Government says it is committed to supporting the rights of ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq and are supporting the development of inclusive and representative reconciliation processes; and responds to questions about justice for the victims of Daesh genocide and violence.

Jul 22, 2020 | News

Government says it is committed to supporting the rights of ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq and are supporting the development of inclusive and representative reconciliation processes; and responds to questions about justice for the victims of Daesh genocide and violence.

Lord Alton of Liverpool – To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council in the report Visit to Iraq: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, published on 13 May, what discussions they intend to have with the government of Iraq about supporting “ethnic and religious minorities in achieving durable solutions for their particular situation by promoting both intercommunal and intracommunal dialogue and social cohesion, and engaging in dialogue with minorities to rebuild trust and identify solutions”.
[HL6550]
Lord Alton of Liverpool – To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council in the report Visit to Iraq: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, published on 13 May, what discussions they intend to have with the government of Iraq about promoting “lasting social cohesion and reconciliation in Iraqi society through education and by promoting tolerance and the values of equality and non-discrimination within schools; and promote acceptance of internally displaced children from different ethnic and religious groups, and children of families with a perceived affiliation to ISIL”.
[HL6551]

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon – The UK is firmly involving ethnic and religious minorities, at both national and community levels in Iraq. committed to supporting the rights of ethnic and religious minorities in Iraq. We are supporting the development of inclusive and representative reconciliation processes, We have also contributed £28 million to the UNDP Funding Facility for Stabilisation (FFS), which is helping to enable return of internally displaced persons, including minorities, to areas liberated from Daesh by restoring vital infrastructure and basic services.

We recognise the vulnerability of children born under Daesh and the risks of them being excluded from Iraqi citizenship and society in the future. We continue to raise these concerns with the Iraqi authorities. We welcome the steps recently taken by the Iraqi Government to address the specific problem of the legal status of children born to Yezidi survivors as a result of sexual violence.

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Lord Alton of Liverpool – To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the recommendations to the UN Human Rights Council in the report Visit to Iraq: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, published on 13 May, what discussions they intend to have with the government of Iraq about (1) adopting “a comprehensive legal and policy framework to address the situation of survivors of conflict-related sexual violence, many of whom remain in displacement, including by providing reparation through a comprehensive, inclusive and survivor centred reparation programme and expanding the proposed Yazidi reparations law and survivors’ grants” and (2) undertaking “comprehensive dialogue with communities affected by ISIL atrocities, in particular ethnic and religious minorities, to establish transitional justice mechanisms, to seek the truth about violations and to provide reparation, rebuilding trust between the population and the State and providing institutional guarantees of non-repetition”.
[HL6552]
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon – The UK is committed to championing wider restorative justice efforts for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and holding perpetrators to account. The UK has provided significant support to survivors of sexual violence in Iraq. Our Embassy in Baghdad has regular discussions with the Government of Iraq and the UN Investigative Team for the Accountability of Daesh (UNITAD), encouraging close co-operation between them to achieve justice for the victims of Daesh’s crimes in Iraq. We welcome the fact that UNITAD is expanding its engagement with witnesses, survivors and impacted communities.
We are supporting the development of inclusive and representative reconciliation processes, involving Yazidis and other minorities who faced appalling suffering under Daesh, at both national and community levels in Iraq. We also remain committed to supporting Iraq to prevent Daesh resurgence, as the Foreign Secretary reaffirmed to new Iraqi Foreign Minister Fouad Hussein on 25 June.

 

Lord David Alton

For 18 years David Alton was a Member of the House of Commons and today he is an Independent Crossbench Life Peer in the UK House of Lords.

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