Religious Persecution, The Driver for Forced Migration by AMAR Foundation

AMAR Conference Series

Religious Persecution

The Driver for Forced Migration September 2018

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne Dr Neil Quilliam Senior Research Fellow, Chatham House

Registered Charity no. 1047432 The AMAR Windsor Conference Series The AMAR International Charitable Foundation c/o 3 Lincolnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Inn Fields London WC2A 3AA www.amarfoundation.org

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About the authors Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne LRAM ARCM Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne is a member of the House of Lords. In her private time she chairs the AMAR International Charitable Foundation which has provided ten million public health consultations and taught five million pupils over the organisation’s twenty six year existence. She is president of the Iraq Britain Business Council. Her overarching commitment is to the fundamental freedoms, democracy and the rule of law. She is the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Azerbaijan, Iraq, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. She cochairs the All Party Parliamentary Groups for Foreign Affairs and the Prevention of Sexual Violence in Conflict. She is a member of the bicameral Select Committee on Human Rights. Baroness Nicholson was elected to the House of Commons in 1987 and 1992. She served in the European Parliament from 1999–2009 and in the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly from 2011–2014. She has served as official Election Leader and Observer in thirty two nations. She has been awarded eight Honorary Doctorates. Neil Quilliam PhD Neil Quilliam is a Senior Research Fellow with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Programme at Chatham House. He is Director of Chatham House’s Future Dynamics in the Gulf project and previously directed its Syria and Its Neighbours policy initiative (2015–2017). Before joining Chatham House 2014, Neil served as Senior MENA Energy Adviser at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), Senior Analyst at Control Risks, London, and Senior Programme Officer at the United Nations University, Amman. Neil has lived in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, and has travelled extensively around the MENA region, working on a variety of development, education and research projects. He has published a number of books and articles on international relations and political economy of Syria, Jordan, Iraq and the Gulf Cooperation Council states. Neil was the first recipient of the Prince of Wales and King Faisal Foundation Scholarship in 1998. He received his PhD in International Relations from the University of Durham in 1997.

This report is published under a Creative Commons license (CC BY NC ND 3.0) that allows for sharing, copying and distribution of the publication for non-commercial educational and public policy purposes as long as the authors are fully credited. The opinions expressed in this publication are the responsibility of the authors alone. © AMAR ICF September 2018 ISBN: 978-1-5272-2992-1 Registered Charity no. 1047432 The AMAR Windsor Conference Series The AMAR International Charitable Foundation c/o 3 Lincoln’s Inn Fields London WC2A 3AA www.amarfoundation.org Designed by Soapbox: www.soapbox.co.uk

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AMAR Conference Series

Religious Persecution

The Driver for Forced Migration September 2018

Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne Dr Neil Quilliam Senior Research Fellow, Chatham House

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Contents Acknowledgements

Religious Persecution – The Driver for Forced Migration

Preamble

The Third Windsor Conference – The Final Chapter

Introduction

Context

Earlier Recommendations

Practical Points to Re-Establish Music in the Yazidi People

Steps to Address the Situation

Windsor Methodology

Annex 1 – Comparative Chart of Post-Conflict Social Integration of Groups Persecuted because of Religious or Ethnic Identity (2018)

Annex 2 – Groups Persecuted because of Religious or Ethnic Identity (2016)

Annex 3 – Mormons, Ahmadis, Iraqi Jews Persecution because of Religious or Ethnic Identity

Annex 4 – Chronology of Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) Journey from Persecution to Integration in the United States of America

Annex 5 – Discrimination and Persecution of the Ahmadi Muslim Community Globally (2017)

Annex 6 – Integration of the Ahmadi Muslim Community in the United Kingdom (2018)

Annex 7 – Persecution of the Yazidis

Annex 8 – Westminster Declaration with the Yazidi Spiritual Council

Annex 9 – Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne’s letter relating to the relationship between certain First Peoples of North America and the British Crown

Annex 10 – Numbers of beneficiaries from AMAR’s Human Rights and the Rule of Law Programme in Iraq

Bibliography

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For the Board of AMAR, this report highlights our approach to integrating practical help, innovative thinking, strategic investment and effective leadership. The result is the development of a tested platform to further the vital work of care, recovery and proper participation in the crafting of a peaceful future. Alistair Redfern Bishop of Derby and AMAR Board Member

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Acknowledgements The Windsor Dialogue encompasses the thoughts and written or spoken contributions of many eminent and less well-known thinkers. Among them, we thank most sincerely AMAR Patron, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, whose keen interest from the start of this initiative stems from his deep concern for those in difficulty with freedom to worship, and other significant deprivations that impact on life and liberty, such as the suffering of the Yazidi people. We are particularly grateful for the warm welcome and kind hospitality of St George’s House and its Warden, Canon Dr Hueston Finlay; Cumberland Lodge and its Principal, Canon Edmund Newell; and Westminster Abbey, led by Dean Dr John Hall. We thank you all. Partnership across faiths and nationalities is key to the future success of the Windsor Dialogue. The unique partnership between AMAR International Charity Foundation and LDS Charities is at the heart of the dialogue, which is fulfilled in reality through shared work for and with the Yazidis in their temporary United Nations-supplied camps. The United Nations cannot do everything; so AMAR and LDS Charities, assisted by individual and company donations, work intensively and continuously to bridge the wide gulf between need and actuality. The ancient and beautiful Yazidi faith is at the heart of the assaults they suffer, and we see acceptance and explanation of the faith as the only way to forestall future conflicts. Dr Edmund Newell’s work gives the theological reasoning to do so, and we are deeply grateful to him. To ensure we did not trespass on Yazidi hallowed grounds, and to gain a closeness to their world, AMAR International Charity Foundation and the Yazidi Spiritual Council drew up and co-signed a partnership agreement. AMAR now serves over 350,000 Yazidis with public health, psychiatry and psycho-social care, and trains and employs almost 200 Yazidi experts. We are grateful to the Prince of the Yazidis for his agreement to Dr Newell’s paper as the first accurate explanation of the Yazidi faith and for his and his grandson’s involvement in our Dialogue. I thank Neil Quilliam of Chatham House for his intellectual contributions and international outreach, both of which he has put to the service of our dialogues and the production of our reports. His exceptional understanding of the ways in which our academic partnerships and the resultant fieldwork can fit into the global dialogue, which we seek to enter, is invaluable. We look forward to working with him more, while expressing our gratitude for all that he has given us so far. Nothing works without good administration. AMAR International Charity Foundation places large burdens on the Board’s few staff and thanks Andrew Methven particularly for his fine administration; Rob Cole for his media work; and Chris Straub, Chair of AMAR United States, and his Washington colleagues for their active participation. Alastair Redfern, Bishop of Derby, and Dr Theodore Zeldin both made special contributions to this report and the two co-authors offer thanks for their insight, understanding and encouragement.

