The Truth about the Yezidis
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Yezidi Voices
Yezidis Speak Out
On this page we will post letters from the prominent leaders of the Yezidi communities and organizations, or any Yezidi announcements and correspondence that are helpful or relevant to the Yezidis' cause.
Kawwal Kawwal Hasan with U.S. Representative for Nebraska Jeff Fortenberry (right) and Michael Corbin of the U.S. State Department (left) at minority human rights conference in Lincoln
The Yezidi Community Of Lincoln NE
Lincoln, Nebraska
www.yeziditruth.org
My name is Kawwal Khoudeida Hasan. I represent the Yezidi community of Lincoln NE. As a Yezidi leader I help my community by getting our voices out to the people who don’t have much knowledge about the Yezidi religion and the Yezidi people. I also visit with the congressman and the senators on a regular basis to talk about the issues of the Yezidi people here and the Yezidi people living Iraq. So far we have not gotten much help.
We are grateful to the government of the United States for bringing us here. We appreciate the principle of religious freedom that is embedded in the constitution of the United States and we relish the ability to freely practice our religion after many years of persecution . We appreciate any advice and assistance we are given as we seek our new found religious freedom here and in our homeland.
We are a poor people and much of what we once had has been lost. Our land, homes and water supplies were taken or destroyed during the rule of Saddam Hussein. Approximately 250 Yezidi villages near Mosul and in the Sinjar Mountains were destroyed . The river Dejela, which supported Yezidi communities, was contaminated with poisons. Sites sacred to the Yezidi people have been vandalized and threatened . The Yezidi people want the lands that were taken away from us to be returned.
A couple of years ago on August 14, 2007, the most deadliest of all the terrorists attacks against the Yezidis occurred in the villages of Khahtaniya and Al Jazeera in the district of Sinjar, located in the northwest Iraq. Four hundred Yezidis were massacred in the attack, 300 were wounded, and another 70 went missing. This is an irrefutable proof that the attacks will be worse if the American military pulls out of Iraq.
Our goal in both Iraq and here in the United States are to improve our capacity to serve and protect our people by acquiring the needed learning and building the needed resources to be productive and self-sufficient. We hope to establish relationships with qualified legal counsel so we may better understand and act on the matters that affect our interests. We hope that you take in consideration the information we have acknowledged you about the Yezidi issues and we appreciate any advice and support you may provide.
Most respectfully,
Kawwal K. Hasan
Received Monday, March 1 2010
Mirza Ismail and the London Ontario Yezidi Community
Minorities and Iraq’s Parliamentary elections 2010, and election irregularities by KRG and its militias in the disputed areas
By: Yezidi Human Rights Organization-International
This 2010 elections is the third elections that the Iraqis will have, during the 2005 and 2009 Iraq’s parliamentary and provincial elections, the minorities such as the Yezidis, Chaldo-Assyrians, Sabeans, Kakais, Turkmen, and Shabaks; these ethnic groups had a high hope that they would have equal rights, freedom and share the government responsibilities in their ancient homeland.
- During Iraq’s parliamentary elections in 2005, the KRG Officials threatened the Yezidis and paid 25,000 Iraqi dinars which equalled to about $ 20.00 USD at that time for each Yezidi vote they could get; thousands of the innocent Yezidis could not buy foods and drinking water for his/her family members, therefore, they would vote for whoever give them any amount of money. And many people in the KRG region voted more than 10 times by dipping their finger in special oil and then in ink, and also many of the election observers marked more than 100 election tickets.
- During the last provincial elections of 2009, the KRG did its brutal tactics of buying votes, threatening Yezidis to vote for the KRG list and relocate more than 35,000 Kurdish families to the Nineveh province from Dohuk, Erbil, and Sulimaniya and gave them fake IDs to be able and vote for the KRG list (Ninawa brotherhood list) and nominated 8 Yezidi candidates and threatened them as soon as they are elected, they have to vote for the referendum that Yezidis’ regions become a part of Kurdistan.
- The 2010 Iraq’s parliamentary elections are on its way to come on March 07, 2010, and the minorities are hesitating again as they did in the last two elections, because of election frauds and ballot boxes did not reach many of the minorities’ regions, there were a lot of irregularities by KRG and its illegal militias. Now in the Yezidis’ regions of Sinjar, more than 90% of the election observers are members of KDP or PUK, from the 90% there are about 85% of those are uneducated persons and 5% of those are school teachers who are members of either Kurdish political parties and are being fired from their teaching positions temporary and have been accepted as an election observers to make their part frauds for the KRG’s interest. The KRG has tried many evil tactics against the Yezidis and other minorities such as to convert those unique ethnic groups into their bloody culture or leave the region. The worst and almost funniest things happening in the Yezidis’ regions in Sinjar are these: The KRG and its kuridified militias are telling innocent Yezidis this time a “Yezidi person” is worth only a blanket or a turkey, therefore vote us and get your preferred prize, and if you get your prize did not vote for KRG, you will have to be convert or leave, this time the KRG will spy on Yezidis in this regions.
- For these elections irregularities by KRG and its officials, the question is that, who will be worthless? The “political leaders” who pay the prizes or the “hungry person” who is in need of foods, water, basic human rights and freedoms, securities, etc. as a human beings; well if you if you think of humanity you know who are worthless persons; I myself strongly believe the worthless persons are the “political leaders” who give out prizes to buy votes from innocent person/persons against his or her own will.
The Yezidis and Chaldo-Assyrians are the oldest ethnic groups and have lived on this land for thousands of years now, but we now see we are being forced leave our unique and traditional cultures by Kurdish mostly and other extremists and terrorist groups. When the United States, UK and other coalition forces removed the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein from the power in Iraq, at that time the coalition forces loudly said “equal rights, freedoms, and share of government power” are for all and every Iraqis, they did not say that they will support the Kurdish terrorists of Barzani and Talabani’s organizations against the innocent ethnic groups such as the Yezidis, Chaldo-Assyrians, Turkmen, and Shabaks in the disputed areas (Mosul, Kirkuk, and Diyala provinces) in Iraq
We Yezidis have found themselves just like blind, mute, and deaf persons between the Arabs and Kurds, with both sides trying to persuade us into backing their cause across a swathe of disputed areas. This has left many of the Yezidis and other minorities unclear about how to vote.
In the Sinjar Mountain and regions, which is connected to Syria border, where the Yezidis make more than 85% of the population; we Yezidis have complained many times to International Communities, that we are afraid of both Arabs and Kurds. We are still alive and see that we and our possessions are being divided between the two.
In the Iraqi constitutional laws, there should be one seat to a minority ethnic and religious groups for very 100,000, the Yezidis alone are at least more than 650,000 thousands and got only one quota seat, therefore, it should be clear to the International Communities, the Iraqi government doesn’t follow its own laws, so how it would protect its non-Muslim religious and ethnic minority groups such as the Yezidis, Chaldo-Assyrians, Sabean and Kakais? So therefore the question is: where are those International Communities who said they take responsibility for equal human rights and freedoms?
