Kurds Must Fight for Rights Peacefully Now (June 17, 2004)
http://www.kurdishmedia.com/reports.asp?id=2046
The Kurdish leadership must remember if they don’t get what they want now peacefully, they will force the Kurdish people into the role of terrorists by fighting the future Iraqi government. This is because the future elected Iraqi government – in six months time – will certainly deny the Kurd’s rights, but it will have the backing of the USA, Europe and UN. Hence the Kurds will be labeled terrorists.
Total failure for Assyrians (June 17, 2004)
http://www.assyrianchristians.com/commentary_itisuptous_june_17_04.htm
Total and complete failure! There may be excuses, explanations, but to every Assyrian living in Iraq the message was clear – our leaders have totally and completely failed. We are alone.
Minister of Displacement and Migration, Pascale Warda: Warda is president of the Assyrian Women’s Union in Iraq, applying her experience with human rights, refugees, and civil society in her work with Assyrian women. Ms. Warda co-founded the Iraqi Society for Human Rights in Damascus, Syria, and served as the representative of the Assyrian Democratic Movement Foundation (ADM) in Paris—the highest position of any woman in the ADM, which is the primary Assyrian political party in Iraq. Ms. Warda holds a degree from the Human Rights Institute at the University of Lyon in France.
Assyrian Priest’s Letter to Bush (June 14, 2004)
http://www.aina.org/news/20040616143342.htm
Therefore, Mr. President, we pray and hope that the U.S., having liberated Iraq, will not pull out its forces from the country, under the ongoing and incessant attacks and negative reporting from a liberal media, until strong democratic institutions have been established and enough safeguards have been put in place for the protection of the minorities, and in particular Assyrian Christians, from oppression and religious sectarianism.
We, the Assyrians, were there in Mesopotamia, now called Iraq, for thousands of years B.C., and history is a witness to the fact that we had build empires and civilizations in that part of the world long before Islam, as a religion or a political entity, appeared on the face of the earth. We are the indigenous people of Mesopotamia. Our people should not be driven out of their ancestral homeland by radical Islamic movements, by religious intolerance or by persecution. We have survived all those forces for millennia by the blood of our martyrs. Now that we are facing a new challenge, we hope that the United States and Britain will not sit as neutral spectators should the situation in Iraq deteriorate and our people are victimized again. For more than a decade, the United States and Britain have protected the Kurds and the Shi?ites from the savagery and tyranny of Saddam Hussein?s regime through the no-fly-zones in the north and south of Iraq. We hope that the same protection will be extended to all the minorities when sovereignty is finally turned over to the Iraqi government. That way, we hope, our Christian Assyrian people will be able to live in peace, like all the other ethnic and religious groups, in a sovereign and independent Iraq redeemed as a member of the civilized world. –Rev. Awiqam Pithyou, Chicago
CPA Official History–Protest Works (May 25, 2004)
http://www.cpa-iraq.org/pressreleases/20040525_iraqi_women.html
In November 2003, the CPA and the Iraqi Governing Council agreed to a process to restore Iraq’s sovereignty, and to adopt a fundamental law leading to a permanent constitution ensuring equal rights for all Iraqis. The process of framing this law generated weeks of democratic debate within the Council. Late in the deliberations, some members attempted to impose Shari’a family law, in the form of “Resolution 137,” to restrict women’s equal rights. In response, hundreds of Iraqi women took to the streets in peaceful protest, while women leaders argued forcefully behind closed doors for repeal. The women of Iraq are proud of their role in persuading the Iraqi Governing Council to overturn Resolution 137 on March 1, 2004.
Al Kut Sewing Coop (April 1, 2004)
http://www.mercycorps.org/items/1806/
With assistance from Mercy Corps, the cooperative is taking bold steps to increase productivity, streamline business processes and improve facilities. With a grant of $55,000 from Mercy Corps’ USAID Iraq Community Action Program, the co-op building is being rehabilitated and new sewing machines are being purchased. Um Noor will also start using computer technology for the creation of new designs, a process that has all been done manually to date.
Interim Constitution: Hailed by Women, Opposed by Ayatollah (March 8, 2004)
http://www.iraq.net/displayarticle2234.html
The interim constitution, coincidentally signed on International Women’s Day, guarantees women 25 per cent of the seats in Iraq’s proposed parliament.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called the legal text “an obstacle”, stunning the council and US officials.
The 75-year-old Iranian-born Ayatollah is concerned that the document would allow minority Kurds and Sunnis to veto majority decisions in which the Shia, who make up 60 per cent of the population, would hold sway.
Halabja Women’s Center Opened (March, 2004)
http://www.wadinet.de/projekte/newiraq/women/intensifying.htm
Now after the area is liberated from the Islamist rule it is possible to start with a variety of projects and programs.
Iraqi Women’s League Re-Emerges (Feb. 20, 2004)
http://www.occupationwatch.org/article.php?id=3221
“We had a war before with a tyrant. Now we have a war with those religious men who think women are just instruments to bear children and create the next generation,” she said.
