Workshop in Basra on Protecting Minorities Rights in Iraq
Workshop in Basra on Protecting Minorities Rights in Iraq
A workshop was held in Basra under the title “Rights of Minorities are Foundations of Human Rights”, through the cooperation between the United Nations Mission (UNAMI) and Iraqi Al-Amal Association (IAA), based on the Iraqi Constitution and in the light of the national plan for human rights in Iraq. The activities of the workshop, which lasted for two days (December 22-23rd 2012), attended by various religious and ethnic components in the province, in addition to the officials, academics, religious institutions and endowments figures, and activists from civil society organizations.
The workshop discussed the situation of components that are characterized by diversity in Basra, the challenges they face, and the suffering of the members of these components from discrimination and violation of their political, social, economic and cultural rights, and the negative impacts of such practices on their sense of national identity and citizenship rights.
The attendees came up with a road map to address these challenges at the legal, political and cultural levels, with recommendations in deepening awareness of components rights and their heritage, and to encourage academic studies and field research on their status, culture and contributions to the history of Iraq, with an emphasis on the importance of amending the school’s curriculum to include information on religious and cultural diversity in Iraqi society, and the need for a legislation to protect the components rights as stipulated in the Constitution, with the review of national legislations, regulations and rules according to the international law to develop their status and participation, preserve their heritage and civilizations, and to ensure the neutrality of State institutions to guarantee equal opportunities for them in work, training and promotion in a way that strengthens national unity, justice and equality within the framework of a democratic civic State.
December 24th, 2012