We Yezidis live in a very complicated situation, we see KRG’s politicians are killing us and sucking our blood and the International Communities keep themselves very silence as they don’t see and hear us. And particularly we fear about our future, what will happen when the United States pulls out its military and still support the bloody Kurdish plan against the innocent minorities in the disputed areas of Iraq. The US knows very well that when its pulled, there would be fighting between the Arabs and Kurdish and also the United States and other International Communities know for sure the victims of this fights would be the innocent Yezidis, Chaldo-Assyrians, Shabaks, Turkmen, and Sabeans. Therefore, the US knows minorities’ issues will be complicated and irresolvable by Iraq’s government, Arabs and Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite. So the question is: who will be responsible for the situation.
In the Nineveh province, where Mosul is the capital, is the most multi-ethnicities in Iraq such from Yezidis, Christians, Arabs, Shabaks, Turkmen, and Kurdish and the Kurds don’t even make up 10% of the population in this province and in the Yezidis’ region of Sinjar the Kurdish population is less than 4%, and therefore, what is the presence of Kurdish militias (terrorists) are doing in these regions (disputed areas)? The minority ethnic groups are being tortured or killed on the daily basis since the 2003 and these brutal acts are still continuing; we minorities are the victims of power balances between the Kurdish militias and Arab extremists. Although the UN, US, UK know that the problems of the disputed areas of Iraq will never be solved unless they remove the brutal and violence creator of Kurdish militias. So the question is that, what would be the rewards that the US, UK, and France would receive if the minorities are annihilated in the disputed areas in Iraq. The Kurdish say they have been promised by the West to have their own country, that is okay, we are not against them, but as Yezidi and minority, we have lived and survived for thousands of years on this land as God created us. Therefore, we Yezidis don’t want to be a part of this bloody Kurdish plan period. Why is it so hard for junior mullah Barzani and Talabani to understand?
There are only two Yezidis political parties (Yezidis Movement for Reform and Progress and Yezidis Progress party) in Iraq.
Our Advice to all Yezidis is to go and vote for one of the Yezidi political party, for the sake of your own rights and freedoms, you make the choice and you make the changes for a better and safer Iraq to live in!
The good Yezidis won't forget the kurdish terrorist attack in February of 2007 in Ayn Sifini-Ezidkhan, Iraq
Received Sunday May 03, 2009
Joint Statement by Iraqi Minorities on illegal KRG's Plans in Iraq
By Iraq’s Minority Groups
April 06, 2009
Recent media reports about the political situation in northern Iraq expose an escalating conflict between the KRG and the Iraqi government. Several Kurdish leaders have expressed themselves in the media, going as far as saying there will be a war between Arabs and Kurds if the government continues to try to assert its authority in areas bordering the Kurdish dominated region.
In their comments, Kurdish leaders fail to reflect the true nature of the areas bordering the KRG. In many of these so called disputed areas there are very few Kurds to be found. In the Nineveh plain for example, the percentage of Kurds is at best 5 percent. Still, Kurdish leaders insist these areas to be annexed to the KRG. In fact, the stretch of land bordering the KRG is mostly dominated by Turkmens and minorities such as Yezidis, Assyrians, Shabaks and Kakais. Instead of acknowledging this fact Kurdish political groups have launched a fierce campaign to describe minorities like Yezidis and Shabaks as Kurds while carrying out different means to Kurdifiyng parts of these minority’s populations.
The Kurdish Peshmerga forces were successful in the help against Saddam Hussein as part of the Iraqi liberation movement. But today, we note with sadness the transformation of the Peshmerga into a force which is used to enforce Kurdish expansion plans in non-Kurdish areas against the will of the inhabitants of these areas. The Peshmerga is today used to instil fear in minority communities inhabiting border areas with the KRG in order to ensure compliance with KRG expansion scheme. While oppressed in the past, Iraq’s Kurds have grown to become themselves the new oppressors in Iraq seen from the perspective of minorities. Any referendum on the future of disputed areas carried out under Peshmerga presence will not be free and fair.
While most of Iraq is becoming increasingly secure for all Iraqis, including vulnerable non Muslim communities such as Assyrians and Yezidis, the expansion plans of the KRG threatens to destabilize Iraq, its neighbouring countries and severely affect the vulnerable minorities who live in the areas claimed by the Kurds. From being a centre of stability the KRG has turned into the major source of instability in Iraq today.
The undersigned organizations call on the KRG to refrain from all acts of violence and withdraw its forces from all areas outside the KRG. We also call on Kurdish leaders to respect the rights of minorities, to stop interfering in their internal issues and to stop describing Yezidis and Shabaks as Kurds.
Assyria Council of Europe (ACE)
Iraqi Turkmen Human Rights Research Foundation (SOITM)
Yezidi Human Rights Organization (YHRO)
Shabak Democratic Assembly
Received Sunday, March 22, 2009
Hi Dear Ones,
I hope this finds you nice. I am forwarding you the letter from Aziz Tamoyan, the president of international union of Yezidis in Armenia. They need to have fund or support to publish their primary students religious text books for studying in the primary schools. As it is clear from their message they have no fund for that and I am requesting your kinds if there is any kind of fund or support to have publishing these important text books for their new generations and how they can follow up their religious traditional. Thank you in advance.
Ali Sedo Rasho
president of Yezidi Cultural Association
Cairo/AUC
--- On Thu, 2/12/09, Тамоян Азиз <tamoyan@yandex.ru> wrote:
From: Тамоян Азиз <tamoyan@yandex.ru>
Subject: My greetings
To: "ali rasho" <rashoali@yahoo.com>
Date: Thursday, February 12, 2009, 3:16 PM
04.11.08, 12:52, "ali rasho" rashoali@yahoo.com:
Dear Axa Ali Rasho,
I want to thank you for congratulating us for Ezidian occasions. Being the President of Ezidi Union in the world, I want to thank you as a great Ezidi. which I think you rally are. I can simply notice the your blood is noble Ezidian. I am sorry for not being in touch with you and not answering your email. I had no money on me and so I didn't had any employees who can answer you in English. Now somebody said he would write it for me without any money. I want to say that Ezidian union is in very poor condition now from the view of money. Now we press a newspaper of Ezidian own. It is called: 'Ezdixana'. We also press Ezidi textbooks for 6-7 grade pupils. We have already finished the texstbooks for first to fifth grade pupils and are going to publish for up to 10th grade pupils. We do it for developing the knowledge of Ezidi youth to be aware of their cultural values and understand who they are. I did everything and I can proudly say that Ezidi pulis can learn Ezidi as in 30 Armenian schools Ezidi national language is being taught. But the worst thing is money. It doesn't allow us to continue our activites in order to credit in learning Ezidi national advantages. It is difficult for me to say, but can you help us to be in touch with axa Mirza in order to get some money for helping Ezidi nation in Armenia. They really are in poor social condition. If I get money I promise I will do everything for the sollution of problems Ezidi in Iraq. I want to do a lot of suggestions, but money doesn't allow me to do so. It is not a new matter that the Ezidi nation has this kind of big problems, but I think that with our unique power Ezidi nation will stand againts all the winds. Please write me as soon you can. Yours with faithfulness Aziz Tamoyan.
