IRAQ - Kurds to ask for confederation soon

BARZANI’S PERMANENT CONFEDERATION : Kurds to ask for confederation soon

25.02.2014 - Hemin Salih – BasNews, Erbil – The ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), headed by President Massoud Barzani, plans to announce confederation in the region as a result of the recent conflict between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Iraq’s central government in Baghdad. A close source from the KDP leadership told BasNews that the KDP considers confederation the most suitable option for the KRG given the current tensions between Baghdad and Erbil.


“The KDP believes confederation will solve the problems between the KRG and Baghdad. Also, this option will prevent further escalations between Iraqi Sunnis and Shiites, because confederation will split them geographically,” the KDP source said, who spoke on condition of anonymity. In the near future, the KDP plans to present their plans to all Kurdish and Iraqi political parties and regional countries to convince those involved that confederation is the best possible outcome for all standing issues between Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis. Confederation is the permanent union of political units for common action in relation to other units. Usually created by way of a treaty, confederation often later adopts a common constitution. Confederations tend to be established for dealing with critical issues such as defense, foreign affairs, or a common currency, with the central government being required to provide support for all members.

Ali Awni, a member of the leadership council of the KDP told BasNews that for the last eleven years, Iraq has been a federal state – one that brings together a number of different political communities with a common government for common purposes.

But it is clear that a federal state is not the solution for Iraq. “The problem between Iraq and the KRG is not an administration problem, in fact it is both an identity and a geographic problem, that’s why at this stage, Confederation is the best solution for Iraq and for the KRG,” Awni explained.

“Confederation for Kurdistan is like becoming an independent state because it guarantees economic independence as well as geographical independence,” Awni added. Meanwhile, the spokesman of the Kurdish alliance in the Iraqi Parliament, Muaed Tayib, told BasNews that the federal system failed in Iraq a long time ago.

“The principle of this system is that everyone should believe in it and its constitution, but that’s not happening in Iraq,” Tayib noted. Tayib also said that right now Kurds have two options on the table. One is for Iraq to remain the central government of a federated state. The alternative is for Kurd to split from the central government by announcing confederation or by declaring independence. “Without a question, confederation is the best solution for Kurds, but it will raise problems with Baghdad. However, I do think the best option for Kurds is to declare an independent state,” Tayib concluded.

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The Struggle for Iraq's Future: How Corruption, Incompetence and Sectarianism Have Undermined Democracy by Zaid al-Ali

Published on 3 Feb 2014

Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs held a lecture and book launch The Struggle for Iraq's Future: How Corruption, Incompetence and Sectarianism Have Undermined Democracy by Zaid al-Ali

Since the withdrawal of US occupying forces, international attention has shifted away from Iraq - but life for Iraqis has become no easier. Deadly bombings are still all too common, sectarian violence has soared and all-pervading corruption means that massive inflows of aid and oil income have made very little difference to crucial issues like security, healthcare and power availability. Now, Iraqi lawyer Zaid al- Ali sets out why and how the post-occupation Iraqi government has failed to achieve legitimacy or improve its citizens' lives. He argues that the ill-planned US intervention destroyed the Iraqi state, creating a black hole which corrupt and incompetent members of the elite have now made their own. In particular, al-Ali demonstrates how Iraqi politicians and the political system have failed to address Iraq's problems.

Zaid al-Ali has been practicing law since 1999, specializing in
international commercial arbitration and comparative constitutional
law. He has law degrees from Harvard Law School, the Université de
Paris I (Sorbonne) and King's College London. From 2005 to 2010, he
was a legal adviser to the United Nations focusing on constitutional,
parliamentary and judicial reform in Iraq. Since the beginning of 2011,
he has been working on constitutional reform throughout the Arab region, in particular in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.

How Faults With Iraq’s Constitution Undermines The Country, Interview with Constitutional Scholar Zaid Al-Ali

In October 2005, 79% of Iraqi voters came out in favor of a new constitution. The document was drafted in only a few weeks however, due to pressure from the United States. While the new government it created included many basic rights like freedom of association, and the right to education and work, it also had more controversial issues like creating a new federal system. Most of these new rules were not fleshed out in the final draft however, and were to be finalized in an amendment process that has never happened. Because of those vagaries, and the lack of further legislation, every political party in Iraq claims that its position is supported by the constitution making it a source of contention rather than unity. What follows is an interview with Zaid Al-Ali, a lawyer who has worked for the United Nations on constitutional and parliamentary issues on why he thinks the 2005 constitution is a flawed document. He just published a book The Struggle for Iraq’s Future: How Corruption, Incompetence and Sectarianism Have Undermined Democracy. He can also be followed on Twitter @zalali.


