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7419th Security Council meeting on the Middle East - part 3
7419th Meeting (AM)
‘We Are Being Slaughtered,’ Says Iraqi Lawmaker; Secretary-General Promises Action Plan by September
From Syria and Iraq to Libya and Yemen, the cultural and religious fabric in the Middle East, intricately woven over centuries, was being torn apart by terrorists intent on eliminating the very diversity that had given rise to many of the world’s great civilizations, the Security Council heard today as speakers implored it to help end the fighting and urgently protect the region’s minorities.
“The members of this Council — and all those with influence — must help the people of this region reclaim its historic diversity and dynamism,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Council, opening a day-long debate on the victims of attacks and abuses on ethnic or religious grounds in the Middle East.
“I condemn in the strongest terms all persecution and violations of the rights to life and physical integrity of individuals and communities based on religious, ethnic, national, racial or other grounds,” he declared.
Thousands of civilians were at the mercy of Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant/Sham (ISIL/ISIS) or Da’esh, whose fighters were systematically killing ethnic and religious minorities and those who disagreed with its warped interpretation of Islam, Mr. Ban said. In Iraq, information strongly suggested that Da’esh had perpetrated genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, and that minorities had been victims of that violence. In Syria, a lack of accountability had led to an exceptional rise in those atrocities, by Government and non-State armed groups alike. In Libya, Da’esh-affiliated groups were targeting minorities and attacking religious sights.
For its part, the United Nations was developing an action plan on preventing violent extremism, he said, which it would launch in September, and strengthening efforts to protect diversity in the Middle East. As well, he planned to form an advisory group of religious, civil, cultural, academic and business leaders to offer insight on inter- and intra-sectarian dynamics. Next month, with the General Assembly President, he would invite faith leaders to a special event.
In an impassioned address, Vian Dakhil, a member of Iraq’s Parliament, said minority communities were being targeted with crimes unprecedented in the history of the world. New reports had shown that more than 420,000 Yezidis had been displaced and were living in camps in the Kurdistan region, Syria and Turkey, and that thousands of girls had been sold into slavery. One girl had been sold for $18, she said, appealing to the Council for support.
“We are being slaughtered, our girls are being sold, our children are being taken,” she said, calling for international protection for minority communities to return to their communities. She also asked for international support to eradicate the terrorist element — to free the more than 3,000 kidnapped women and to rebuild cities destroyed by terrorist attacks.
Indeed, the situation in Iraq was reminiscent of massacres of Christians a century ago, said Louis Raphael Sako, patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church of Babylon. “We are living the same catastrophic situation. The so-called Arab Spring impacted negatively on us,” he said. Positive coexistence should remain a priority for the Council. He urged support for the central Government and regional government of Kurdistan towards liberating all Iraqi cities, as well as protection for Christians, Yezidis and Shabaks.
As Islamic extremists refused to live with non-Muslims, he said principles based on international law were needed, keeping in mind that there was a silent, peaceful majority of Muslims that rejected the politicization of the religion. Outlining a proposal to “get out of this vicious cycle”, he advised taking legal decisions and adopting definitive measures on political, cultural and educational solutions that protected the national mosaic and safeguarded all citizens’ rights. He also suggested updating the Constitution, fostering tolerance in education reform, outlawing support for terrorist groups and promoting human rights.
Speaking via video link from Geneva, Zeid Ra’ad Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said that, while it was easy to portray the Middle East as exceptionally fragmented, its history was marked by long-standing acceptance of multiple identities. Today’s crises had been fanned by discrimination and deliberate failures to respect human rights.
“Da’esh is an abomination,” he said. An intricately interwoven social fabric in Syria and Iraq was giving way to the “demented obliteration” of difference — any choice not in line with the takfiri world view, which itself was impossibly thin. In a terrible irony, Da’esh might be more accepting of diverse ethnic origins when it came to its own members — so long as they acted in line with takfiri ideology — than many States were when it came to their own citizens.