My nation is Ezidi.
My language is Ezidish.
My religion is Sharfadin.
Hol@, hol@, hol@, SLTAN EZIDE SOR@.
All the Ezidis of the world- unique.
The 20th of February is the occasion of XDR ELAZI. Happy occasion to you and al the Ezidis in the world.
Received January 27, 2009
The Yezidis, Assyrians, Mandaens, Turkmen, Shabaks and the Iraq's Provincial Elections of 2009
Dear Members of International Communities; Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, United Nations, European Union, Canadian Parliament, UK and US coalition forces in Iraq,
You're Excellencies,
The Iraq's provincial elections which are set for January 31, 2009, only few days away to come, there are hundreds of thousands of innocent Yezidis, Chaldo-Assyrians, Mandaens, Turkmen and Shabaks are worried very much about this upcoming Iraq's provincial elections, again they afraid their rights and hopes could be lost as they did in January 2005 Iraqi elections.
The minorities' situation in the Nineveh Plain is very critical, especially during such important time of elections, the presence of International communities a must from now to at least couple months after the elections.
As Yezidis and minority, we urge the US, UK coalition forces in Iraq, UN, European Union Officials and the NGOs International Communities to take full responsibilities for the minorities' regions such Yezidis, Chaldo-Assyrians, Turkmen, Shabaks and Mandaens in South for the fair and truthful Democratic elections this time on January 31, 2009.
As it has been very clear to the International Communities that; Assaults, forced conversion, taking away of property, arbitrary dismissals, arrests, kidnappings and killings; the threats against the minorities such as the Yezidis, Chaldo-Assyrians and Mandaens in Iraq are both long and frightening, therefore the International peace keeping missions are urgently needed for the minorities' regions in Iraq for the sake of their own safety..
This is what happened on the Election Day in January 2005 in Iraq:
During the elections in January 2005, the Yezidis villages experienced interference and injustice. The Yezidis reported that some of the Yezidis' villages didn't receive ballots at all, in some villages the polling stations were opened from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM only. In some villages, they received the ballots but didn't receive boxes in which to place the marked ballots. In some villages the ballot boxes were found stuffed before voting even started. In other areas and mountainous villages, the promised buses for voters' transportation failed to appear. In Sinjar city and the rest of the Yezidis' towns and villages, the innocent Yezidis received threats from the KRG's armed militias (Terrorists) at the doors of polling stations that they had to vote for KRG or they would face severe consequences.
And also in areas of the Chaldo-Assyrian, Shabaks and Turkmen in the Nineveh Plain and Kirkuk were in the same complicated situations as the Yezidis were.
And the innocent Mandaen people in the South. And the minorities' situation was even more complicated in the three Northern provinces which are completely controlled by KRG.
The innocent Yezidis "NOT THE YEZIDI KURD" submitted claims concerning these horrible incidents to a UN representative, US coalitions in Iraq, the independent electoral commission in Iraq, Iraqi president and Kurdish leaders. But???
The following information regarding the 2005 Iraq's elections, I have received recently via phone conversation from innocent Yezidis of Sinjar, Shiekhan, Bashika-Bahzani and Dohuk regions (Yezidis' areas) in Iraq.
The Yezidis in the Nineveh Plain and in Sinjar and Sheikhan Regions in particular
In Sinjar Regions; the armed Kurdish militias were at every door of polling stations in our Yezidi regions, they warned Yezidis to vote for KRG's candidates. The militias had teams, that they would ask voters to dip their fingers in Oil first and then in ink so one person would vote for several times. The KRG Politicians paid 25,000 Iraqi dinars (which would be equal to about $20.0) for one vote. They asked those Yezidis who are Kurdish militias and those Yezidis who are assimilated into Kurdish culture call themselves "yezidi kurd", so they are not Yezidis and matter of fact they are the enemy of the innocent Yezidis and other minorities.
And even there were many teenagers less than 16 years of age, who voted and the Observers would accept them to vote, because the election Observers were mostly associated with KRG. And also some of the militia leaders would take more than 100 ballots and one person would check mark all and place in the ballot boxes and no human being could say a word about the injustices that took place in the Yezidis' regions in Sinjar.
There were no International help and support to us (Yezidis), we're totally fearful and helpless.
There is a Yezidis political party called "Yezidis Movement for Reform and Progress" this Yezidis Political Movement for Reform and Progress was and is prohibited in the Yezidi areas in Shiekhan and the Yezidi areas in Dohuk province. The Yezidis Political Party is not allowed to campaign and post any of its posters in those regions.
The Yezidis in Dohuk Province
The Yezidis in Dohuk region are even under more pressure from the KRG militias than the Yezidis in Nineveh Plain regions. Because our (Yezidis) region is totally controlled by KRG, so no body can do anything unless for the advantages of KRG's interests.
The Yezidis of these regions can do nothing, but have to accept whatever the orders are given by KRG or to escape from the region. "That is why you can see thousands of young Yezidis are continuously fleeing to Europe and escaping from the dictatorial and brutal regime of KRG". That is true there are International Community Offices in Kurdistan (Terroristan) Regions, but what for; e.g.: I have a problem and go to HRW office in Dohuk, most of the employees and translators are Kurds and of course are associated with one of the two major Kurdish political parties KDP or PUK, and when my turn come to what am I there for? Nothing but clamp my hands and say KRG system is the best in the world and then sadly come back home and suffers again. Yezidis would have to say we are "yezidi Kurds", "no choice".
This is what happened during the 2005 Iraq's elections; there were more than enough ballots and ballot boxes at every polling station in KRG regions and as well as in Sheikhan regions which is mostly populated by Yezidis. Of course we (Yezidis) had to vote for the KRG's candidates and there are evidences that some people voted for KRG for more than 10 times by dipping their finger in Oil and then in ink and re-vote again and again, they did that in Dohuk city. They could do nothing, but had to follow what they were told to.
And also there were injustices and unfair elections took place in many of the Chaldo-Assyrian, Turkmen, Shabaks' cities, towns and villages.
Therefore we hope this time the US, UK, UN, International Communities and the independent electoral commission in Iraq to be fully responsible that to give equal election rights to all Iraqis and regardless of our background (Minorities). And also to be aware of what happened during the January elections of 2005 against the minorities by KRG were great crimes against basic human rights. Not to see happen again!
Yours truly,
Mirza Ismail
Chairman
London Yezidis Community
P.O.Box 39045
London, ON N5Y 5L1
(519) 951-7047 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (519) 951-7047 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (519) 951-7047 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
E-mail: ezidis@gmail.com
E-mail: yezidis.canada@yahoo.ca
Recieved Monday,January 5th, 2009
Letter from Kurdish Yezidi Community in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Canada!
