Human rights and religious minorities in Iraq
Tuesday, 30th of June
European Parliament, room PHS 7C050
Hosted by Josef Weidenholzer, Marietje Schaake, Ana Gomes, Cornelia Ernst
Registration: please contact josef.weidenholzer@europarl.europa.eu
The conference aims at bringing together representatives of religious minorities from Iraq with European actors and policymakers to discuss recent developments, repercussions and opportunities. Foreseen are three main panels with a focus on the situation of specific religious groups in Iraq, specifically of Yazidi, Assyrian Christian and Shiite faith and others.
09.00 - 09.30 Opening & Introduction on “Religious minorities in Iraq”
CHAIR: Josef Weidenholzer, Member of the European Parliament
- Statements by MEPs Marietje Schaake (ALDE), Ana Gomes (S&D), Cornelia Ernst (GUE)
- Delavar Ajgeiy, Head of The Mission to European Union, Kurdistan Regional Government
- Akram Mohammed Jammo, director of Non-Governmental Office, Iraqi Kurdistan (tbc)
- Designated Ambassador of Iraq in Belgium
- Keynote by Michiel Leezenberg, University Amsterdam
09.30 - 11.30 1st Panel: Political and humanitarian situation of Yazidis
CHAIR: Mirza Dinnayi, Head of Organisation Air Bridge Iraq & KRG Advisor for Disputed Areas in Iraq
- Mato Naif, Governor Kojo (small village taken over by ISIS)
- Dr. Hasan Nagham, Gynaecologist and volunteer aid worker for an NGO in Iraq
- Hayder Shesho, “Shingal`s protection unit”
- Mamou Farhan Othman, Director of the European Studies Centre, University of Duhok
- Jamil Suleiman Haydar, Former Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources Iraq
- Prince Breen Tahseen, Iraqi diplomat
- Khairi Elias Ali, Director General Yezidi Affairs, KRG Ministry of Religious Affairs (tbc)
- Leyla Ferman, Co-President of the Yezidi Federation of Europe (tbc)
11.30 - 13.00 2nd Panel: Political and humanitarian situation of Assyrian Christians
CHAIR: Member of the European Parliament (tbc)
- Naher Arslan, Assyrian Institute of Belgium
- Yonadam Yawsep Kanna, Iraqi National Assembly
- Diya Butrus Sulaywa, National Chaldean Council and Human rights Kurdistan
- Emanuel Khoshaba Youkhana, Archimendite, Assyrian Patriotic Party
13.00 - 15.00 Lunch- Break
15.00 - 16.30 3rd Panel: Political and humanitarian situation of Shiite origin
CHAIR: Michiel Leezenberg, University Amsterdam
- Goran Alkakay, Kakai-Intellectual, Niniveh Plains
- Hassan Aydinli, European Turkmen Friendship, EU Representative
- Khalid Mahmood, International Organization for Human Rights Kurdistan
16.30 - 18.00 4th Panel: The situation of smaller religious minorities of Iraq
Chair: Thomas Schmidinger, LeEZA , Lecturer, University of Vienna
- Salam Farhan, Director of Mandaean Human Rights Group
- Dr. Shuhaib G. Nashi, Pediatrician in Morristown, NJ
- Hagop Simonian, Armenian Youth Federation
- Video-Statement: Aseel Salam Nimah (tbc)
18.15 - 19.45 Final Working Groups
19.45 - 20.00 Closing