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I extend thanks to Rowan Williams for giving precious time to meet with three Yazidi girls two years ago, and later agreeing to gladly sign the Westminster declaration. I would also like to thank Reverend Sister Honor Margaret, Community of St Mary the Virgin, for her continuous help and consistent interest in the Windsor process. We hope you will now join the conversation and become involved yourself. Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne

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Religious Persecution – The Driver for Forced Migration Preamble The Third and final Windsor Conference draws upon lessons from the previous conferences and work undertaken by AMAR in the field and produces a methodology that can be replicated by international and local organisations, including the United Nations, to help persecuted communities reintegrate safely, whilst retaining their distinctive identities. The Third Conference builds upon the successes of the earlier Windsor conferences and delivers an actionable report with implementable recommendations and a methodology that can be adopted and applied by other civil society organisations in multiple contexts.

The Windsor Methodology The Windsor methodology is an outcome of the Windsor Conference Series. It draws upon cumulative lessons learned in Windsor conferences and, more importantly, by those learned in the field; and helps persecuted communities articulate their circumstances – for themselves – before policy-makers, influencers and senior religious figures with the goal of ending persecution and achieving reintegration. It includes practical recommendations on how persecuted communities can build bridges, better leverage government policies, seek philanthropic support and develop relationships with other faith-based groups. The Windsor methodology is based upon six elements. • First, active participation with communities affected by persecution, conflict and displacement is important in ending persecution and promoting reintegration. • Second, the Conference Series has drawn upon the support – intellectual, experiential and historical – of communities who have negotiated the journey from exclusion to participation. • Third, the Conference Series convened intense and insightful meetings that drew together an active group, including leaders and youth members from the communities under consideration. • Fourth, the series has benefitted from the support of the Church of England and the commitment of Lambeth Palace. • Fifth, the process has benefited enormously from the leadership of Baroness Nicholson. • Sixth, the role played by leaders and members of the communities themselves is crucial.

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The Second Windsor Conference Recommendations The Second Windsor Conference produced the following recommendations: • Unless refugee and IDP communities are equipped and enabled to return voluntarily or resettle, a long-term future in camps, or otherwise, will likely lead to widespread discontent and anomie, and come to pose a wider security threat to host countries and beyond. • Without critical interventions that attend to [the] mental health, well-being and productivity [of refugees and IDPs], the prospect of successful reintegration will remain remote. • Whilst the United Nations and international community prioritise WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) when responding to humanitarian crises, they should give a higher priority to mental health and well-being. • United Nations agencies and the international community, which support some mental health interventions, should break with the ‘secular’ approach and give great consideration to the role of faith in refugee and IDP lives. The United Nations and international community should invest in mental health interventions that provide spiritual shelter, as a first step to restoring community resilience and promoting safe and successful reintegration. • The Conference recommends strongly that music be adopted as a tool of mental health care immediately. • The Windsor Conference calls upon the United Nations and the international community to invest in programmes that recognise and prioritise the importance of mental health and well-being.

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Practical Points to Re-Establish Music in the Yazidi People In all cultures, the value of the arts, and in particular music, is incalculable. Like nothing else, music has the ability to be a window of the soul of a people and of an individual. Its transient nature means that it is ever in the present; and its intuitive quality means that it becomes a channel to express this very moment, whether happy, sad or another emotion. Emotion recognised and expressed brings healing, both mental and physical. In the case of a people that has been through as much trauma as the Yazidi people, it is essential that their traditional music is fostered, both for the individuals now and for posterity. It is the very soul of the Yazidis and it is in severe danger of dying.

The present situation • Yazidi music is not written down and therefore relies completely on being passed down from teacher to pupil. So an environment where this is possible needs to be established or re-established. • A factor that needs to be taken into account is that playing Yazidi music is often seen as an expression of patriotism; so Yazidi people are frequently reluctant to play, in the light of the horrifying atrocities that have been committed against people who make their Yazidi nationality known. • Now that ISIS is no longer quite the threat that it was until very recently, it is a good time for Yazidi people to re-establish pride in their music and their nationality.

The nature of Yazidi music • There are three types of Yazidi music: folk music, the patriotic ‘sad’ music and religious music. Folk music is the most regularly performed. Religious music, it appears, is in grave danger of not being passed on to another generation. The status of the patriotic ‘sad’ music is not clear to us. • Music is central to the Yazidi religion and it cannot be learnt as a separate subject from that religion. In the same way, many of the songs are connected to agriculture and cannot be learnt except in the context of the land.

Steps to address the situation People • Draw up a list of Yazidi people who understand the situation and can discuss and come up with a sensible plan of action. • Identify respected Yazidi musicians and teachers who are prepared to spend time with aspiring musicians. • Identify one particular Yazidi musician to lead on a project of systematic re-establishment of Yazidi music. Only a well-known Yazidi musician who commands general respect can do this.

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Building • Establish a centre where Yazidi music can be studied seriously and the teachers and students can establish a timetable of lessons. • A building where Yazidi music is studied regularly needs tuition rooms and a central space or hall to perform. However, it is also important to realise that Yazidi music has a different place in the life of the people to that of the West, and that tuition will almost certainly take a different form. Someone from a Western culture will not have the inside understanding to do this. Action plan précis • Search for music leaders and teachers. • Find a leader with the passion to start a re-establishment of Yazidi music. • Establish a Centre and building where a teaching programme may start.

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The Third Windsor Conference – The Final Chapter Introduction •

The Third and final Windsor Conference builds upon the successes of the earlier Windsor conferences and delivers an actionable report with implementable recommendations and a methodology that can be adopted and applied by other civil society organisations (CSOs) in multiple contexts.

•

The Third Conference draws upon lessons from the previous conferences and work undertaken by AMAR in the field and produces a methodology that can be replicated by international and local organisations, including the United Nations, to help persecuted communities reintegrate safely, whilst retaining their distinctive identities.

•

The Second Windsor Conference provided an opportunity for religious leaders and academics to look at how the world can help those persecuted to reintegrate safely back into their communities. In particular, discussions were aimed at finding ways to help refugees recover a more confident sense of identity to enable appropriate preparation to return or begin a new life and be productive human beings again.