"Ezida TV in Canada & USA"
This is a Letter to all Yezidi Kurds in Canada & USA. There are many Yezidi Kurds in North America (Canada & USA) and we need Members for Ezida TV in Canada & USA! Ezida TV is a Kurdish Yezidi Television on Internet and Yezidi Kurds share their Beliefs and Culture around the World. We want Yezidi Kurds in North America to give their voices to the World and Yezidi Parties, Sersal (New Years) Cejna Charsemba Sor (Red Wednesday New Years) or Eid of Yezidi in North America to be Brodcasted in North America. If There are any Yezidi Kurds in North America who hate Kurds and Kurdistan and Love Iraq, I would like to mention that this Television Station is not for Politics so if I can ask all you not to Raise Flags! We are Kurds but I think Yezidi Kurds in North America should not worry about Politics views or Flags and Stay on Yezidi Religion so that way there won't be any problems please, and Thank You!
Any Question or Comments Please Contact me at
Barzan_yezidi@hotmail.com
Thank you Very Much!
Most Respectfully,
Barzan Slaeman Shingali
Officials of the Moose Jaw Canada Yezidis Community
Received Saturday December 13, 2008
Urgent Action By Amnesty International against the death sentence in Northern Iraq
Dear International Community Members, Colleagues and Friends,
Attachments are an Urgent Action and KRG contacts by Amnesty International on Mr. Majeed Ibrahim Hamo's case of his death sentence by Kurdish Regional Government, Mr. Majeed Ibrahim Hamo is from Yezidis descent. And also there are witnesses and documentary that he is innocent. Please take few minutes of your time by sending an Urgent Action to the Kurdish Regional Government to cancel the death sentence against Mr. Hamo and release him immediately, Mr. Majeed Hamo's lawyer has all the documents that his client Mr. Majeed Hamo is innocent. But the injustice against the non-Kurdish minorities has become some normal by KRG.
Thank you so much for your time and consideration regarding this injustice action by KRG against Mr. Majeed Hamo.
Best regards,
Mirza Ismail
chairman
London yezidis Community-Canada
P.O.Box 39045
London, ON N5Y4L3
+1-519-951-7047 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +1-519-951-7047 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +1-519-951-7047 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: KChibane@amnesty.org
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:09:07 +0000
Subject: Urgent Action
To: Mirza Ismail <ezidis@gmail.com>
Dear Sufyan,
This is the Urgent Action we have issued on behalf of your brother. It will also be published on our website http://www.amnesty.org/
Please let us know of any new development on the case.
Best wishes
Khaled
Working to protect human rights worldwide
Received Tuesday September 30, 2008
Minority Rights in Iraq Under Threat After Removal of Election Provision
The religious and ethnic minorities' rights in the new Iraq are under constant threat, the most obvious being the Parliament's removal of Article 50 from the Provincial Elections bill. On July 22, 2008, the Iraqi Parliament ratified the Provincial Elections bill. Article 50 of this law provided seats in provincial government to minority groups, such as the Yezidi, Shabak, Assyrian, and Sabaean. Although the seats under Article 50 did not allocate enough seats to be proportional with the minority population (only 1 Yazidi representative for a population of 600,000), it was welcomed by these groups since it recognized their rights as true citizens of Iraq. The ratified law was rejected the following week by the Presidency Council and returned to Parliament. After two months of postponed dialogue, the bill was finally voted on again. On September 24, due to an agreement between the Kurdish and Shi'a political groups, Parliament ratified the law without Article 50. The decision of the Iraqi Parliament to remove Article 50 is an obvious testament to the lack of legal rights among Iraqi minority groups.
By removing Article 50, the Iraqi Parliament deprived Iraq's minorities of their legal right to representation in government. Consequently, this prevents minority groups from fair participation in Iraq's future. This lack of political representation will encourage the insurgents to intimidate minorities using violence, and will lead to internally displaced persons and migration of minorities from their homelands and heritage. I have come to the conclusion that there are many elements within the Iraqi government who desire to rid Iraq of its religious, ethnic and indigenous minorities and occupy their land.
There have been many instances of intimidation directed at Iraq's minority groups. Twenty-four Yezidi textile workers were massacred in Mosul on April 24, 2007 and four horrendous blasts in Al-Qahtania and Al-Jazeera villages on August 14 of that year killed approximately 400 Yezidi and injured at least twice as many. After these attacks, all Yezidi and most Iraqi Christian university students left their higher education at Iraqi universities. Students who graduated from secondary schools in the past two years are still at home and cannot pursue higher education. There have also been kidnappings and assassinations of Christian priests and destruction of churches. There are a number of questions that must be answered. Who is responsible for this problem? How can it be solved, and by whom? Minority group members are being killed by insurgents while they are deprived of political representation in government.
As human rights defenders, we have informed international organizations of such situations for many years and they are well aware of the danger caused such kinds of discrimination. We urge these organizations to apply more pressure on the Iraqi government to respect the rights of minority groups. The removal of Article 50 from the Provincial Elections bill indicates that Iraqi minorities are afforded few rights. Under the current structure, there is no political mechanism for minority groups to express their grievances.
As a result of the current situation, we request the following:
- Equal representation proportional to population in provincial and federal government.
- A fair part of the Iraqi national wealth on the basis of residency, as minority groups have been deprived of their rights inside and outside Iraq and most of them have been displaced or have fled to Europe.
- A semi-autonomous region under the protection of the international community.
Most of Iraq's minorities live in a limited geographical region on the Nineveh plain, so they can consolidate efforts to encourage the international community and international human rights organizations to address these concerns through the following means:
- Empowering an international lobby of political parties, NGOs, and other human rights defenders around the globe to manage an advocacy campaign.
- Organizing demonstrations and advocacy campaigns at the United Nations and the embassies of the U.S., UK, China, and Russia in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and provide the embassies with copies of the two laws (before and after ratification) and a memorandum of our criticism.
The religious and ethnic minorities' rights in the new Iraq are under constant threat and the decision of Iraqi Parliament to remove Article 50 is an obvious testament to the lack of legal rights among Iraqi minority groups.
As a human rights defender, I am requesting the international organizations to do their best for this very serious situation, which concerns the legal survival of indigenous peoples and groups that have called Iraq their home for thousand of years.
Ali Seedo Rasho
President of the Yezidi Cultural Association in Iraq
Human Rights Activist
Mobile: +20 11 85 36 745 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +20 11 85 36 745 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +20 11 85 36 745 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
American University in Cairo
Received Tuesday, September 9, 2008:
Subject: Islamic Fatwa to eliminate Yezidis in Kurdistan.
Last month in Akra town, which belongs to Dohuk Governorate in Kurdistan region-Iraq, Imam of Muslims named "Mullah Farzanda", announced publically from the Mosque on Friday usual speaking that the Muslims must kill all the Yezidis and may never stay them alive because they (Yezidis) are unbelievers and killed the girl Duha'a. This invitation means that theYezidis surviving in Kurdistan are in real risk.