1. Many countries that have written constitutions in the last several decades have had outside help and influence whether from foreign governments or international bodies such as the United Nations. In Iraq however, the U.S. had an overwhelming influence by setting the timetable, influencing the make-up of the drafting committee, and the final document. The Americans for instance, decided that there would be elections for an interim parliament in January 2005, who would then select a committee to write the constitution, which wasn’t put together until May, and their work was due by August, for a final referendum in October. Was this enough time to do all of the necessary work, and what was the overarching goal of Washington to have the document completed in just a few months?


It was absolutely not enough time. In countries that emerge from harsh dictatorships such as Iraq, political forces and society as a whole need a lot of time to recover and to debate a set of vital issues, including what type of state they want to establish for themselves, and what relationship the state should have with various communities and with the individual. You need to be able to have a national debate on issues like federalism, fundamental rights, the role of religion, etc. Once again, in countries like Iraq, which emerged from a period of decades in which none of these issues could be discussed in a critical or free manner, we were absolutely not in a position to have a national debate on something like federalism by 2004 and 2005. And if a national debate had to take place, it should have taken place over a significant period of time, and certainly not rushed. Rushing these issues can lead to all sorts of unexpected outcomes in relation to really fundamental issues, which is far from desirable.


Something else is that when you are intent on redesigning the state in countries like Iraq, it is advisable to do so in as scientific a way as possible. One of the things that you would do is look into your own institutions of state and study which operate effectively and which do not. You would study your anti-corruption framework in detail and figure out where the cracks lie. You would also try to understand if your due process requirements are being respected in practice, and if not, if there is an institutional reason for that. These are issues that take time, particularly in countries like Iraq where free debate and critical analysis was forbidden for decades. Once again, to rush these issues or to just ignore them, which is what eventually happened in Iraq is to invite either unexpected outcomes or simply the continuation of practices from the previous regime, which is also what ended up happening in Iraq.


By way of comparison, Tunisia’s new constitution took two years to draft in a very free and relatively peaceful environment. All in all, South Africa took 7 years to draft its text. Kenya also took that amount of time to draft its constitution. Each country needs to decide on its own what amount of time it should take to draft its constitution; and that process should not be overtly influenced by foreign nations as was the case in Iraq.


In terms of why Washington was so determined to finish the drafting process so quickly, I can’t really speak as to what their motivations were, and I wonder if they really understood what they were doing. Certainly they were determined to transition as soon as possible to a fully “legitimate” according to their definition of the term, constitutional system of government that would be in place for a full legislative term. Some analysts have speculated that the U.S. was purely motivated by domestic considerations: by insisting in August 2005 that the drafting process should come to an end immediately, they were essentially ensuring that a new permanent government would be in place before the 2006 mid-term elections. A 6 month extension, which was allowed under the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL), would probably have meant that the government might not be formed before the mid-term elections.


The main question however is whether they realized what a disaster they were creating and I am still unsure about that. There is evidence that they realized that the system of government that they were creating did not reflect the majority of what Iraqis wanted, but aside from that, they will have to answer for themselves as to why they proceeded in the way that they did.


2. The issue of Sunni representation was always a pressing one, while writing the constitution. Of the original 55 members of the constitutional committee Iyad Allawi’s Iraqi National List got 8 seats, some of which were Sunnis, and there were two other Sunnis as well. This was due to the fact that the Sunni community largely boycotted the January 2005 vote. In June 15 Sunnis were selected as permanent members, and 10 became advisers, but they weren’t approved until July, just one month before the document was to be finalized. Were the Sunni members able to get their opinions included in the constitution, and how did that affect the October referendum?


The issue of “Sunni representation” in the constitutional drafting process has been very misunderstood. The common understanding is that after the 15 Sunnis were added to the committee, that they were not included in the discussions and were essentially ignored, which is what led to the rejection of the constitution in Sunni-majority provinces in October 2005. The drafts that were produced by the constitutional drafting committee tell a very different story. What we know by reviewing the drafts is that the expanded constitutional drafting committee was making progress towards a constitution in which the central government would have played a much more important role than under the TAL, the interim constitution that was drafted by US officials and two Iraqi-Americans. It turns out that most of the Sunni and Shia Islamists who were on the constitutional drafting committee had very similar ideas about what their future state should look like: they wanted for the state to be heavily influenced by religion, and also wanted for the central government to be the dominant force in the state and not the regions and provinces.


In the end however, because the expanded committee was unlikely to meet the August 2005 deadline, some of the parties to the process and the U.S. embassy prevented the deadline from being extended by 6 months, and shut out a large number of drafters (most of the Shia and Sunnis) from the rest of the discussions altogether. Suddenly, once again, by tracing the evolution of the drafts, the tone of the negotiations shifted altogether in favor of a very loose federation in which the central government played hardly any role. Then, when the elected interim parliament , which was supposed to be responsible for putting together the draft demanded to be given the right to debate and vote on the draft, they were snubbed. Instead, Hussein Shahristani, who was deputy speaker, merely read the draft to them without giving them a chance to debate or vote on it.