•

Whilst the Conference noted the contribution that the United Nations has made in supporting the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in meeting the humanitarian needs of internally displaced persons (IDPs), it called for an additional focus on helping IDPs brutalised by violence and recovery from trauma.

•

The Conference learned from its speakers how music can play a critical role in helping both individuals and communities work towards overcoming trauma. The Conference recognised the importance of faith in helping traumatised communities envision a different future, based upon a renewed sense of identity and a wider appreciation of the perspectives of others.

•

The Conference agreed upon a series of key policy recommendations intended for the United Nations and the international community. They include clear and practical measures on how the international community can help assist Iraq’s minorities, including the Yazidi community, prepare for voluntary return whilst living in camps or amongst host communities. Learning from other case studies, notably, the story of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) moving from excluded minority to confident participant, the Conference discussed what practical steps can be taken to improve mental health and well-being in camps to help refugees and displaced persons be prepared for the next phase of their lives.

•

The Third Conference once again draws together religious leaders, academics, practitioners and policy makers to consider how communities, both persecuted and marginalised – in all contexts – can learn from the successes and experiences of notable case studies; amongst others, LDS, Native Americans, Ahmadis and Huguenots. In each case, these communities have been able to mobilise spiritual and material resources to help overcome persecution and achieve, with varying degrees of success, reintegration. These ‘relative’ successes have been achieved

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by drawing upon the aspects of identity that are essential to the health of both individual and community, including faith, sovereignty, rights, culture and well-being. •

The Third Conference has once again been working with the Yazidi community. The Yazidis have a long history of persecution and speak of having suffered seventy-four genocides. A key reason for this sustained hostility is religious: for centuries the Yazidis have been portrayed as ‘devil worshippers’. This accusation is false, yet it persists and is highly destructive. Recognition that Yazidism is a world faith would help mitigate against further systematic persecution and genocide, pursuant to the Westminster Declaration and the Muslim Declaration. The Second Windsor Conference, therefore, called upon the world religions to recognise Yazidism as a world faith.

•

To that end, the Bishop of Derby, the Rt Revd Dr Alastair Redfern, represents the Church of England’s resources to enable empathetic dialogue and the forming of relationships that enable recognition and mutual respect. Such recognition of Yazidism as a world faith will be critical to not only preventing the persecution of the Yazidi community but also helping transform attitudes amongst the world’s other great religions towards communities persecuted because of faith. These critical steps towards mutual understanding and support provide insights into how to advance wider efforts to protect the Christian communion in the Middle East, which has come under enormous stress since the advent of groups drawing upon (errant) religious discourse to justify committing genocide. The Third Conference recommends that the world’s great religions are engaged directly by world leaders and international organisations to further prevent religious persecution in their names.

•

Drawing upon the lessons from the Second Conference, and the case studies under review, the Third Conference advocates for how the United Nations and members of the international community can help end religious persecution and advance the cause of reintegration. The Third Conference recognises the important mission carried out by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR), notably, the agency of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. However, it recognises the substantial challenges that the Special Rapporteur faces in persuading both states and hostile groups to desist from persecuting minorities. The Special Rapporteur has neither the authority nor the tools to achieve its mandate; the ‘Windsor methodology’, however, offers independent but supplementary support.

•

For example, AMAR’s extensive work in the area of religious tolerance and the provision of physical and mental health care in Iraq provides a practical example of how the United Nations – with the support of members states, international organisations and local CSOs – can address the consequences of persecution and aid the issue of reintegration at a local level. When deployed early, as part of an early warning measure or preventive intervention, AMAR’s approach, as a component of the wider Windsor methodology, can help offset persecution.

•

To that end, the objective of the Third Conference is to develop a methodology based upon the experiences of LDS, Native Americans, Ahmadis, Huguenots and AMAR’s practical interventions in Iraq (and other countries) that can be adopted by other communities under threat, and actionable recommendations for how the United Nations and international community can support them.

•

The methodology outlined in this report is an outcome of the Windsor Conference Series. It draws upon cumulative lessons learned in Windsor conferences and, more importantly, by those learned in the field; and helps persecuted communities articulate their circumstances – for themselves – before policy-makers, influencers and senior religious figures with the goal of ending persecution and achieving reintegration. The methodology also describes why, where and how success (in its varying degrees) has been achieved. It includes practical recommendations on how persecuted

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communities can build bridges, better leverage government policies, seek philanthropic support and develop relationships with other faith-based groups. •

The Third and final Windsor Conference aims to deliver a short report and methodology that can be used by persecuted communities to develop their own agency and leverage the support of the United Nations and international community in a timely and effective manner. By doing so, the Windsor Series concludes with a legacy that others can take forward in their own contexts.

Context The Second Windsor Conference report noted the scale of the global refugee crisis in 2017. In the intervening period, the situation has deteriorated further. As such, the context remains thus: •

The global refugee crisis has reached unprecedented levels, with 68.5 million people forced out of their homes. Out of 25.4 million refugees, more than 68% originate from five countries only: Syria (6.3 million); Afghanistan (2.6 million); South Sudan (2.4 million); Myanmar (1.2 million); and Somalia (986,400). The main regions hosting displaced people are Africa (31%) and MENA (14%), while Europe and the Americas host 31% (of which Turkey hosts 17%) and 3% respectively. While the refugee crisis garnered much international focus, the 40 million IDPs have received less attention.

•

While there are 250,708 Syrian refugees in Iraq, there are more than 2 million IDPs. The majority (87 per cent) of IDPs in Iraq reportedly come from three governorates: Ninewa (which witnessed brutal fighting between Iraqi security forces and armed groups of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), particularly around the city of Mosul), 57% (1,262,406); Salah al-Din, 14% (302,952); and Anbar, 13% (293,898), mostly from Ramadi and Falluja. The governorates hosting the largest IDP populations are: Ninewa, 30% (665,910 individuals); Dahuk, 16% (354,432); Erbil, 11% (232,164); Salah al-Din, 9% (205,182); Sulaymaniyah, 8% (165,630); Kirkuk, 7% (146,202); and Baghdad, 6% (128,064). Together these seven governorates host 86% of total IDPs in Iraq. The majority of Iraqi IDPs are living in private accommodation (over 1.8 million, including with host families or in rented accommodation); and more than 680,000 live in camps. Over 470,000 live in critical shelter arrangements, including unfinished buildings, abandoned buildings, schools and religious buildings.