We all as Yezidis criticized that barbaric event and we also announced that a group of Yezidi fanatic youths from the girl's relatives who did that as a revenge of the Kurds gunmen attack on Yezidi civilians in Sheikhan on February 15, 2007 and not all Yezidi society shared them. But imams in Kurdistan are still accusing all Yezidi society (Yezidi religion), as criminals because they killed that girl. We as human rights defenders are afraid of the revenge after this religious Fatwa, because our entire hurricane happened after the religious Fatwas. The following link is the imam's threatening in Kurdish language, which encouraging the Muslims to revenge and kill all Yezidi where ever they be. The imam used a very dangerous Kurdish traditional proverb, which says "if the goat's fate approached, it will eat the bread of the shepherd", which means that when Yezidis killed the girl Duha'a, so they must be seriously practiced and eliminated. The Kurdistan government hasn't right now even invited this fanatic imam for investigation, therefore we are accusing this government that either it is sharing this imam in his belief, or it has no accountability to control the fanatics. Therefore, we think that the Kurdish authority is not able to protect the Yezidis and other religious and ethnic minorities in Kurdistan from the fanatic Fatwas.
We encourage the Federal and Kurdistan governments to deal legally with the issues, both the peoples who killed the girl and also the fanatics who are encouraging others to revenge. The link’s language is in "Kurdish Bahdinani", and please will you choose a translator of this language to understand the speech very well and explain it for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8OhhRdDtZw
Ali Seedo Rasho
President of the Yezidi Cultural Association in Iraq
Human Rights Activist
Mobile: +20 11 85 36 745 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +20 11 85 36 745 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +20 11 85 36 745 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
American University in Cairo
Received Saturday, August 9, 2008:
Hi My Name is Barzan Shingali, This letter is from the Yezidi Community from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Canada!
As you guys know about the Sinjar attack on 14 August 2007, the Attack was made by the Sunni Arabs of Mousil and the Turkmens from Turkey! The KDP and the "Kurdistan Regional Government" (KRG) had nothing to do with this attack. It is True in April 2007, the attacks on the city of Shikhan was made by Kurdish Terrorism. The KDP and the Kurdistan Regional Government as well as the Kurdish People in Iraqi Kurdistan were very helpful by donating blood and clothes as well as food and water. Yezidis are true Kurds and they speak Kurdish! In the future following months, Sinjar city will became part of the "Kurdistan Regional Government", The Yezidi Kurds of Sinjar city are waiting for Article 140 so that Sinjar and Kirkuk Provinces can become part of the "Kurdistan Regional Government". We hope in the future - by December 1st 2008, Sinjar Province can become part of the "Kurdistan Regional Government". The Yezidis from London Ontario Canada, and Lincoln Nebraska USA, are all anti Kurds! We Yezidis have nothing to do with Iraq and we are not Iraqi, we don't want to be Iraqi. The Yezidis in London Canada and in Lincoln Nebraska all wear Arab Clothes and (AGAL). Why are they wearing Arab clothing? They also raise the Iraqi flag when more than 50,000 Yezidis were murdered by Saddam Hussein in the 70's , 80's and 90's! Our Yezidi Community from Moose Jaw Saskatchewan Canada all came here to Canada because of Saddam Hussein! We love our country Kurdistan and we love our President "Masoud Barzani". We would please ask for "Kurdistan Regional Government" (KRG) to help the Yezidi Kurds in the cities of Sinjar, Shiekhan, Bahshik and Bahzani as well as other cities in Kurdistan! For many years, we were under the hands of Saddam Hussein and his stupid "BAATH GOVERNMENT", everyday Yezidis were executed by Saddam Hussein's Baath Party! Yezidis were always Kurds, and they were the first Kurds on earth but Saddam Hussein forced all of them to be "SUNNI ARABS"! Right now there is still killing going on in Sinjar Province right now becuase Sunni Arabs kill Yezidi Kurds! The Arabs and Turks hate Yezidis right now because they Yezidis finally got their freedom, they are free and they are offical Kurds! They are free from the dictatorship Saddam Hussein! I have a question for the Yezidi Community in London Canada and in Lincoln Nebraska: "If the Yezidis are really offical Iraqi's and they belong to Iraq, why do they speak Kurdish and why do they live in Northern Iraq?
Most Respectfully,
Barzan Shingali Kasem Rasho Kama Barjas Rizgin Alias Ismail Alias Jamal Sheikani
Officials of the Moose Jaw Canada Yezidis Community
Recieved June 08, 2008:
June 6, 2008
Their Excellencies,
The Honorable Mr. George W. Bush,
President of the United States
The Honorable Mr. Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
The Honorable Mr. Ban Ki-moon,
Secretary-General of the United Nations
The Honorable Mr. Alex Neve,
Secretary General of Amnesty International-Canada
The Honorable Miss. Kathryn White,
Executive Director of United Nations Association in Canada
Your Excellencies,
Our community of Canadian Yezidis is very sensitive to any human rights violations perpetrated against those who are struggling to be heard by and to participate in the governments of their respective nations. As Yezidis, we are particularly concerned with the violation of these rights among the Yezidi people of Iraq, many of whom are currently feeling the need to flee to Europe just to protect themselves and their families from inhuman treatment. We would like to bring to your attention some of the more vicious human rights violations and attacks perpetrated against the Yezidis of Iraq since the removal of the previous regime of Saddam Hussein by US and Great Britain forces in March of 2003:
1. Along with other religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq the Yezidis have continuously been misclassified as either Arabs or Kurds, and their voting rights have thereby been violated. The registration and ballot irregularities that have ensued have served to erase the Yezidis' distinctness as a people and not given them their rightful voice in political decisions.
2. On Thursday, May 29, 2008, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a police recruiting center, killing 24 mostly were Yezidis and wounding 23 others. Among the 24 dead, most were innocent civilians trying to register to receive public assistance and/or to serve in the police and military forces. About one week prior to this attack, the Iraqi prime minister, Hon. Nouri al-Maliki, said in a radio address in Nineveh province that the Yezidis and Chaldo-Assyrians should join the police and military forces for better security and protection. We believed at the time that if the Yezidis and the other 4-5 ethnic groups in the region could administer security in the Nineveh Plain it would be better for everyone. But the Kurdish Authority resisted any change in the administration and safety of the Nineveh Plain. And it continues to govern this region illegally and by force.
3. The Yezidis settled and living in the northern Iraqi Yezidi territory, as well as those in the Chaldo-Assyrian, Shabak and Turkman regions, have been ignored by both the Kurdistan Regional Government and Baghdad ’s Federal Government for any public assistance. This has been especially noticeable in the Sinjar region of Iraq, where Yezidis make up more than 85% of the population. In this region public assistance programs are either non-existent or extremely deficient in regards to the administration and dispensation of clean drinking water, hospitals and healthcare, public schools, food products and food stamps, employment, and perhaps most importantly, the security of the region.
