom of the child?” asked Sliwa.

He’s also concerned about the rights of women. According to Amnesty International, the Iraqi parliament continues to fail to criminalize domestic violence despite an increase in “honor killings” and other forms of gender-based violence documented by national NGOs. Recently, a bill was drafted that, if it passes, will cause Iraqi citizens to face death or life in prison for same-sex relations, a minimum of seven years in prison for promoting sexuality, and up to three years for imitating women.

Sliwa said that in addition to these violations, Iraqis are deprived of basic human rights such as education, healthcare, economy, housing, and others. “They are deprived of life,” he opines. “The situation, however, is worse for minorities since they are less in number. They don’t have armed militias and their lands have been stolen from them.”

He adds that the number of Christians in Iraq has gone down from 1.5 million in 2003 to currently “a number that’s too little to count.”

“There’s no real census to document that population,” he said, although the U.S. State Department 2022 Report claims the number is estimated at 150,000.

“We seek a democratic framework for Iraq, one that would uphold human rights for everyone, especially minorities,” he said. “Iraqis deserve stability, including relief from political violence.”

Sliwa reminded listeners that ISIS controlled the Nineveh Plain region from 2014 to 2016, causing the inner displacement of more than one million Iraqi citizens within their own land. “It’s a painful situation,” he said. “Imagine that, in your own country, you are displaced, living in tents. You are abandoned and forgotten.”

When the region was liberated from ISIS in 2016, the government asked people to return to their homes. “But ISIS is still present there and has sleeping cells. The government is playing a political game. They are currently taking the possessions and assets of the Christians.”

While the constitution promotes minority rights and protection of Iraq’s ethnic and religious diversity, intolerance and discrimination have caused the number of Christians to decline to the point where, “One day we will end up like the Jews.” Currently, there are said to be three Jews left in Iraq. “If you can’t protect your own home, then you will consider escaping from it,” he said.

Why should the world care? “Human rights and terrorism are not a local or national issue,” he said. “It’s a global topic and everyone is responsible for the protection against terrorism and the protection of minorities in Iraq.”

He pointed out that the United Nations did not do its duty for the minorities in Iraq the way they had for Kosova, Bosnia, or other wars that took place in other parts of the world. “The reason for that needs to be studied and addressed,” he said.

During the question-and-answer portion of the event on September 2, one woman commented, “I don’t like the word ‘minority’ for us. Who chose me to be a minority? Why am I considered a minority in my own country? I’m a minority by number, but not by my history and essence. That word does not suit us.”

“We shouldn’t be embarrassed by the word ‘minority’,” responded Sliwa.

“Still, we should be considered a majority and get the same rights as the majority,” she countered.

“No one is getting their rights in the Arab world,” was Sliwa’s reply. “So, by being a minority, we have more rights.”

That’s the kind of logic that suits Iraq right now.