•

The environment in Syria, Iraq and the surrounding states has changed since the Second Windsor Conference in 2017. Although there remains no political settlement in Syria, there are moves amongst states involved in the conflict to begin the process of reconstruction. Whilst reconstruction may offer refugees in Syria’s neighbouring states the prospect of return, they will remain both vulnerable and at grave risk unless the rebuilding process includes a political solution that offers them safety and security. Nonetheless, refugee communities in Syria’s neighbouring states will come under increasing pressure from host governments to return, and are already doing so. Consequently, communities under pressure to return or in the process of return will likely face threats to their human security, and the need for support to aid reintegration is even greater.

•

Since the Second Windsor Conference, ISIS has been defeated in Iraq; the reconstruction of cities and towns destroyed by conflict has begun, though the process of IED and mine clearance will be protracted; the KRG held and won a referendum on independence, but the Government of Iraq declared it null and avoid and deployed its forces in Kirkuk. Although members of the Yazidi community have started to return to Mount Sinjar, the territory remains contested and subject to continuing conflict.

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Earlier Recommendations The Conference reiterates its support for the recommendations in the Second Windsor Conference report and calls for them to be not only implemented, but also incorporated into the Windsor methodology. They include the following: •

The international community should recognise that refugee and IDP camps no longer provide refuge. The average time spent by refugees and displaced persons in camps is now 10.3 years. With over 5.1 million refugees living in camps and with host communities, it is clear that the current situation is simply unsustainable. There is a danger that it will give rise to further lost generations of refugees and displaced persons, in particular, but not exclusively, in the Middle East region. Unless refugee and IDP communities are equipped and enabled to return voluntarily or resettle, a long-term future in camps, or otherwise, will likely lead to widespread discontent and anomie, and come to pose a wider security threat to host countries and beyond.

•

Refugees and IDPs are not burdens; they are a tremendous resource, but without critical interventions that attend to their mental health, well-being and productivity, the prospect of successful reintegration will remain remote. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines mental health as “a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community”. WHO’s definition of health, contained in its constitution, stresses the positive dimension of mental health, as it states: “Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Refugees and IDPs require targeted projects that complement the United Nations’ Enhanced Humanitarian Response but give a higher priority to preparing displaced and refugee communities to either return voluntarily or resettle.

•

Whilst the United Nations and international community prioritise WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) when responding to humanitarian crises, they should give a higher priority to mental health and well-being. Whilst mental health and well-being may not at first appear essential issues to international organisations and donors, they are, in fact, critical not only to helping displaced communities address traumas suffered but also to preparing them for reintegration when time and circumstance allow. It is crucial to put in place early interventions to help communities affected by conflict begin to address the effects of such trauma, which have a long-term and detrimental impact upon societies. Without early mental health interventions, the prospect for successful reintegration of displaced communities in home countries, or otherwise, remains extremely low. Concomitantly, it stores up widespread and complex psychosocial issues that become manifest in the future and create near insurmountable challenges to both affected and host communities. Similarly, well-being includes physical health. Regular physical activity is key to preventing and treating noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and breast and colon cancer. NCDs are responsible for 71% of all deaths globally, including the deaths of 15 million people per year aged 30 to 70. Although there are numerous approaches to addressing mental health issues, the Windsor Conference identifies two approaches particularly pertinent to the Middle East, and especially, the Yazidi community: faith and spirituality; and music. President of LDS Charities, Sharon Eubank, highlighted this in her remarks at Chatham House: LDS Charities realised there was no way individuals had to renew the white religious clothing so significant to the older Yazidi people. This was causing emotional stress. One of the efforts in the northern camps was to purchase the traditional and religiously

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significant white cloth and deliver it to tailors so that white dresses might be sewn in the proscribed fashion for the Yazidi religious women. These are all examples that say: I understand and support your need to connect to your God in the way you deem best. That support is something that matters greatly at the tent level. Something else important at the tent level is music. Having been with many Yazidi friends in northern Iraq, I know it’s impossible to overstate how much of a role music plays in every-day Yazidi life. Dr Ali’s research said music was helpful beyond anti-psychotic drugs. Mormon pioneers square danced after walking 20 miles days in order to ‘rest’. It is both performing and also listening to the music that heals and creates unity and harmony – literally. Baroness Nicholson has suggested a musical exchange among Kings Choir at Cambridge and Yazidi camps. Our friend and violinist Michael Bochmann has offered help to record and archive examples of the rich Yazidi musical tradition. •

United Nations agencies and the international community, which support some mental health interventions, should break with the ‘secular’ approach and give great consideration to the role of faith in refugee and IDP lives. Greater recognition should be given to the role that religion, faith and spirituality play in community life. Religion is central to life in the Middle East region (and elsewhere) and is an integral part of daily practice and behaviours. Religion, faith and spirituality help bind communities together and can help them move from persecution to integration. The Church of Jesus Christ’s and the LDS’ journey from persecution to integration provides an example of how the testimony of existence, truth, belief and conviction can help transform the resilience, well-being and productivity of faith-based communities, when faced with persistent adversity. As the President of LDS Charities, Sharon Eubank, said in her introductory remarks at the Second Windsor Conference: The most pressing initial need in refugee settings is always the tangible aspects of life: shelter, sanitation, clothing food and diligent and heroic work is being done in this area. But chipping up the old wood from the now dead tree does nothing to inspire a new tree to grow. If we neglect to nurture the ‘inner plant’ – the divine spirit inside each individual living in extreme circumstance – then we instead sow seeds for additional extremity. How does that fragile seedling grow back into a tree? What contributes to communities growing out of persecution and into successful integration? To paraphrase Gordon B. Hinckley, a past president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he said in essence: every person in this kind of effort needs a friend, meaningful work, and the freedom to practice sincere beliefs. The international community should therefore recognise the value that communities themselves place upon faith and the role it can play in restoring lost confidence and mobilising members to a common positive good. The United Nations and international community should actively pursue faith-based mental health interventions. The United Nations and international community rightly focus on providing shelter as a first response to humanitarian crises. Providing material shelter is critical to protect against inclement weather. However, spiritual and emotional shelter is important too, but poorly recognised as such. Early mental health interventions can provide disparate faith-based communities with spiritual shelter and rekindle a sense of belonging, hope and a conviction to work towards reintegration. Spiritual shelter lends itself to beginning an internal nurturing process, which in turn is vital to serving the interests of peace building and co-existence and resisting the draw of extremism. The United Nations and international community should

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invest in mental health interventions that provide spiritual shelter, as a first step to restoring community resilience and promoting safe and successful reintegration. •

The Conference strongly recommends that music be adopted as a tool of mental health care immediately. Appreciation of music is universal, and it holds a unique power to cross boundaries and culture and create social and spiritual connectivity amongst members of communities separated by trauma, and also between different cultures and communities. The power of music to move, engender empathy and build pathways between and amongst peoples is known, but rarely given priority when intervening in humanitarian crises.