TÜRKMEN TARIM ARAZİLERİNİ EROZYONLAŞTIRMA KOMPLOSU

YAZAN:RÜŞDİ ÇELEBİ

SÖZDE,"KÜRT BÖLGESİNE" BAĞLI SU KAYNAKLARI BAKANLIĞI 2007 SENESİNDEN BUYANA BİR ÇOK NEHİR ÜZERİNDE TOPLAM 13 SED İNŞA ETME GAYRETLERİNİ HIZLA SÜRDÜRMEKTEDIR. VE BU SEDLERİN 9 TANESİ TAMAMLANIP SULARIN DEPOLANDIĞI TAKDİRDE ONLARIN AŞAĞILARINDA BULUNAN TÜRKMEN BAYAT AŞİRETLERİNİN YOĞUNLUKTA YAŞADIKLARI (TAZEHURMATU -TUZHURMATU –TAVUK- YAYÇI- YENGİCE) İLÇELERİNDE BULUNAN VE ÇOĞU TÜRKMENLERE VE BİR KISMI ARAP (UBEYD- JOBUR- VE ASSAF)AŞİRETLERİNE AİT OLAN TARIM ARAZİLERİ SUSSUZ KALIP, EROZYONA UĞRUYACAK VE BÖYLE BİR TEHLİKELİ DURUM EL-UZEYİM SEDDİNİDE SABOTA EDECEKTİR.

BİLİNDİĞİ GİBİ KERKÜK BİR PETROL ŞEHRİ OLMASI YANINDA ÇEVRESİNDE BULUNAN VE HEMEN HEMEN BÜTÜNÜ TÜRKMENLERE AİT OLAN DÜZEY ARAZİLER AMERİKAN RUS VE İNGİLİZ TARIM UZMANLARICA DÜNYANIN EN HUSEBETLİ TARIM ARAZİLERİ SAYILMAKTADIR.

VE BU ARAZİLERE GEREGEN İLGİ GÖSTERİLİRSE VE SİYASİ AMACLARADAN UZAK TUTULURSA BAŞTA IRAK OLMAK ÜZERE TÜM BÖLGENİN EN VERİMLİ TARIMSAL ARAZİSİ HALİNE GELECEKTİR.

Kİ BU YÜZDEN KÜRT YEREL YÖNETİMİ VE ARKALARINDA BULUNAN EMPRYALİST VE SİYONİST GÜÇLER SÖZ KONUSU SEDLERİ İNŞA YÖNTEMİNE BAŞ VURUP, TÜRKMENLERİ TARİH BOYUNCA YAŞADIKLARI BÖLGELERİNDEN GÖÇE ZORLAMAK AMACIYLA,TARIMSAL ARAZİLERİNİ EROZYONLAŞTIRMAK PİŞİNDELER,VE TABİİ BÖYLE BİR YÖNTEMLE (HAVİJE) İLÇESİNDEN ARAPLARIDA GÖÇE ZORLAMAK AMACLANIYOR, ÇÜNKÜ KÜRT GRUPLAR DOKAN SEDDİNE TAMAMEN HAKİM DURUMDALAR.



VE EL-UZEYİM SEDDİNİN YUKARILARINDA KÜÇÜK SEDLER İNŞA ETMEK SURETİYLE, BÖLGENIN TÜM SULARINI KÜRT BÖLGELERİNE AKTARILMASI VE SÖZ KONUSU SEDDE SU DEPOLAMA İŞLERİNİN DURMASI VE SEDDİN TAMAMEN SABOTE EDİLMESİ DEMEKTİR.



VE İŞTE İNŞA EDİLEN KOMPLO AMACLI SEDLERİN TANITIMI:



A) 2008 SENESİNDE BAŞLATILAN VE ŞU AN YÜRÜRLÜKTE OLAN SEDLER:

KERKÜK İLİNE BAĞLI SEDLER :



1- HASAÇAY SEDDİ

DEPOLAMA KAPASİTESİ (400) MİLYON METREKÜP VE TOPLAM KÜLFETİ 113 MİLYAR ID'I OLAN BU SED TÜRKMEN ŞEHRİ KERKÜK'ÜN DOĞU KUZEYİNE 10 KM UZAKLIKTA VE SÖZ KONUSU SEDLERİN EN BÜYÜĞÜDÜR.



2- ŞİRİN SEDDİ

DEPOLAMA KAPASİTESİ (1) MİLYON METREKÜP VE TOPLAM KÜLFETİ BEŞ BUÇUK MİLYAR ID'I OLAN BU SED TÜRKMEN ŞEHRİ KERKÜK'ÜN DOĞUSUNA 14 KM UZAKLIKTADIR.



