ERASING ASSYRIANS: How the KRG Abuses Human Rights, Undermines Democracy, and Conquers Minority Homelands ERASING ASSYRIANS 1 Erasing Assyrians: How the KRG Abuses Human Rights, Undermines Democracy, and Conquers Minority Homelands by Reine Hanna and Matthew Barber Special thanks to Max J. Joseph and Mardean Isaac for their assistance and contributions during the research for and composition of this report. Assyrian Confederation of Europe September 25, 2017 www.assyrianconfederation.com [email protected] The Assyrian Confederation of Europe (ACE) represents the Assyrian European community and is made up of Assyrian national federations in European countries. The objective of ACE is to promote Assyrian culture and interests in Europe and to be a voice for deprived Assyrians in historical Assyria. The organization has its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Cover photo: 7th-century BCE Assyrian archaeological site in Dohuk vandalized with the Kurdish flag ERASING ASSYRIANS 2 NINEVEH PLAIN The Nineveh Plain is the only region in Iraq where the largest segment of the inhabitants are Assyrians. The area is considered the original Assyrian heartland. KURDISTAN REGION MOSUL ERBIL Nineveh Plain KIRKUK IRAQ On January 21, 2014, in a landmark moment for Assyrians “ and other minorities in the Nineveh Plain, the Iraqi Council of Ministers voted for the creation of three new governorates in Iraq, among them a Nineveh Plain Governorate. This new governorate would ostensibly serve as a safe haven for minorities, including Assyrians, while remaining part of Iraq and under the authority of the Central Government. ERASING ASSYRIANS BAGHDAD 3 SECURITY IN THE NINEVEH PLAIN September 2017 ALQOSH Tel Keppe Shekhan District District TELESKOF BATNAYA Bashiqa TEL KEPPE Sub District BASHIQA Peshmerga Trench Line BARTELLA KAREMLASH BAKHDIDA Al Hamdaniya District Nineveh Plain Guard Forces (KRG) NIMRUD Nineveh Protection Forces (KRG) Babylon Brigades (Iraq) Nineveh Plain Protection Units (Iraq) ERASING ASSYRIANS 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART ONE Introduction The Assyrian Identity ...................................................................................................................................... 9 Background ....................................................................................................................................................... 9 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................................... 11 Organization of This Report ......................................................................................................................... 12 PART TWO Conquest Masked as Liberation: Assyrians in the Nineveh Plain 1. The Nineveh Plain: The Assyrian Heartland ......................................................................................12 KRG Territorial Expansionism into the Assyrian Heartland • A New Governorate 2. The Islamic State Conquest ....................................................................................................................14 Baghdad’s Response The KRG Response Liberation 3. The Current Security Environment in the Post-IS Nineveh Plain ..................................................17 Inhibitions to Assyrian Security and Policing • From the Babylon Brigades • From the KDP 4. Pre-2014 KDP Security Interference in the Nineveh Plain and Its 2014 Consequences .............21 5. Post-IS Reconstruction ............................................................................................................................22 6. Resettlement ..............................................................................................................................................25 7. Political Abuses against Assyrians in the Nineveh Plain ...................................................................27 Blocking U.S. Aid to the Nineveh Plain Voter Fraud and Intimidation Removal of Assyrian Mayors in Nineveh • The Removal of Alqosh’s Mayor ERASING ASSYRIANS 5 • The Removal of Tel Keppe’s Mayor • The Earlier Removal of Karemlash’s Mayor Divide and Conquer: The KDP Patronage System • Examples of Patronage in Action The Damaging Effects of Identity Politics 8. The KRG’s Independence Referendum in the Nineveh Plain .........................................................42 PART THREE Despotism Masked as Democracy: Assyrians inside the KRI 1. Land Theft ................................................................................................................................................44 2. The KRG Draft Constitution ................................................................................................................47 3. Religious Freedom ...................................................................................................................................48 Kurdish Clerics Inciting Violence Religious Intolerance in Kurdish Society 4. Kurdish Secret Police Cracking Down on Freedom of Speech .......................................................50 5. Public Manifestations of Anti-Assyrian Prejudice ..............................................................................53 State-Sanctioned Symbols of Hate Dishonoring Assyrian Historical Figures Neglect and Defacement of Assyrian Heritage Sites 6. Harmful Politics in the KRI ..................................................................................................................55 Kurdifying the Memory of Assyrian Suffering KDP Patronage among Assyrians within the KRI Risks Posed by the PKK Presence in Nahla 7. Discrimination in Business .....................................................................................................................56 8. Services ......................................................................................................................................................57 Medical Care Basic Needs Infrastructure Public Works Emergency Services Assyrian Schools and Education • Conditions • Higher Education 9. Status of Women ......................................................................................................................................64 Assyrian Women in the Workforce Assyrian Women in Politics ERASING ASSYRIANS 6 10. Mass Migration of Assyrians—from Both the KRI and Nineveh ......................................................67 11. Problems Specific to Ankawa .....................................................................................................................68 Security in Ankawa Erbil International Airport Demographic Change in Ankawa Taxation in Ankawa Businesses in Ankawa Politics in Ankawa PART FOUR KRG Responses to Human Rights Violations On the Abandonment of Assyrians to Genocide ..................................................................................74 On Land Theft ............................................................................................................................................74 On Blocked Protests ...................................................................................................................................75 On Preventing Assyrians from Returning to Nineveh Plain ..............................................................75 On the Removal of Nineveh Plain Mayors .............................................................................................75 PART FIVE Conclusion Recommendations ......................................................................................................................................76 For the International Community For the Iraqi Central Government For the Kurdistan Regional Government ERASING ASSYRIANS 7 ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS REPORT AAS ...........................Assyrian Aid Society ACE ..........................Assyrian Confederation of Europe ADM .........................Assyrian Democratic Movement AGE ..........................Assyrian General Conference AWU .........................Assyrian Women’s Union BNDP .......................Bet-Nahrain Democratic Party IDP............................Internally-displaced person, someone who has been forced to leave their home but has been displaced within a country, in contrast to a “refugee” who has crossed an international boundary IS ...............................Islamic State (jihadist movement) ISDP .........................Iraq Sustainable Democracy Project KDP ..........................Kurdistan Democratic Party KRG .........................Kurdistan Regional Government KRI ...........................Kurdistan Region of Iraq NPGF .......................Nineveh Plain Guard Forces (NPGF) NPF ...........................Nineveh Protection Forces NPU ..........................Nineveh Plain Protection Units PMU..........................Popular Mobilization Units PUK ..........................Patriotic Union of Kurdistan USIP ..........................United States Institute of Peace ERASING ASSYRIANS 8 PART ONE Anfal campaign, which included the targeting of Assyrians villages; ruthless campaigns of terror to which Christians were subjected following the U.S. invasion in 2003; and finally, the recent tragic INTRODUCTION chapter authored by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist organization. Following the removal of Saddam’s regime in 2003, but still years prior to the emergence of IS, the Assyrian experience in Iraq was already one of relentless persecution, bloodshed, and displace- The Assyrian Identity ment. An