•

The Windsor Conference calls upon the United Nations and the international community to invest in programmes that recognise and prioritise the importance of mental health and wellbeing. Psycho-social rehabilitation programmes that specialise in music, culture and spirituality will complement the United Nations’ cluster approach to protection, provision of legal documentation, protection of land and property rights, prevention and response to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), peace building and co-existence activities, amongst others.

•

The Third Conference further recognises that in order for the United Nations, member states, international organisations and CSOs to implement the recommendations outlined above, they require a ‘tool-kit’ and methodology to work together.

•

The Conference identifies a number of critical tools required for ending persecution and helping the process of reintegration, which amounts to re-engaging in state and society without surrendering key beliefs or religious practices. These tools include, but are not limited to, the following:

Leveraging aspects of identity: rights, religious expression and title •

The recommendations from the Second Windsor Conference emphasise the importance of identity in helping communities suffering from persecution in restoring their confidence and returning to an active and productive life. They highlight the importance of faith, music, dance, poetry and literature and other cultural expressions in maintaining the coherence of communities, especially when they are under threat or face persecution.

•

Identity is a socially and historically constructed concept. We learn about our own identity and the identity of others through interactions with family, peers, organisations, religious and cultural institutions. Key aspects of identity – such as ethnicity, religion, race, social class, age and disability – play significant roles in determining how we understand and experience the world. Social and cultural identity are inextricably linked to issues of power, value systems, and ideology. The media uses representations – images, words, and characters or personae – to convey specific ideas and values related to culture and identity in society.

•

The Third Conference considers a number of structural factors that the United Nations, international community, international organisations and civil society groups can draw upon to help persecuted communities to secure their identity, recover, return voluntarily and reintegrate in their respective countries. These factors pertain to the rudiments of rights, religious expression and title.

•

Communities can help secure their identities either in situ or in exile by means of international law and the rights afforded to them through its instruments and mechanisms. For example, the freedom of religious expression is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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Human rights: freedom of religion and belief •

First, human rights are universal rights. In the first sentence of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is stated that: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” As a universal human right, to which all human beings are entitled, freedom of religion or belief must be interpreted broadly. It cannot be confined to particular lists of religious or belief-related ‘options’ predefined by states, within which people are supposed to remain. Instead, the starting point must be the self-definition of all human beings in the vast area of religions and beliefs, which includes identity-shaping existential convictions as well as various practices connected to such convictions.

•

Second, in its general comment No. 22 (1993) on the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, the Human Rights Committee corroborated such an open, inclusive understanding by clarifying that Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights protects theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs as well as the right not to profess any religion or belief, and that the terms ‘belief’ and ‘religion’ are to be broadly construed. The Human Rights Committee also stressed that Article 18 is not limited in its application to traditional religions or to religions and beliefs with institutional characteristics or practices analogous to those of traditional religions.

Legislation and jurisdiction in many states do not adequately reflect the full scope of this human right by often restricting its application to predefined types of religions while excluding non-traditional beliefs and practices. Limiting the enjoyment of freedom of religion or belief to members of ‘recognised’ religions is also in violation of the spirit and letter of universal human rights. Accordingly, freedom of religion or belief also includes the rights of members of large and small communities, minorities and minorities within minorities, traditionalists and liberals, converts and reconverts, dissenters and other critical voices and, last but not least, women, who sadly still occupy marginalised positions within many religious traditions. As Theodore Zeldin, renowned Oxford scholar and AMAR Trustee, opined: Toleration is not enough, because it can easily become indifference. People want to be understood and appreciated, and to feel that they are contributing something valuable to society. Disagreement has increased over the centuries, and is likely to increase in the future … as people become more educated and therefore more critical, each with an independent opinion based on the different knowledge and memory that guide each individual. We can expect more disagreement within and between religions; the number of denominations and independent churches will increase relentlessly. One answer is to make disagreement fruitful, so that people from different points of view put their heads together and find new horizons of equal importance to them. This means learning how to disagree. Another answer is to focus not on dogma, but on behaviour. It is easier to agree about what is desirable and undesirable conduct, and what ambitions are worthy. The early Christian Church was far less dogmatic than it became when bishops combined to stamp out heresy (a word that originally meant only ‘opinion’); and 18th century England revived this attitude. Both answers seem to me to be worth exploring further.

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•

Third, freedom of religion or belief is a multifaceted right. It empowers human beings in the entire sphere of religious and non-religious convictions, conscience-based positions and religious practices that may be exercised by individuals and communities. This includes the development of religious or belief-related identities, the autonomous organisation of religious community life and the intergenerational transmission of religions or beliefs.

Human rights and the constitution •

However, governments can promote the primacy of one religion and a particular interpretation in order to define national or cultural identity. The singling out of specific religions or beliefs for special protection as part of a national heritage can lead to formal entrenchment in the constitution or in other legal statutes, which runs in contravention to international law, as noted above. In cases where religious freedom is also enshrined in state constitutions, the recourse to international law gives the international community and others a strong case to provide a legal framework for protecting persecuted communities. This is a persuasive tool in the hands of the United Nations and the international community, especially as the rights afforded to all under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is reinforced by a state constitution. In the case of Iraq’s constitution: Article 2 states: – Islam is the official religion of the State and it is a fundamental source of legislation: – No law that contradicts the established provisions of Islam may be established. – Second: This Constitution guarantees the Islamic identity of the majority of the Iraqi people and guarantees the full religious rights of all individuals to freedom of religious belief and practice such as Christians, Yazidis, and Mandi Sabaeans. Furthermore, Article 10 states: – The holy shrines and religious places in Iraq are religious and cultural entities. The State is committed to confirming and safeguarding their sanctity, and guaranteeing the free practice of rituals in them. And Article 14 states: – Iraqis are equal before the law without discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, origin, colour, religion, creed, belief or opinion, or economic and social status.

•

It is clear that the Iraqi constitution affords full religious rights to all individuals and, therefore, provides a clear platform from which all communities, including the Yazidis, are protected by law and should live free from persecution. Of course, the implementation of the constitution is another matter altogether; but the fact that the freedom of religious belief and practice is enshrined in it gives significant leverage to the international community when working with the Government of Iraq and supporting communities brutalised by conflict.