“If we attend to minority rights only after slaughter has begun, then we have already failed,” he said, adding that international attention to minorities was too often partial, in that States overlooked abuses of marginalized communities, or sporadic, in that minority rights were often highlighted only after the outbreak of extreme violence, despite preceding years of exclusion.
The United Nations Network on Racial Discrimination and Minorities, which his Office coordinated, helped States devise strategies for supporting those groups, he said as he pressed the Council to end the conflicts and refer Iraq and Syria to the International Criminal Court.
“What good will it be to all of us, if action never comes, or arrives far too late to be effective?” he asked. Without joint resolution, the common bond would soon disappear, along with the cultures stitched by time into one heritage.
In the ensuing debate, nearly 70 speakers from around the world decried the intolerance, violent extremism and religious or ethnic persecution that had gained ground in the Middle East, notably against Christians, Yezidis, Kurds, Turkmens and Shabaks. Da’esh had unleashed terror, they said, with mass beheadings, forced conversions, abductions and torture. Such jihadi terrorism should never be confused with the message of Islam. Several proposed distinct courses of action.
Laurent Fabius, Minister for Foreign Affairs of France, whose delegation organized today’s debate, proposed the creation of a special fund for the return of displaced populations. He also suggested that the Secretary-General present the Council with an action plan to address the situation of minorities in the Middle East.
Gebran Bassil, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Emigrants of Lebanon, said he had come directly from a meeting of the Arab League, which was trying to save the rich cultures of the Middle East. Calling Israel “the father of Da’esh for decades”, he asked for a resolution that would truly protect minorities and create moral and political “red lines” that could not be crossed. He also called for a trust fund to rebuild devastated cultures.
More broadly, the representative of Iran said a comprehensive strategy against Da’esh must address ideological, social, political and economic dimensions of violent extremism. “If there is a genuine resolve to combat extremism, it must be translated into specific and effective actions,” he said. A “united front” that included the disruption of financial and logistical support and the sharing of relevant information was needed.
José Manuel Garcia-Margallo, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Spain, suggested a multidisciplinary focus to address the root causes of terrorism and a platform for religious representatives from conflict-affected areas. “Somebody must stop this madness,” he said “and that somebody is us.”
Striking a different tone, the representative of the Russian Federation said that, from the start of the Arab Spring, his Government had favoured solving regional crises through progressive reforms and building agreement among inter-faith groups. Yet, its calls to not let the situation fall to religious extremists were ignored.
Likewise, Manuel Augusto, Secretary of State for External Relations of Angola, said the international community’s response to the Arab Spring was a policy of regime change, with the provision of weapons to opposition groups for that purpose. To promote tolerance, stability and prosperity, the inclusion of youth into all policies was now particularly important.
In that context, Egypt’s representative warned that selectivity in dealing with extremism must be avoided as well. Protecting certain religions alone presented certain risks; victims should not be identified according to their faith.
Also speaking today were ministers and other senior officials of the United Kingdom, Austria, Canada, Armenia and Cyprus.
Statements were also made by representatives of Chile, Jordan, Malaysia, Chad, United States, New Zealand, Venezuela, China, Lithuania, Nigeria, Guatemala, Hungary, Iraq, Brazil, Israel, Kazakhstan, India, Bulgaria, Japan, Australia, Morocco, Italy, Sweden, Germany, Syria, Pakistan, Thailand, Belgium, South Africa, Switzerland, Colombia, Greece, United Arab Emirates, Slovenia, Portugal, Romania, Ukraine, Poland, Luxembourg, Turkey, Netherlands, Croatia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Ireland, Bahrain, Botswana, Republic of Korea, Latvia and Argentina.
The Special Representative for Human Rights of the European Union also addressed the Council, as did the Permanent Observers for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Holy See.
The meeting began at 10:05 a.m. and ended at 6:02 p.m.