“Reconstruction of Iraq” is now a euphemism for the daylight robbery of our resources. IWL Appeal
Najaf Human Rights and Democracy Center opens (Feb. 18, 2004)
http://www.iraqcoalition.org/pressreleases/20040218_najaf_HRC.html
The people of Najaf will now use the building to promote democracy and human rights. During the Center’s opening, Sheikh Khalid Nuamani said: “God created human beings with dignity. We are here to return to the people of Najaf their human dignity.”
Karbala Women’s Rights Center [CPA & USAID] (Feb. 16, 2004)
http://www.iraqcoalition.org/pressreleases/20040216_woman_karbala.html
Located in a former Ba’athist building, the women named their new Center after the revered Zainab Al-Hawra’a, the granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammad.
Diwaniyah Women’s Rights Center opens (Jan. 9, 2004)
http://www.iraqcoalition.org/pressreleases/20040127a_women-diwan.htm
The purpose of the Center is to assist widowed, impoverished, and vulnerable women as they improve their lives and those of their children. The Center will help enable the women to participate in a free, democratic Iraq.
Condoleezza Rice opened a center for women’s human rights in Diwanya. In her opening speech – delivered via satellite – she assured Iraqi women that “we are with you in spirit”. It was attended by commanders and soldiers of the occupying forces, but by very few Iraqi women. Meanwhile in Diwanya itself, local farmers (many of them women) were unable to start the winter season because of unexploded cluster bombs on their land.
Over countless coffees, the women explain. They are educated, resilient and survivors of atrocities of Saddam’s regime. They replaced male workers during the eight years of the Iran-Iraq war, and set up cottage industries to support their families during 13 years of brutal sanctions. They are not about to forgive the US or British governments for strengthening Saddam’s regime, imposing sanctions, and destroying their cities in two wars. Iraqi women know that the occupation forces are in the country to guard their own interests, not those of the Iraqis.
In refusing to take part in any initiative by the US-led occupation, or its Iraqi allies, women are practicing passive resistance. They adopted the same technique against Saddam’s despised General Union of Iraqi women. Then, they managed to cause the collapse of one of the richest, most powerful institutions for women in the Middle East. Perhaps they will do so again. Haifa Zangana
Iraqi Women’s Letter to Paul Bremer (Dec. 18, 2003)
http://www.womensorganizations.org/pages.cfm?ID=62
From 12 Women’s & Human Rights Groups regarding sex discrimination under CPA rule:
“under the November 15th Agreement, the CPA has given control over the creation of the transitional government to the existing CPA appointed councils, which are male-dominated by your making and practice an anti-womens rights agenda.”
“The bottom line is that the CPA has the responsibility to fix the imbalance of power created by CPA appointments. This can be done in accordance with the November 15th Agreement by adding a requirement that an equal proportion of men and women be selected to the provincial caucuses, and by requiring that the caucuses select an equal number of men and women to serve as delegates for the national assembly; and, further, by requiring that the national assembly ensure equal representation in the executive branch, high-level ministry appointments, and the judiciary.”
“There is ample authority under International Law for the use of a temporary quota in this situation, especially given U.N. Security Resolution 1325 and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, to which Iraq is a signatory. However, given that the power imbalance was caused by the CPA, we do not view this as a quota issue, but rather a serious mistake that must be corrected by whatever means necessary.”
“In addition, we call upon the CPA to immediately disband the all-male Fundamental Law committee and ensure women make up 50% of any such committees created in the future.”
In December 2003, a coalition of Iraqi women’s groups, most of whom had supported the US invasion, delivered a scathing letter to the U.S. Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) denouncing a litany of discriminatory political appointments. Medea Benjamin
Iraq: Increasing Domestic Violence Reported (Oct. 14, 2003)
http://www.peacewomen.org/news/Iraq/October03/domesticviolence.html
WADI also recently carried out an assessment in the south of the country. Having visited Al-Hillah, Amara and Al-Kut, its staff found that domestic violence was also widespread there. “The situation is much worse in the south; it has been completely neglected, and the fact that there is no data on this issue shows that there is no assistance for women suffering there,” the project coordinator for WADI, Thomas Osten Sacken, told IRIN from Frankfurt, Germany, after ending a visit to southern Iraq.
Heartland of Iraq Women’s Conference (Oct. 4-7, 2003)
http://www.womenforiraq.org/heartland.php
Another member of the Women for a Free Iraq, Zainab al-Suwaij, took a courageous step by speaking in favor of separation of religion and state. As a devout Muslim who is the granddaughter of a prominent religious scholar in Basra, her statement put in motion a debate that energized a silent majority of the women.
RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE WOMEN OF SOUTH CENTRAL IRAQ [pdf]
Delivered to Ambassador Paul L. Bremer on October 7, 2003
• At least one third of the members of the Constitutional Committee should be women.
• All laws that violate women’s rights should be abolished, and new laws must be enacted that protect the rights of women.
• The future Iraqi Constitution should assign a quota of no less than 30% participation of women in all political institutions, including but not restricted to the national parliament, and
regional and local councils.
• Monitoring committees should be established in all government institutions to ensure that women’s rights are respected, and to provide women with educational, economic and employment
support according to strategies identified by the women themselves.
Al Hillah Human Rights Lawyer Referral (July 26, 2003)
http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/…
Now if a citizen of Al Hillah contests a government action that is viewed as violation of their rights, the Human Rights Association will provide them an attorney free of charge.
MoPress 
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