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•

The case of the Ahmadi communities in Pakistan, on the other hand, highlights the profound shortcomings of a legal approach, where they are discriminated against by the constitution. The Ahmadi Muslim Community was founded in India in 1889 and claims membership estimated at around 20 million spread over 190 countries. Although they believe in all the five pillars and articles of faith required of Muslims, the Ahmadis are considered heretics and are, therefore, persecuted because they believe that the long-awaited Messiah has come in the person of their founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908). Ahmad recognised the teachings of the great religious founders and saints, including Zoroaster, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu and Guru Nanak, and explained how such teachings converged into the one true Islam. Ahmadi Muslims denounce violence and live by a code of peace epitomised by the community’s motto ‘Love for All, Hatred for None’, inculcating the meaning of Jihad as striving to free oneself of impurities for the pleasure of God. Condemning all violence in the strongest possible terms, they have nurtured a spirit of allegiance to the countries in which they reside.

•

The Pakistani constitution declares Islam as the state religion and was amended, in 1980, to bind the legal system to Islamic law declaring “no law shall be repugnant to the teaching, and requirement of Islam as set out in the Holy Quran and Sunnah, and all existing laws shall be brought into conformity therewith.”

•

The Shari’a Act of 1991 declared all laws to be in accordance with Islam and judges and lawyers to interpret laws in accordance with the Islamic faith. The Presidential Order of 1980 created the Federal Shariat court, which holds the jurisdiction to declare any law repugnant to the Holy Quran or Sunnah. Thus, it is argued by critics that the judicial system practises institutionalised discrimination against non-Muslims and deliberately targets the Ahmadi community. In fact, the Second Amendment of the Pakistani Constitution in 1974 declares Ahmadis to be non-Muslims. Below is a list of penal codes, known as the blasphemy laws, which are believed to discriminate against the Ahmadi community: – 295A – Deliberate acts that outrage feelings – Ten years – 295B – Defiling the Holy Quran – Life in Prison – 295C – Derogatory remarks to the Holy Prophet – Death or Life in Prison – 298A – Derogatory Remarks about Holy Personages – Three Years – 298B – Misuse of Holy Epithets or Titles – Three Years – 298C – Ahmadi claiming to be Muslim – Three Years

•

Another legal area where Ahmadis are discriminated against is elections. Following Pakistan’s foundation in 1947, all the national elections to the provincial and national assemblies were conducted on the basis of joint electorate system, and Ahmadis participated in elections like the rest of the population. However, Prime Minister Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto introduced a change in the electoral system in 1976 by allocating a few additional seats to religious minorities in assemblies, over and above their normal rights in the general arrangement. As Ahmadis did not accept the imposed status of non-Muslim minority, handed down to them through the Second Amendment to the Constitution, they never availed themselves of these seats, although there was an occasional case whereby the government nominated a non-representative to fill the vacancy that was never requested nor accepted by the Ahmadi community. President Ziaul-Haq imposed the system of Separate Electorate for party-less elections in 1985. The Separate Electorate System divided the Pakistani polity into numerous entities based on religion, where

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electoral lists are prepared for different religious groups. Those who claim to be Muslim must sign a certificate of faith in ‘the end of prophethood’ and deny the veracity of the founder of Ahmadi Muslim Community. •

President Pervez Musharraf, pressed by the West, brought about some changes in the system; however, he stopped short of ending the system of a separate electorate. In response to pressure from Muslim leaders, on 17 June 2002 General Musharaf issued Chief Executive Order No. 15, ‘Conduct of General Elections (Second Amendment) Order’, which created a separate ‘supplementary list of voters’ in which Ahmadi voters were placed as ‘non-Muslim’. The Order also provided a procedure in Article 7C whereby Muslim voters were required to sign a declaration accepting the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophethood of Muhammad, whereby those who refused to sign the certificate were to be deleted from the joint electoral rolls and added to a supplementary list of voters in the same electoral area as non-Muslims. These discriminatory provisions are contained as Articles 7B and 7C in the Chief Executive Order No. 7 of 2002 (as amended by Chief Executive Order No. 15). By 2017, a parliamentary committee undertook some revision of the main Electorate Rolls Act 1974 and had the new Election Act 2017 approved by the Parliament. Again, this Act requires every candidate who claims to be Muslim to make a declaration of belief on oath. A similar declaration is required from all individuals who claim to be Muslim and who apply for an Identity Card from NADRA, the authority that prepares voters lists from its records. The declaration is reproduced below: I believe in the absolute and unqualified finality of the Prophethood of Muhammad (peace be upon him), the last of the prophets and that I am not the follower of anyone who claims to be a prophet in any sense of the word or of any description whatsoever after Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and that I do not recognize such a claimant to be prophet or a religious reformer, nor do I belong to the Qadiani group or the Lahori group, or call myself an Ahmadi.

•

As a result of this discriminatory legal provision, for decades now no Ahmadi has been represented in any assembly, be it national, provincial, district or even local. Furthermore, Ahmadis have no representation in the town council of Rabwah, their own town and centre, where 95% of residents are Ahmadis.

•

The Constitution and application of these specific laws provide little, if any, recourse for nonMuslims in general, and Ahmadis in particular, to domestic or international law. The contestation over which authority ultimately defines what constitutes a Muslim is in direct contravention to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. For example, mainstream Islamic leaders object to the Ahmadi sect referring to themselves as Muslims. Ahmadis view themselves as Muslim and act accordingly, using Muslim greetings and naming their children Muhammad. These practices violate penal codes 298A, 298B, 298C and, employing a wide interpretation of the words ‘deliberate, derogatory, and outrage’, 295A and 295C. As such, Islamic interest groups may legally discriminate against anyone they decide is a non-Muslim.

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For too long, the practice of religious persecution (whether defined as genocide or not) has been attributed to ‘unique’ and ‘distinctive’ moments of gross human misbehaviour in history. In fact, AMAR research into the subject matter, which covers over 500 years, two continents and over half a dozen religions, shows that persecution is a permanent feature of our nature and should be recognised as such. With that knowledge, early warning detections systems could be easily set in place and timely interventions and curative actions deployed sooner. The international

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community missed the rise of ISIS in spite of its deployment of the well-documented practice of the Nazis of identifying and marshalling its victims by age and gender. We could have all saved many thousands of lives had we identified religious persecution as it was going on. •

Too much time and energy were spent on arguing whether ISIS actions against communities such as the Yazidis constituted genocide, rather than shaping a response, because the recognition of genocide would have triggered immediate actions from United Nations member states, in accordance with Chapter 7. Moreover, the international political system of states is geared towards saving secular nationalism rather than shaping interventions to save religious communities or communities under threat of religious persecution.