3- PENKANE SEDİ

TÜRKMEN ŞEHRİ KERKÜK'ÜN DOĞUSUNA (20) KM UZAKLIKTA OLAN KÜÇÜK BİR SEDDİR.



4- KARAHASAN SEDDİ

TÜRKMEN BAŞBULAK KÖYÜNÜN YAKININDA BULUNAN KÜÇÜK BİR SEDDİR.



VE BU YUKARIDAKİ SEDLER TÜRKMEN ( ÖMER MENDAN- LEYLAN VE BAŞBULAK ) YELEŞİM BÖLGELERİNDEN SUYU KESMEK İÇİN YİNE TÜRKMEN NEHİRLERİ OLAN ( HASSA ÇAY VE TAVUK ÇAY) ÜZERİNDE İNŞA EDİLMEKTE OLAN SEDLERDİR.



B) 2009 – 2013 SENELERİ ARASINDA İNŞA EDİLEN SEDLER :



( TUZ ÇAY'I ÜZERİNDE : ALİ SED – 1, ALİ SED – 2 VE HASA ÇAY'I ÜZERİNDE KARA İNCİR VE ZENGENE ) SEDLERİ İNŞA EDİLMEKTE OLAN BÜYÜK SEDLER.



VE İSİMLERİNDENDEN BELLİ OLAN TÜRKMEN BÖLGELERİ YUKARISINDA İNŞA EDİLMEKTE OLAN SEDLERDE DEPOLANMASI DÜŞÜNÜLEN SU KAPASİTESİ MİKTARİ (400-500) MİLYON METREKÜPTÜR .

Kİ YUKARIDA İNŞA EDİLMEKTE OLAN SEDLERİN HER HANGİ BİR EKONOMİK FAYDASI OLMAMASI, BÜTÜN EKONOMİK VE BİLİM ÇEVRELERİ TARAFINDAN KANITLANMIŞTIR.

BU SEDLERİN ARKASINDA YATAN SİYASİ NEDELERİ ŞÖYLE SIRALABİLİRİZ :



1- TÜRKMEN BÖLGLERİNİ SU’DAN MAHRUM KILIP, EKONOMİK YAŞANTILARINI ÇÖKERTMEK VE ONLARI BÖLĞELERİNDEN GÖÇE ZORLAMAK.

2- IRAK’IN KAOS ŞARTALINDAN BİLİSTİFADE VE YANGINDAN MAL KAÇIRÇASINA, ADETA FIRSAT KOLLAMAK VE SÖZ KONUSU SEDLERİN MALİ KÜLFTİNİ MERKEZİ HAZİNEDEN SAĞLAMAK.

3- HAYAT DAMARI NİTELİĞİNDEKİ SU KAYNAKLARININ KONTROLUNU KÜRT GRUPLAININ ELİNDE TUTUP, MERKEZİ HÜKÜMET ÜZERİNDE SİYASİ BASKI KURMAK VE SU SİLAHİNİ BİR ŞANTAJ VE KOZ OLARAK KULLANMAK.

4- IRAK’TAN AYRILMAK İÇİN ZEMİN HAZIRLIYACAK ORTAMI SAĞLAMAK.

5- TÜRKMEN YERLEŞİM MERKEZLERİNİN BULUNDUĞU GÜNEY BÖLGELER HESABINA, KÜRT BÖLGELERİNİ TARIMSAL VE TURİZİMSEL OLARAK KALKINDIRMAK.

6- UZUN BİR SÜRE İÇİN TÜM SİYASİ KOZLARI ELDE TUTUP, SİYASİ AMAC SAĞLAMAK .

To the young Iraqi Turkmens: Do you know who Gertrude Bell was?

Gertrude Bell (14 July 1868 – 12 July 1926) was an English archaeologist, writer and explorer, political officer, and spy, who explored, mapped, and became highly influential to British Imperial policy-making, she spent the early 1900s travelling alone across the Middle East. 

 She is also known as:  

"El-Khatun" - 'The kingmaker' and the 'Uncrowned  Queen of Iraq'

she worked at the Arab Bureau in Egypt, with T.E. Lawrence - Lawrence of Arabia - and archaeologist David Hogarth, helping to secure British interests in the Middle East. 

She helped to draw up the borders of the new nation of Iraq and helped choose its first ruler, King Faisal. Along with T.E. Lawrence, she helped establish the Hashemite dynasties in Jordan as well as in Iraq.

Born on 14 July 1868 in Washington New Hall, in what was then County Durham, Gertrude Bell was the daughter of a wealthy family of ironmasters.

After being home schooled, she went to London to be taught at the age of 15, before going on to become the first woman to gain a first-class degree in Modern History at Oxford.

Because of her sex, she was unable to graduate.

In 1892, after leaving Oxford, Bell travelled to Tehran, in what was then Persia, to visit her uncle Sir Frank Lascelles, who was British minister to the country.