4. On August 14, 2007, the most deadliest of all the recent terrorists attacks against the Yezidis occurred in the Yezidi villages of Kahataniya and Al-Jazeera in the district of Sinjar, located in northwest Iraq. Four hundred Yezidis were massacred in the attack, 300 were wounded, and another 70 went missing. After the explosions in these two Yezidis villages, one of the terrorists was captured by the Iraqi military and the Kurdish government took him first to Dohuk province and then to Sinjar. About one month ago, Brigadier General of Sinjar military camp Mr. Hassan Artoshi and Mr. Serbast Tranishi, the chief leader of the KDP’s headquarter in Sinjar of the Kurdish secret services, called upon the innocent Yezidis who were wounded and the families of the slain victims of the attack to come to court and cancel their criminal case against the terrorists. This is an abomination against human rights and irrefutable proof that the Kurdish Regional Government has been a partner in the crimes against the Yezidis. In view of these circumstances it should be the responsibility of the UN and the International Community to bring these criminals to an international court of justice. Let it be known: these were not natural disasters. They were attempts at mass extermination of the Yezidis orchestrated by the KRG and its partners.
5. Another of KRG’s crimes against humanity is the case of Dr. Kamal Sayid Qadir, who was attacked by Masrour Barzani, the son of Massoud Barzani,(president of Kurdish Regional Government) and his body guards in Vienna, Austria. To learn more about this outrageous attack on Dr. Kamal Sayid Qadir, please visit this link: http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc022608KA1.html
6. On February 15, 2007, during the Yezidis’ Easter celebration, the Kurds and their militias attacked the Yezidis of the Ayn Sifini, district of Shaykhan. They burned two Yezidis Cultural Centers and a temple there. They also burned two resident homes; they set three cars on fire; and they destroyed and looted some variety stores and a liquor store.
7. In the Nineveh Plain region more than two million Yezidis, Chaldo-Assyrians, Turkmens and Shabaks have categorically refused to be re-made into Kurds. But the Kurds are amalgamating all the inhabitants of the huge Nineveh Plain by force and calling them "Kurds" of Kurdistan. During the Iraqi elections of 2005 the Kurdish government prevented ballot boxes from reaching this region, so its diverse inhabitants were not allowed a vote. What the Kurds have been doing in this region is a great crime against humanity. KDP and PUK offices have been built in even the smallest villages. Clerics and clan leaders are been bribed, and innocent civilians are being killed, tortured, imprisoned and raped.
8. since 2005 and continuing even today, officials of the Yezidi Political Movement for Reform and Progress have been oppressed while receiving threats in an extremely aggressive way from the KRG. The USA , Great Britain and their allies removed the oppressive, dictatorial regime of Saddam in order to free all Iraqis. But now, under the power of the Kurdistan Regional Government and their militias, the crimes against humanity and human rights violations in northern Iraq are more prevalent than they were during the previous regime.
Thus, the situation of the Iraqi Yezidis is dire. Violations are constantly taking place, and if nothing is done the Yezidis of Iraq will continue to suffer and struggle mercilessly. Eventually, the Yezidis will be forcefully integrated into the Kurdish majority. Those who resist in this conversion to become "Kurds" will continue to be victims of oppression and racial discrimination within their own country.
We are Yezidis and want to be recognized as what we are (Yezidis)…
As United States President, the Canadian Prime Minister, the United Nations Secretary, the Secretary of Amnesty International-Canada, the Executive Director of the United Nations Association in
Canada, the international Yezidi community urgently appeals to you for support in helping our families in Iraq receive their basic human rights so our culture can continue to survive in our ancient homeland.
To insure Yezidi survival we request your immediate assistance in the following:
- Close monitoring of the new Iraqi constitution and the upcoming provincial elections, which will possibly be held in October, 2008. Please help ensure that the Yezidis are represented in the new democratic government of Iraq.
- An immediate pullout of all Kurdish Political Offices and their militias from the Nineveh Plain, and the Yezidi areas of Sinjar and Shaykhan in particular. The Kurds are not obeying democratic and international laws and must be expelled.
- The Yezidis must be identified as Yezidis in both ethnicity and religion, not as Kurds or Arabs. And their rights must be protected in the Iraqi constitution and by International law.
- An immediate United Nations team to investigate the two Yezidis villages that were attacked by terrorists on Aug. 14, 2007 and killed hundreds of innocent Yezidis. Documented evidence exists that reveals that the local Kurdish authority was a partner in these crimes against humanity. The U.N. and the International Community must be able to investigate this incident. They need to take all possible measures and remove the Kurdish authority from the Yezidi regions. Only then can the Yezidis live in peace and freedom.
- The Nineveh Plain, including Sinjar and Shaykhan in particular (the Yezidis’ regions), should become a separate autonomous state within Iraq. This will be a key element in bringing stability and democracy to Iraq. It will allow Iraq’s most ancient and vulnerable people to be a meaningful and participatory component of a new democratic Iraq. Moreover, it will be the only way that the attacks will end against the innocent ethnic groups that include the Yezidis, Chaldo-Assyrians, Armenians and others.
Most Respectfully,
Mirza Ismail Dawood Dawood Kheder Dakko Hadji Khalil
Officials of the London Yezidis Community
Received Nov. 20, 2007:
c/o The Executive Office of the Secretary-General
USA10017
- Kurdish authorities force Yezidis to register as Kurds.
- Peshmerga (Kurdish militias) troops control the Yezidis areas illegally and by force.
- Two competing Kurdish political parties are preventing any development in Yezidis areas.
- Yezidis political leaders have been receiving threats since 2003.
- Kurds have placed their militias in schools in Yezidis regions for a few months.
- There are no Secondary schools and Hospitals in any of the Yezidis’ villages in Sinjar area.
- Ten million US dollars were approved by the Priminister Hon. Maliki. The Kurdish authority took the money and has not given it to those victims of the terror attacks in two Yezidis’ villages on August 14, 2007.
- Since the terror attacks in the two Yezidis’ villages of Kahataniya and Al-Jazeera on Aug. 14, 2007, several Yezidi Officials have been held in a Kurdish detention centre. These are some of their names: Shamdin Ismail Khalaf, Masaud Ismail Khalaf, Ballo Khoudeda Khalo, Khaled Mahlo Kassem and Kheder Rasho Namo. Numerous other Yezidi public officials have been tortured and jailed when they told the Kurdish militias to leave the Yezidi areas.
- Dr. Kifah Mohammed, director of the Sinjar hospital, along with Officials of the local authority associated with Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) are threatening Yezidi Families to leave Sinjar city or face severe consequences and torture. These acts are crimes against basic human Rights and human freedom. These human rights issues must be put to an end…
- An immediate United Nations Investigation team of the two Yezidi villages that were attacked by terrorists on Aug. 14, 2007 killing hundreds of innocent Yezidis. There is documentary evidence that the local Kurdish authority was a partner in these crimes against humanity. The U.N. and International communities must be able to investigate this incident, take all possible measures and remove the Kurdish authority from the Yezidis’ regions. The Yezidis can then live in peace and freedom.
- An immediate pullout of all Kurdish militias from Yezidis areas. The Kurds must obey Democratic and International laws. We do not want them in our life. Additionally, Mr. Barazani should be able to remove his militias from our regions and take them back to Dohuk, Erbil , Sulymaniyah, etc.