Separation of powers •

The Human Rights Council Resolution 35/29 of 23 June 2017 “encourages all relevant stakeholders to promote and enhance cooperation between their national parliaments and national human rights institutions and civil society in the promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.” The Third Windsor Conference recognises the importance of the separation of powers as key to establishing and maintaining checks and balances on the exercise of authority. However, for the separation of powers to serve the interests of all citizens, states need to take into account the temporal and spiritual needs of their citizens. Whilst religious authorities exercise stewardship and guidance over their followers, they must remain accountable to the authority of the state; singular religious institutions should not capture the state. Nevertheless, the state must also recognise that faith is integral to identity and spiritual and physical well-being and, therefore, should not be marginalised from the governing mechanisms of the state.

Title and rights •

Title and rights to lands is another structural factor that can offer leverage to some persecuted and displaced communities, as it provides a means to establish or re-establish a presence in homelands, especially where the issue of title is contested by the state. The Conference learns from the experience of the First Nations in North America and the rights that ensued from the Royal Proclamation in 1763.

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The Royal Proclamation sets out guidelines for European settlement of Aboriginal territories in what is now North America. King George III issued the Royal Proclamation in 1763 to claim British territory in North America officially, following the Seven Years War. In the Royal Proclamation, ownership over North America is issued to King George. However, the Royal Proclamation explicitly states that Aboriginal title has existed and continues to exist, and that all land would be considered Aboriginal land until ceded by treaty. The Proclamation forbade settlers from claiming land from the Aboriginal occupants unless it has been first bought by the Crown and then sold to the settlers. The Royal Proclamation further sets out that only the Crown can buy land from First Nations. And We do further declare it to be Our Royal Will and Pleasure, for the present as aforesaid, to reserve under our Sovereignty, Protection, and Dominion, for the use of the said Indians, all the Lands and Territories not included within the Limits of Our said Three new Governments, or within the Limits of the Territory granted to the Hudson’s Bay Company, as also all the Lands and Territories lying to the Westward of the Sources of the Rivers which fall into the Sea from the West and North West as aforesaid. And We do hereby strictly forbid, on Pain of our Displeasure, all our loving Subjects from

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making any Purchases or Settlements whatever, or taking Possession of any of the Lands above reserved, without our especial leave and Licence for that Purpose first obtained. •

The Royal Proclamation was an important step towards recognising Aboriginal rights and title, including the right to self-determination. Aboriginal title refers to the inherent Aboriginal right to land or a territory. The Canadian legal system recognises Aboriginal title as a sui generis, or unique collective right to the use of and jurisdiction over a group’s ancestral territories. This right is not granted from an external source but is a result of Aboriginal peoples’ own occupation of and relationship with their home territories as well as their on-going social structures and political and legal systems. As such, Aboriginal title and rights are separate from rights afforded to nonAboriginal Canadian citizens under Canadian common law. Over time, various court decisions have contributed to this definition of title. Along with defining Aboriginal title in more precise terms, these court decisions have further set parameters to how the Crown may justifiably infringe upon Aboriginal title.

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Arguably, the Royal Proclamation is valid in Canada, since no law has overruled it. The Royal Proclamation was enshrined in Section 25 of the Constitution Act; this section of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees that nothing can terminate or diminish the Aboriginal rights outlined in the Proclamation. The Royal Proclamation was also applied to the United States; however, American independence from Great Britain after the Revolutionary War rendered it no longer applicable. As such, the United States compromised the Aboriginal rights enshrined in the Constitution Act and undermined the sovereignty of the Aboriginal peoples. The United States, however, eventually created its own similar law in the Indian Intercourse Acts.

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Although a historical precedent, the case of the First Nations in eighteenth-century North America provides a clear example and instruction to communities in the twenty-first century that moves by governments or terrorist organisations such as ISIS to deny formal title, land rights and citizenship can be overcome and, with the support of international actors, they can be reinstated.

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The Third Windsor Conference builds upon the successes of its first and second iterations. The First Windsor Conference investigated the manifestations of religious persecution amongst contemporary and historical communities. The Second Conference provided a series of clear and practical measures on how the international community can help Iraq’s minorities, specifically the Yazidi community, prepare for voluntary return, whilst living in camps or amongst host communities. Learning from other case studies, notably the Church of the LDS, the Conference discussed what practical steps can be taken to improve mental health and well-being in camps to help refugees and displaced persons be prepared for the next phase of their lives. The Third Conference further develops some of the earlier recommendations with a view to helping the United Nations, international community and CSOs leverage aspects of international law to support their efforts.

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The present situation •

Yazidi music is not written down and therefore relies completely on being passed down from teacher to pupil. So an environment where this is possible needs to be established or re-established.

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A factor that needs to be taken into account is that playing Yazidi music is often seen as an expression of patriotism; so Yazidi people are frequently reluctant to play, in the light of the horrifying atrocities that have been committed against people who make their Yazidi nationality known.

•

Now that ISIS is no longer quite the threat that it was until very recently, it is a good time for Yazidi people to re-establish pride in their music and their nationality.

The nature of Yazidi music •

There are three types of Yazidi music: folk music, the patriotic ‘sad’ music and religious music. Folk music is the most regularly performed. Religious music, it appears, is in grave danger of not being passed on to another generation. The status of the patriotic ‘sad’ music is not clear to us.

•

Music is central to the Yazidi religion and it cannot be learnt as a separate subject from that religion. In the same way, many of the songs are connected to agriculture and cannot be learnt except in the context of the land.

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Steps to address the situation People •

Draw up a list of Yazidi people who understand the situation and can discuss and come up with a sensible plan of action.

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Identify respected Yazidi musicians and teachers who are prepared to spend time with aspiring musicians.

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Identify one particular Yazidi musician to lead on a project of systematic re-establishment of Yazidi music. Only a well-known Yazidi musician who commands general respect can do this.

Building •

Establish a centre where Yazidi music can be studied seriously and the teachers and students can establish a timetable of lessons.

•

A building where Yazidi music is studied regularly needs tuition rooms and a central space or hall to perform. However, it is also important to realise that Yazidi music has a different place in the life of the people to that of the West, and that tuition will almost certainly take a different form. Someone from a Western culture will not have the inside understanding to do this.

Action plan précis •

Search for music leaders and teachers.

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Find a leader with the passion to start a re-establishment of Yazidi music.

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Establish a Centre and building where a teaching programme may start.

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Whereas the First and Second conferences identified the scale of the problem and recommended what could be done to address the issue, the Third Conference focuses more on how it can be achieved and how others can replicate the methodology and apply it to other cases.