According to Helen Berry,  professor of British History at Newcastle University,  it was on this visit that she developed a love for the Arab people as she visited archaeological sites, learnt their language and travelled deep into the desert.

A lone woman among Arab men, to many she became known as "El Khatun", the Lady of the Court.

She spoke eight languages, including French, Persian, Arabic and Turkish, and it was her knowledge of the tribes, geography and politics of the area that attracted the attention of British Intelligence.

She was the only woman among about 40 delegates invited to a 1921 conference in Cairo by the secretary of state for the colonies, Winston Churchill, where she was asked to draw up the boundaries of Mesopotamia.

She died later that year, just before her 58th birthday, of a sleeping tablet overdose. It is not known if her death was accidental or if she took her own life.

In the last years of her life, she was made Honorary Director of Antiquities in Iraq and founded the Baghdad Archaeological Museum, where King Faisal ordered a wing be dedicated to her.

In a letter home in 1926, Gertrude described herself as an "antiquarian at heart" as she expressed her "pride" in opening a museum.

'Only one Khatun'

In a diary entry from 1921, Bell wrote about how the locals of Baghdad reacted to her:

"As we rode back through the gardens of the Karradah suburb where all the people know me and salute me as I pass, Nuri said 'One of the reasons you stand out so is because you're a woman.

"'There are lots of political officers but there's only one Khatun...

"So for a hundred years they'll talk of the Khatun riding by.' I think they very likely will."

Gertrude's legacy lives on at the Gertrude Bell Archive after her sister Lady Richmond presented 7,000 photographs and her letters and diaries to Newcastle University.

Film about Gertrude Bell

Production has begun on a film telling the story of Gertrude Bell,

The film, "Queen of the Desert", which will see Nicole Kidman play Bell, is due to be released in 2015.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-25775990

Iraq is Run by Wolves, The Farewell Speech of Muqtada Al-Sadr

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

The Farewell Speech of Muqtada Al-Sadr
Iraq is Run by Wolves
by MUQTADA AL-SADR

I am not of those who turn a blind eye and keep their mouths shut in the face of corruption and wrongdoing. It has been decreed upon us, the Sadrs, to be those who call and work for guidance.

Here we are seeing our wounded and oppressed Iraq, under a black cloud that has covered its land and its sky: blood is flowing, wars are everywhere, people killing each other, some under the name of the ‘law’ and some under the name of ‘religion’.

Cursed is this ‘law’ that sheds blood and violates sanctities and down with a religion that gives right to beheading, bombing and assassinations.

Then politics became a door for injustice, mockery, autocracy and violation. So a dictator would become in charge of wealth, and he steals it, and of lives of people and he kills them, and of cities and he attacks them, and of sects and he divides them, and of minds and he buys them, and of hearts and he breaks them, so that everybody votes for him to stay in power.

Iraq with no life, no farming, no manufacturing, no services, no security or safety, no peace. And elections that thousands of lives are scarified for, all that, so a government would rule us, disregarding our rights and opinions, and a Parliament, with its worn seats, that can’t protect itself, let alone protect others.

A Parliament that can only agree to vote in one condition; if there are special rewards for MPs; but if there are (laws for) general benefit of the nation, everyone steps back, or the matter reaches the cabinet, where they (the laws) would be turned down/vetoed. But the cabinet would never veto against the MPs special rewards or their pensions.

Iraq that is ruled by wolves, thirsty for blood, souls that are eager for wealth, leaving their nation in suffering, in fear, in water puddles, in dark nights, lightened only by moonlight or a candle, swamped by assassinations based on differences or after ridiculous disagreements. All that and the government is only watching.

Iraq that is ruled by a group which came from beyond the borders. We long awaited for them to free us from the dictator, only for them to hold firmly on to the seats themselves, in the name of Shia, and Shiaism.

Was the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali (peace and blessings upon him) able to sleep whilst there was a hungry person near to him? And now, how full are the streets with (people) with no roofs, no walls, no basic food, instead they sleep on the bare ground, covered by the raining sky.

A government that is overstuffed, has forgotten those who live beyond the guarded walls, has become blinded with wealth, houses, palaces, and aeroplanes, ignoring a prison that is called ‘Iraq’.

An honourable nation, that has been engulfed by wars, with harsh conditions that left it an easy bite that has fallen between the jaws of politicians and leaders. A nation that does not want food, but it demands honour, a heard voice and freedom, that lead it to the pleasure of the Lord, and to prove itself.

But, a government has come to shut the voices, to kill the opposition, to force them into exile, to fill prisons with them, and with everyone who resisted and tried to free his country from the tanks and aeroplanes of the occupation.