- Immediate International Humanitarian aid to the Yezidi regions. They have been suffering since Feb. 2007 because needed food products and other human necessities have been blocked from reaching the Yezidis. Nobody seems to be concerned about this. The Yezidis are human beings. They need Food products, Education, Medical-care, Jobs, and immediate shelters for those victims of the attack on Aug. 14, 2007, which was the deadliest terror attack in Iraq since the war began in 2003.
- The Yezidis must be identified as Yezidis, not as Kurds or Arabs, and their rights must protected in the Iraqi constitution and by International law.
Received Saturday, September 29, 2007 from Yezidis in Iraq:
- Send immediately sufficiently and durably Peshmerga units to Shingal, in order to protect the Kurdish yezidi population effectively!
- If you are not able to send Peshmerga troops, organize, finance and realize immediately measures, so that the Kurdish yezidi population can protect itself!
- Smash the developed blockades, so that humanitarian assistance arrives also areas where it is urgently needed!
- Furnish a protected passage from Shingal to the areas of the KRG for further humanitarian assistance!
- If you follow your moral obligations, stand materially and morally by the side of the Kurdish yezidi population in Shingal!
We like to ask you insistently - with this open letter, which will be published on different internet sites - notice your obligations for the protection and security of the Kurds not only within the borders of the KRG but in particular for Kurds and Kurdish areas outside of the KRG before further murderous attacks, like the last.
Best Regards
(Open letter initiated by the community of www.kurdmania.com)
According to innocent eye witnesses and phone calls prior to the explosion by 1/2 an hour the local K.D.P. leader Mr. Serbast Taranishi sent his undercover militias to the market areas and gathered more than 98% of militias of Mr. Barzani or KDP. that they were told they are having an emergency meeting at the local Kurdistan democratic party(KDP) head quarter, if he said there are four trucks of explosion, he was afraid because he knew some of the Kurdish militias were Yezidis and so some of them might have told the crowded Yezidis to run away.
The Kurdish militias (violence creator) of Mr. Barzani should understand that we (Yezidis) do not welcome them in our regions of Sinjar, Bahzani, Bahshiqa and Shaykhan,as it was very clear that the Kurdish Authority was a partner with the crimes of the Terror Attack in the two Yezidis' villages of Kahataniya and Al-jazeera on August 14,2007.
As our history shows that there have never been any attacks against the Yezidis and Christians' Faith, Ethnic, Culture, etc. in Middle East unless the Kurdish are the leading team or frontiers.
In February of 2007, the Kurdish public and their militias attacked the Yezidis of Shaykhan, looted several variety stores, shot and damaged many houses. Not long time after that many Yezidis were captured and tortured in Kurdish jails in Northern Iraq those who tried to rally and make the International communities aware of what is going on in Yezidis region.
In April of 2007 the Kurdish militias captured two Officials of the Yezidis Movement for Reform and Progress, their names; Saeed Mando Hamo and Khalil Rasho Hasse and both are in jail till now.
After the recent terror attack in Kahataniya and Al-Jazeera, hundreds of innocent Yezidis have been beaten and threaten by Kurdish militias.
The Official members of Head Quarter of Yezidis Movement for Reform and Progress in Sinjar have been threaten to death. Because they know that the Yezidis Movement is the only political party that represents the Yezidis in Iraq... And the other two trusted Yezidis' representatives are; Yezidis Cultural Association and Sinjar Mountain Humanitarian Organization.
It is very clear that the Kurdish Authority is breaking all the Rules of International Communities, such Human Rights, Human Freedom, Democratic, Federalism' Rules.
The International Communities Must wake up and do some before it is too late!!!
The Yezidis of those two villages partially destroyed by the terror attack on August 14, 2007, thousands of them are living in tents without fair public services such; clean drinking water, electricity, food shortages, no schools,
shortages of medicals, no hospital, only one general walk-in-clinic, no compensation, those innocent Yezidis are in urgent need of housings and fair Medical Care before the winter start, overall they human being...
Note: Any of those International Communities should not interview any clan leaders of the Yezidis' regions, as you may know they are Traitors, they are clan leaders by Kurdish Authority and their forces, and they are the enemy of humanity and human rights.
Peace and Freedom Always,
Mirza Ismail
Chairman, London Yezidis Community
The following letter was received September 15, 2007 from the President of the Yezidi Cultural Association in Iraq regarding the August 14th Sinjar bombing:
Good morning dears,
I would like to share you with us to assess the awful blasts in the two Yezidi villages in Sinjar on August 14, 2007. Really, I don't know how tell you what happened at that black day, but we tried as "Yezidi Cultural Association Organization", to document locally all we were able to do and the following attachments are the names of killed, wounded, and orphans. These attachments are not the final number, but that what we were tried to collect, and the efforts are continuous to assess the houses, shops, vehicles, and other materials and financial.
(Note from webmaster: these documents are in a character set that we are not able to post at this time.)
After that what happened is some thing very hard for us. No body now is able to travel out side Sinjar to have processing their documents (passports, national card, and other personal documents). The villages were surrounded with high walls of soil and the municipality services were limited to the minimum, while it was very poor. Because of the limited traveling, no body can invest, sale their products, the university professors and students aren't able to involve their jobs, the schools in the two villages are not suitable to accept the students, the collapsed houses need to be build before winter season, the other damaged houses also need to be repaired or re-build. The region's future right now is unknown and therefore no body knows how to behave. The Kurds are killing Yezidis regarding them as unbelievers as it happened in Sheikhan last February, and the Arab are killing us because we facilitate for the Kurds to inter their regions and also because we are Yezidis. So, both side are playing games with us and our areas. I hope that this message be as one of your priorities.
With my best wishes,
Ali Seedo Rasho
Academic and human rights activist
President, Yezidi Cultural Association in Iraq
Received August 31, 2007 from the leader of the London Yezidis Group in Canada:
URGENT HELP IS NEEDED!
August 31, 2007
Christian Churches ,
Dear Fathers, Pastors, Priests, Ministers, and Sisters,
On August 14, 2007 the Yezidis of Kahataniya and Al-Jazeera in the district of Sinjar-Iraq (Yezidis Region) have gone through a disaster terror bombing, in these two towns more than 750 innocent children, women, Adults, and elderly of Yezidis have been killed and more 600 Yezidis have been injured and many others still missing. As a Yezidis, we have been attacked 72 times by Islamic extremist and terror group in the past 800 – 1100 years ago and their attacks continues against this small innocent ethnic and faith group of the Yezidis throughout the Middle Eastern region. As the Yezidis we have lost millions of innocent Yezidis by those extremists and terror group.
As the Yezidis, we urgently ask for your assistance and help to let the world know what hard life we have been through and put pressure on Western Governments to protect us from those Islamic extremists and terror group attacks against this innocent and ancient nation.
As a small London Yezidis Community here in Ontario- Canada , we are urging you for any humanitarian aid and peacekeeping mission to the Yezidis region in Iraq .
