HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS REPORT (2) POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF MINORITIES IN IRAQ 2 AT CROSSROADS CONTENTS Introduction ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................5 Discrimination and Political Participation ................................................................................................................................................................................................................5 A Security-based Approach ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................6 Methodology .....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................8 1. The Political Participation of Christians .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................9 Disparity in the Representation of Christians in the Kurdistan Region and the Federal Government 10 Political Participation of Armenians ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................11 The Quota and Confronting Political Discrimination against Minorities ...................................................................................................12 Restrictions on Christian Political Participation ....................................................................................................................................................................................14 Improving Christian Political Participation ....................................................................................................................................................................................................15 2. The Political Participation of the Yezidis .........................................................................................................................................................................................................17 Yezidis Divided Between the Central Government and the Kurdistan Region ...............................................................................17 The Political Map of Movements and Political Currents which Represent the Yezidis ................................................18 Working with Currents and other Political Parties ................................................................................................................................................................................19 The Nature of the Yezidi Political Participation in the Political Process ..................................................................................................20 Obstacles to the Political Participation of Yezidis ...............................................................................................................................................................................22 3. The Political Participation of the Shabaks .................................................................................................................................................................................................25 Political Representation of the Shabaks ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................25 The Map of the Shabak Political Currents ..................... .................................................................................................................................................................................25 Pressures on the Shabaks from Big Groups .......................................................................................................................................................................................................26 Factors Affecting the Shabaks Voting Behavior ...................................................................................................................................................................................27 The Political Demands of the Shabaks ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................28 4. The Political Participation of the Turkmen ................................................................................................................................................................................................31 Political Currents Representing the Turkmen .................................................................................................................................................................................................31 Conflicts with Major Political Currents ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................31 Internal Factors Weakening Turkmen Political Participation ............................................................................................................................................33 Political Demands of the Turkmen......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................35 5. The Political Participation of the Kaka’is .......................................................................................................................................................................................................37 The Impact of the Religious Factor on the Political Participation of the Kaka’is .......................................................................37 Weak Political Representation of the Kaka’is .................................................................................................................................................................................................37 Obstacles to the Political Participation of the Kaka’is ....................................................................................................................................................................38 A Quota for the Kaka’is in the Halabja Province .....................................................................................................................................................................................39 Political Demands of the Kaka’is .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................40 6. The Political Participation of the Mandaeans........................................................................................................................................................................................41 Changes in the Representation Structures of the Mandaeans .........................................................................................................................................41 Human Rights Violations Against Iraqi Minorities After ISIS 3 Limited Political Participation of the Mandaeans ..............................................................................................................................................................................41 The Formation of the Supreme Political Committee ......................................................................................................................................................................42 The Mandaean Quota ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................43 Resorting to the Judiciary to Improve their Political Participation ........................................................................................................................43 Internal Democratic Mechanisms for the Selection of Candidates ......................................................................................................................43 Political Demands of the Mandaeans .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................44