A government that has dominated over everything. It does not listen to anyone, even to the voice of the ‘Marj’’ (scholar)i and his ‘fatwa’ (rulings), or even to the voices or complaints of its counterparts, supported by the East and the West, in a way that surprises every wise man. In all this, we do not want to take their post or their chair, as we, the Sadrs, are much above this. We want to guide them, and protect them from mistakes, so Iraq would be in safe and caring hands. But they only listen to their masters, leaving the Sadrs and the two Sadr martyrs behind them, and whoever has an objection against them; Shia, Sunni or Kurd, theywould accuse him of terrorism or sectarianism, using the politicised judiciary to finish him, or to the army to arrest him, or using media propaganda or other ways which you know more about.

We, the Sadrs, if we could not change this, we say: Oh God do not associate us with the oppressors, and associate us with those who love the truth.

Peace upon those who supported us, we have not betrayed them, and we will not betray them. We seek to protect them, and their reputation, and from being led astray in this life. Especially, as there are those who seek to manipulate you, our loved ones and even use our name, the Sadrs, to reach his heinous aims in this life .They have collected well, they have spilt blood, they have violated sanctities and became in charge of people’s lives using our name and no one else’s name

And all that, they do not respect a ‘fatwa’ (ruling) or ruling or a question or a decision (or even a small paper from me), not even advice and not even an order, they ignore all of these.

And so that you know, all the people of Iraq, we love you so continue on your faith, love, religion and your support. God has made you victorious by us and has made us victorious by you. You are an honour to us except those the misguided who misguide others, who chose this life over the afterlife- down with them.

If there are amongst you honourable voices, political or others, let them continue in their work but in an independent way or otherwise away from me, under general guidelines, based on righteousness, faith, patriotism, wisdom and the public good. Iraq should not be left to the people of injustice

But I shall remain for all, I am not only to the Sadrists, I have devoted myself to Iraq, to Islam and I shall remain for everyone.

Whatever decisions or orders I have made, that you could not bear, I seek forgiveness for myself and for you but I am proud of these decisions until the day of judgment because I tried in all of them to be inspired and based on the path of the two Martyrs, their ideas and their manners and I shall not deviate from this, as they are my masters and my leaders, they are my authority and their enemies are my enemies.

In addition the society appears to be far away from the remembrance of God all praise to him, and this this has put a distance between myself and the society to some extent. I urge the believers to remember God and to be obedient to him so that he may forgive us all and so the gates of mercy would open for us and may this be an opportunity for the appearance of truth. Truth shall rise and nothing shall rise above it.

O beloved ones I have a few other points to mention:

Firstly the participation in elections. Despite this decision (by myself), I see participation in the elections as an obligation and must be on a large scale so the government would not fall into the hands of the sly ones who cannot be trusted, God forbid.

As for me I shall vote and I shall give my vote, if I live, to every honourable person who wants to serve the people, and I shall stand with everyone at equal distance, so I ask the Iraqis to participate in these elections and not to fall short. To fall short in this would be a betrayal to Iraq and its people.

Secondly, there are politicians who have served the Iraqi people honestly and sincerely, “and if there were no pious ones, it would have been destroyed”, and they are many, God willing. But I particularly would like to thank and to mention the two brothers; the governor of Misan and the governor of Baghdad, may God reward them as He would reward the righteous ones. They should continue and perfect their work in serving their nation.

Thank You.

Translation of Sayd Muqtada Al-Sadr last speech on 18/2/14 by Hassen Basil Al-Sader.

HIGH-LEVEL BRUSSELS CONFERENCE EXPOSES HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE IN IRAQ

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release - 19th February 2014

HIGH-LEVEL BRUSSELS CONFERENCE EXPOSES HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE IN IRAQ

A high-level conference involving some of the most prominent political and religious leaders in Iraq, was held in the European Parliament, Brussels, on Wednesday 19th February. Organised and chaired by Struan Stevenson, MEP, President of the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with Iraq, the conference focused on human rights in Iraq and featured speeches from Sheik Dr Rafe Al Refaei - Grand Mufti of Iraq, Saleem Abdullah Al-Jabori - Chair of the HR Committee in the Council of Representatives, Haidar Mulla - Member of the Iraqi Council of Representatives, Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir - KRG Head of Department of Foreign Relations, Yonadam Kanna - Chair of the Labour and Social Affairs Committee in the Iraqi Council of Representatives, Kamel Zozo - Syriac Assyrian Chaldean Movement, Elisabetta Zamparutti - 'Hands Off Cain' NGO, Btrus Sliwa - Head of the KRG's Independent Human Rights Board, Dr Abdul- Razzaq Rahim al- Shemmeri- Spokesman for the Herak Delegation from Al Anbar Governorate, Dr Sabah Al-Mukhtar - President of the Arab Lawyers Union, UK, Dr Mohammad Taha Hamdoon, Spokesman of the Popular Movement in Iraq, Dr Moneir Hashm Al-Aobyde, Spokesman for the Movement of Baghdad and many others. The eminent speakers were welcomed by Dr. Charles Tannock MEP, Foreign Affairs Spokesman for the ECR Group.