Note: If there is any humanitarian aid to this region, please make sure that the aid to be given out to those victims’ families and relatives by International and Church organizations, otherwise if it given out by Kurdish Authorities and local government those innocent Yezidis won’t get 5% of the aid donations, as this act has already happened in this region, and if somebody speaks out about their rights they would be gunned down by Kurdish militias.
On behalf of the London Yezidis Community, I would like to thank you very much for your time and considerations.
For more information, please contact the following:
Peace always,
Mirza Ismail Kheder Dakko Dawood Dawood Hadji Khalil
210-1237 Huron St H. (519) 453-4952 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (519) 453-4952 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (519) 453-4952 end_of_the_skype_highlighting H. (519) 451-1238 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (519) 451-1238 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (519) 451-1238 end_of_the_skype_highlighting H. (519)455-0795 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (519)455-0795 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (519)455-0795 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
London , ON N5Y 4L3 Cell: 519-615-4952 Cell: 519-694-8227 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 519-694-8227 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 519-694-8227 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
H. (519) 951-7047 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (519) 951-7047 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (519) 951-7047 end_of_the_skype_highlighting
This is the press release recently produced (August 23, 2007) by the author of this website www.YezidiTruth.org:
Yezidi Leader, now in U.S., seeks immediate end to genocide of Yezidi people in Iraq
Sedona, AZ (PRWEB) August 23, 2007 -- Kawwal Khoudeida Hasan, the leader of a community of about 50 Yezidi families now living in Lincoln, Nebraska, is pleading with the U.S. Congress and with the United Nations to stop the genocide of the Yezidis, a Kurdish people in Iraq with a unique history and religion.
Kawwal Hasan is a Faqir of the Shiekh Caste, the highest caste of the Yezidis. The Faqirs are the priests and preservers of the ancient histories and rites of the Yezidis. After fleeing Iraq, Kawwal and his family lived for several years in a refugee camp in Syria before arriving in the USA ten years ago.
According to Kawwal, Genocide is occurring at this moment in northern Iraq to the Yezidis, a Kurdish people with a unique history and religion. Their persecution is coming at the hands of Islamic militants, who for centuries have slaughtered all Yezidis who have refused to convert to their religion.
On April 22, 2007, the world became shockingly aware of the Yezidi plight when 23 of them were lined up and systematically gunned down by a firing squad of Moslem Kurds. A few days later, 3 more Yezidi men were gunned down by Moslem extremists in the city of Mosul, thus bringing the total of Yezidi murders to 34 during the three month period from March to May, 2007.
Most recently, on August 12, 2007, the drivers of four bomb-laden trucks detonated their loads after driving into two residential areas near the town of Qahataniya, 75 miles west of Mosul, killing at least 250 Yezidis and injuring at least 500 more. This attack occurred in an area principally occupied by Faqirs, members of the Yezidi priest class, thus indicating that the ultimate goal of the culprits was apparently to strike at the jugular of the Yezidi religion by destroying its priests.
Malicious attacks against the Yezidis have occurred since the advent of Islam, and even before, when blood-thirsty bands from the East attempted to conquer them. According to their own accounting, the Yezidis arrived in the Middle East around 2000 BCE from India. Then, over the ensuing years, they played important roles in the evolution of the Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations before becoming permanently settled in their present territory in northern Iraq. Since the advent of Islam in the seventh century they have been repeatedly attacked by Moslems, as well as Mongol armies from the east and deadly Ottoman Turks sweeping down from the north and west. Yezidi priests estimate that over the centuries nearly 23 million of their people have been slain during the 72 major attacks against them.
Saddam Hussein's Baath Party stirred up fresh hatred against the Yezidis 20-30 years ago and attacks against them began to come from their own Moslem countrymen, many of whom were their distant relatives.The Yezidis suddenly found themselves besieged by Kurdish families who over the centuries had been forced to surrender their native Yezidi faith and convert to Islam. Saddam made it his agenda to exterminate the Yezidi by poisoning many of their water sources. Then, following Saddam's overthrow and a momentary countrywide ceasefire in Iraq, the attacks resumed against the Yezidis.
Recent attacks
The most recent outbreak of attacks are some of the most difficult because they have been accompanied by the sabotage Yezidi relief food and water arriving from the international community. For the past seven months Moslem officials of the Iraqi government in northern Iraq have regularly diverted Yezidi food and water to other Moslems. This situation has been compounded by the fact that most Yezidi wells currently produce mostly bitter and toxic water. Thus, without help the Yezidis risk both famine and dehydration. But the Yezidis are terrified to speak against their persecutors. They fear retaliation against themselves and their families.
Peaceful People
The Yezidis are a peaceful people. All they ask is to be able to live and worship in freedom. Their relationship with non-militant Moslems and people of all religious faiths has always been peaceful and inter-supportive. The Yezidis have no animosity towards their Moslem neighbors and would even like to nurture their friendly Moslem relationships. Many Yezidis live in Moslem communities and attend Moslem schools. Their best friends, in some cases, are Moslem.
During Saddam's regime many Yezidis fled to Europe, America, and other parts of the world for sanctuary, but those who remained behind want to remain on their ancestral land and perpetuate the religion and culture of their ancestors. Their most important shrine is Lalish, a temple city in northern Iraq that holds the tombs of the Yezidis' most important saints and the place they retreat to in times of attack. It is important for the Yezidis to preserve their holy shrines and the doctrines of their religion, which their priests claim to be the oldest in the world. They can trace it back at least 6,000 years.Certain authors, such as G.I. Gurdjieff, have written about the uniqueness of the Yezidi ancient religion. It would certainly be a tragedy for the Yezidis, as well as the entire world, if it was lost now. We all stand to lose an important living record of humankind's ancient history.
During their history the Yezidis have often come to the aid of other embattled religions, such as Christianity. Now they need some of their compassionate aid returned to them. Early in the last century, when Christians living in Turkey fled from Moslem Turks during the Turko-Armenian War, the Yezidis offered their homes to hide the refugee Christians. They even paid a ransom of gold pieces to buy Christians from their Moslem captures. The Yezidis are appealing to their Christian brothers and sisters, as well as people of all faiths, to come to their rescue now.
What the Yezidis Seek
These peaceful people simply request that the bare necessities of food and water reach them as they did just seven months ago. But they also request protection from their Moslem neighbors so that their ancient culture can survive.
The Yezidis need the active intervention of the U.S. Congress, the United Nations, progressive nations throughout the world, and help from international organizations to survive this genocide.
If you would like to help the Yezidis please contact your representatives, and the media and inform them of the genocide of the Yezidi now occurring in Iraq. Let them know what the Yezidis need in order to survive.
For more information on the Yezidis, their history, and their plight, please visit www.YezidiTruth.org.
For information & for interviews with Kawwal Khoudeida Hasan, please contact:
Mark Amaru Pinkham, Sedona, Arizona USA
Tel: 928-284-1429 Email: YezidiTruth @ gmail.com
Website: www.YezidiTruth.org
YezidiTruth.org - A Humanitarian Organization
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