Minority Rights in Kurdistan
The future of the Kurdistan Region is as a mosaic of many people, Kurds, Arabs, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Turkomen, liberals, conservatives, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Yezidis, and secular people. Our tent is large, and all are welcome.
The Kurdistan Region’s social and economic strength lies in its diversity, its civil society and its drive to adhere to the rule of law. In its progress toward more secure rights for all, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has set as a top priority the need to enact measures and educational campaigns ensuring that women’s rights, children’s rights, political pluralism and religious freedom, as well as the care and protection of refugees and internally-displaced persons, continue to be strengthened and guaranteed.
Political pluralism and religious tolerance are fundamental to the region’s development. For in our Parliament we have several ideologies represented, including liberal democracy, social democracy, socialism, communism, and conservative Islam. What sets Kurdistan apart from many other polities in the Middle East is not our drive for political and economic reform but our deliberate tolerance; the tolerance of our people and the tolerance of our government toward opposing beliefs and opinions.
Although the majority of people in the Kurdistan Region are Muslims (mainly Sunni, with a minority Shiite), many choose to live a secular life. Almost all segments of our society believe in a clear delineation of responsibilities between mosque (or church or temple) and the state. Those that support a secular life do not live in fear of radicals who view them as apostates. Nor are those who choose to live a conservative life, and strictly follow a more conservative interpretation of the Holy Quran, oppressed as a result of their beliefs.
The KRG is proud of its vibrant Christian communities. The region boasts a large number of different denominations such as the Assyrian Church of the East, as well as the Armenian, and the Catholic Chaldean churches. Moreover, we are also home to several hundred thousand Yezidis (Ezidi), followers of an ancient religion, practiced by Kurds in Iraq, Syria and Armenia, which has almost a million adherents worldwide. The KRG and all those in Kurdistan take great efforts to ensure that this distinctive religion, along with others such as the Shabak, is free to thrive and be safe within our democracy.
The protection of human rights is central to our vision of reform. The KRG is today implementing reforms throughout governmental institutions in order to improve knowledge of human rights, as well as to ensure compliance to human rights norms throughout our Region. The fact that so many who have fled from elsewhere in Iraq to seek refuge in the Kurdistan region, including over 12,000 Christian families, is testament to the tolerance and acceptance of the people of the Kurdistan region toward people of all faiths and beliefs.
Until the Kurdistan Regions liberation in 1991, and Iraq’s liberation in 2003, we had only lived under dictatorships, where human rights and civil liberties were on extended leave. We are determined to give our citizens the best they deserve. Our task is not easy, and we have not reached our goals. But we will not relent. The Kurdistan Regional Government is determined to protect our pluralism and our people’s freedom to practice their religion while at the same time remaining steadfast in allowing our civil society to take root and drive our continued democratization.
Tolerance is what is required in order for mixed societies to flourish. The KRG understands that much more needs to be done for us to be considered a consolidated democracy. But we are proud of the progress we have made, and the tolerant and inclusive society that we have.