Many Iraqi guests had travelled to Brussels to participate in the conference, which follows the publication of a highly critical report on Iraq by the European Parliament's Directorate-General for External Policies - entitled "Iraq's deadly spiral towards a civil war". A resolution condemning the on-going violence and abuse of human rights in Iraq is also under preparation in the European Parliament and will be debated in Strasbourg next Wednesday, 26th February. The draft resolution refers repeatedly to the damning report on the abuse of women in Iraq published recently by Human Rights Watch.

Speaking after the Conference, Struan Stevenson MEP said:

"Last November, I was in Iraq. I met with many leading politicians, religious leaders and with courageous men and women who had led popular uprisings and protests in Al Anbar and 6 provinces of Iraq and in many Iraqi cities. The message from all of them was identical. They told me that lawlessness, terrorism, corruption and the systematic abuse of human rights are each a daily feature of life in Iraq. They told me that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is rapidly becoming another Saddam Hussein and that modern Iraq is a dust bowl of violence and bloodshed. More than 9,500 people died last year in bomb attacks and assassinations in an increasingly ugly insurgency that threatens to take the country back to the civil war that erupted from 2006-2008. Over 1000 have died already this year.

"It was these same people, people from different ethnic backgrounds, from different faiths and creeds, but who share a desire to see freedom, democracy, justice and peace restored to their country, who urged me to organise today’s conference, so that they could come to the European Parliament and reveal the truth about Iraq to the West. I am deeply grateful to them and thank them for the expense, effort and courage they have expended to come here today.

"They told us in graphic detail how Maliki is using the Iraqi military in a genocidal campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Sunni population of Ramadi and Fallujah, aided and abetted by a generous supply of missiles, rockets, drones and other weaponry from the US, which he uses to slaughter his own people, on the pretext that they are terrorists. The US has even decided to sell and rent Maliki Apache helicopters which he will use to massacre men, women and children in Al Anbar. It is an outrage.

"I am also appalled at the treatment of the 3000 refugees in Camp Liberty who are incarcerated in prison-like conditions and where the Iraqis are even restricting supplies of food and preventing emptying of sewage tanks, causing the camp to flood with polluted sewerage water and risking health. These defenceless people have been repeatedly attacked by Maliki's forces, including the horrific massacre of 52 of their colleagues in Camp Ashraf last September, when 7 hostages were seized, 6 of whom are women and nothing has been heard from them since. The limp-wristed response from the west has simply encouraged further atrocities of this kind.

"It is time the West woke up to the tragedy of Iraq. It was the US and the UK - George W. Bush and Tony Blair - who invaded Iraq and overthrew Saddam, declaring: "Mission accomplished". They boasted that they had left behind "a functioning democracy", when in fact they left behind a basket case. It was the US who colluded with Iran to return Maliki to power after the last election, even although he had lost that election by 2 seats. Now, in breach of the Erbil Agreement, Maliki has retained control over the Defence, Intelligence and Interior Ministries in his own office and he has even created new, independent security 6 intelligence organisation that is answerable only to him, giving him despotic powers.

"There is still time for the West to reassert its authority and make amends for its disastrous intervention in Iraq. The UN, US and EU must tell Maliki that his whirlwind of bloodshed, violence, corruption and abuse will no longer be tolerated. Unless there are free and fair elections on 30th April that can restore a semblance of democracy to Iraq and provide the beleaguered people of that country with a non-sectarian, secular government, committed to the restoration of the rule of law and respect for human rights, then the economic umbilical cord to the West must be severed."

In his address to the conference Dr Rafe Al Refaei - the Grand Mufti of Iraq, said: "Maliki is following a heinous policy of indiscriminate bombings of innocent people. The people of Al-Anbar did not start the war. We did everything to reach a peaceful settlement. Maliki forces attacked the peaceful rallies. They have bombarded the houses of innocent people. My own brother was killed last week in the bombardment and was not from al Qaeda or from Daesh. When Maliki launched his so-called war against terrorists in the desert in Anbar province not a single combatant of al Qaeda was killed. The only people killed were innocent shepherds. What is happening in Fallujah is genocide. 1000 civilians have been injured. Events in Iraq have taken a very dangerous turn. It could lead to a civil war in which all Iraqi people will lose. The European Parliament should deal with this matter. We've been handed on a golden platter to the Iranian govt."



Saleem Abdullah Al-Jabori - Chair of the HR Committee in the Council of Representatives said: "We called on the international community to come to our rescue, but we were faced with just talk and no action. Now Iraqi women's tears have dried up. We're sick of unfulfilled promises. But all of this has not put an end to bloodshed in Iraq. All of the violations are serious, all are important. They are issues of international governance and international law. We Iraqis are the ones who suffer. Investigators use torture to obtain confessions. We need to adopt legislation that will put a stop to violations of prisoners. A person can be detained for years on false accusations. But HR violations will not lead to the eradication of terrorism. Our committee has managed to get many women released from prison. Iraq is rich in diversity, but the killing still goes on. There are around 10 car bombs every day. The Iraqi media should be given more freedom to report the truth. Tens of thousands of civilians have been displaced in al Anbar Province. A generation has lost all of its rights."



Haidar Mulla - Member of the Iraqi Council of Representatives said: "Mr Stevenson has increased the influence of the EU in Iraq and in particular, he has increased the importance of HR. We had hoped that Iraq would become a democracy after the fall of the previous regime. But our HR record is not something we should be proud of. Our task is difficult and complex. We have to pave the way for a culture that respects HR. Until now GoI did not implement article 19 on HR. This is not a gift to the people. It is their right. Currently there is a ratio of one military personnel to 27 civilians and even so we cannot live peacefully. We have a political crisis and we have to deal with it politically."



Btrus Sliwa - Head of the Independent KRG Human Rights Board said: "The Ministry of HR was abolished in 2009 because it was being politically influenced. The government set up an independent board not linked to any political body. There is a high rate of domestic violence against women in parts of Kurdistan which we have legislated to stop. There are also now an estimated 200,000 IDPs in Kurdistan as well as over 200,000 refugees from Syria."



Dr Abdul-Razzaq Rahim Al Shemmeri - speaker for the Herak Delegation from the al-Anbar Governorate said: "This is my first time in the EU and I have come to bring the true voice of Anbar to the European Parliament. Why do you turn a blind eye to the Shia militias who slaughter our people? The Sunni movement entered the conflict through the demonstrations and sit-ins which started in 2012. But it was clear from the start that there was no political will to deal with the demonstrators in a peaceful way. Maliki's army invaded the places where the demonstrators were gathering. The crimes being committed there are similar to Bosnia, Herzegovina. Anti-terrorist forces were sent by the GoI in 2013 to arrest leaders of the so-called terrorist movement in Anbar under the pretext of fighting terrorism. Maliki resorted to threatening us, stating it was a rebellion under influence of foreign forces. He told his forces to finish us off before we finished him off!"



Dr Sabah al-Mukhtar - UN Permanent Representative, Arab lawyers Union, said: "Sending foreign troops to spread democracy turns the concept upside down. HR abuses occur in every country, but Iraq has a unique situation. Maliki abuses all of the human rights of all of the people, all of the time. Iraq is also bottom of the transparency international list of corrupt states, behind even Somalia and Sudan. Why did the Americans liberate Iraq and then hand it over to the mullahs in Iran?



Minister Falah Mustafa Bakir - KRG Head of Department of Foreign Relations, said: "HR is not a privilege. It is a basic right. We care about HR because as Kurds we have a long experience of suffering. Our democracy is in its infancy. No-one can claim they are perfect. Respect for HR is what we care about in Kurdistan. We have a culture of tolerance and peaceful coexistence. This has led to prosperity for the people and an economic boom. Diversity is the source of our strength. We have also provided shelter for IDPs and refugees. The KRG also focused on women and children to address issues that empower and protect them. Women must be part of society and properly protected in all walks of life. Unlike the federal government in Baghdad, we have always welcomed UN HR reports. As Kurds we will not accept the status of 2nd class citizens. We'd like to see all of Iraq become like Kurdistan."



Kamel Zozo, representing the Syriac Assyrian Chaldean Movement said: "Iraq is a country for all of us. As Christians we've been there since the creation of Iraq. Now we are filled with bitterness and sadness when we see what has happened to the ethnic minorities. The system of government in Iraq is now a despotic one. Christians are doomed to extinction. This is the land of our fathers and forefathers and yet we are being driven from it. We must enact necessary laws to give us protection. Plans to change the demography of Nineveh and other regions are directly targeting the Christian community. We are being pushed into an unknown future. Can I request that EP pays attention to the minorities in Iraq."



Elisabetta Zamparutti - Italian politician in the Radical Movement and Treasurer of "Hands off Cain" NGO, said: "Executions began again after a suspension in August 2005. Over 600 people have been executed since then, 117 last year alone. Iraq is now 3rd behind China and Iran for the number of executions it carries out. There are wooden gallows working overtime in the old intelligence HQ building in Baghdad, where Saddam was hanged. No records of these executions are kept. The justice system in Iraq is broken. Those executed are not represented properly. Evidence taken from secret informants cannot be challenged in court. We need to reflect on the situation in Iraq today."


Struan Stevenson MEP

President of the European Parliament's Delegation for Relations with Iraq