Windsor Methodology •

The methodology is an outcome of the Windsor Conference Series. It draws upon cumulative lessons learned in Windsor conferences and, more importantly, by those learned in the field, and helps persecuted communities articulate their circumstances – for themselves – before policy-makers, influencers and senior religious figures with the goal of ending persecution and achieving reintegration. The methodology also describes why, where and how success (in its varying degrees) has been achieved. It includes practical recommendations on how persecuted communities can build bridges, better leverage government policies, seek philanthropic support and develop relationships with other faith-based groups.

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The Windsor methodology, as it has become known, is based upon six elements. – First, active participation with communities affected by persecution, conflict and displacement is important in ending persecution and promoting reintegration. AMAR’s extensive operations in theatres, notably in but not exclusive to Iraq, has enabled it to work with diverse communities, all of which have been affected by conflict, especially the Yazidi community. AMAR has not only provided essential health services throughout Iraq but has supported widespread efforts to combat religious discrimination.

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In doing so, AMAR worked with CSOs, religious leaders, IDPs, government organisations and other communities. – AMAR has worked to develop curricula on religious tolerance, human rights, gender equality with local university professors, who in turn have taught CSOs, religious and community leaders, teachers and other university professors. Its latest iteration had an impact in Basra, Maysan and Thi Qar in southern Iraq. AMAR has co-ordinated its activities closely with the Ministry of Education and the Directorates of Education in all three locations. To date, it has taught over 3,000 school students and will reach a total of 10,000 students towards the end of the three-year project. Moreover, ten CSOs have been fully trained, as have 36 religious and community leaders, drawn from all faiths in Iraq. Furthermore, AMAR offered prisoners literacy and numeracy education in order to facilitate their access to human rights teaching, improve their life chances and reduce their need to resort to violence. – Second, the Conference Series has drawn upon the support – intellectual, experiential and historical – of communities who have negotiated the journey from exclusion to participation, including the LDS, the Ahmadis and North American Indians. For example, the LDS contribution to supporting Iraq’s communities played an important role in informing the Windsor Series, but its own history in moving from persecution towards integration has provided considerable insight into how communities such as the Yazidis and others can navigate their current existential challenges and remain hopeful for a brighter future. The active presence of the LDS, as a living and breathing case study, has proven invaluable and inspirational too. In a recent address to graduands at BYU, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland made a very pertinent remark that resonates with the subject matter of the Windsor Series: No child should have to go to school fearful that they won’t live to see their parents that evening. No citizenry should have to live with leaders – pick a nation, any nation, put a pin in a world map almost at random – where corruption is rampant, chaos is the order of the day and statesman-like character, elevated (to say nothing of elegant) speech, and dignified personal behaviour are seemingly alien concepts. No young people your age – or any age – ought to face conditions in so many places where poverty and abuse (including sexual abuse), malnutrition and disease, human trafficking and terror are still the rule rather than the exception for too many people, including too many children. – Third, the Conference series has convened intense and insightful meetings that drew together an active group, including leaders and youth members from the communities under consideration, notably, the Yazidi community; a wide range of religious leaders, including all faiths in Iraq; practitioners from United Nations agencies and local CSOs deployed in Iraq; AMAR colleagues from the field; academics from leading institutions; government officials from the United Kingdom and the United States; and experts in mental health care. The ability to convene such a group, which comprises community leaders and members, practitioners, decision-makers, religious leaders and influencers, has given the Windsor Series an opportunity not only to inform the approach of the international community but also influence its operations on the ground to better effect.

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– Fourth, the series has benefitted from the support of the Church of England and the commitment of Lambeth Palace. This was of especial value in meeting with the Yazidis and helping advance their cause not only with the Anglian Communion but also the world’s religions. Lambeth Palace’s work with the International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion and Belief to help develop parliamentarians across the world to be better advocates for Article 18 has only served to complement and reinforce the efforts of the Windsor process. – Fifth, the process has benefited enormously from the leadership of Baroness Nicholson, who not only drives forward the important work of AMAR but can also draw upon her considerable experience in the British and European parliaments and active service as Trade Envoy to Iraq, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. Baroness Nicholson’s ability to meet with some of the world’s most influential leaders has helped highlight the pernicious effects of religious persecution and garner support in addressing them. – Sixth, and arguably the most important element, has been the role played by leaders and members of the communities themselves. The Windsor Series has placed great emphasis on the communities developing their own capacity not only to articulate their plight and need for support but also to communicate better to domestic and international audiences the facets of their faith that have allowed groups such as ISIS to demonise them and persuade other disenfranchised groups to lose empathy with their plight.

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1924: Indian Citizenship Act.

Right to vote.

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Yes

Native lands are held ‘in trust’ by the US Gov’t for Native Americans and much of it is ‘owned’ by tribal communities so individual land ownership is not possible.

Indian Claims Commission (until 1978) and then US Court of Claims administered reparations through land, cash, tribal recognition. US Senate passed resolution on apology. Cobell Settlement (Dept of Interior): scholarships, individual payments, land settlement.

Right to stand for office.

Right to own property.

Restitution and property restoration.

1968: Indian Civil Rights Act.

1948: all states grant right to vote.

1500–1890

Dates of Genocide and Persecution.

Native American

1790: special revolutionary law which provided for the restitution of confiscated property.

1789: revolutionary Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen held right to property inviable.

Yes

1789: revolutionary Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen granted French men over 25 who paid taxes the right to vote.

1572, 1685

Huguenots

Ottoman and Turkish seizure of Armenian property, including Armenian Church property and assets remains unresolved. A US insurance company has paid reparations to Armenian entities.

Yes

1915–1922

Armenians

Many difficulties still exist for Jewish people attempting to reclaim Holocaust-era stolen or confiscated property particularly in Eastern European and former Yugoslavia and from Russia.

Yes

1941–1945

Holocaust

Refugees and displaced persons struggle for property and compensation of property destroyed in the war even with help of international community. 2011: National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia passed Law on Restitution of Confiscated Property.

Yes

1995

Bosnians

Reconciliation Facility (IPRF) and Commission on the Resolution of Real Property Disputes (CRRPD) were established after the Saddam regime was toppled, but little progress has been made and no casework has been done on claims since the 2014 ISIL invasion.

Iraqi Property

Complicated in wake of forced resettlement and collectivisation of Yazidis during the Arabisation period. Yazidis await the referendum in accordance with Article 140 Iraqi constitution on future status of “disputed areas”.

Yazidis have political representation at local (Sinjar area), regional (Kurdistan Regional Parliament), and national (Iraqi parliament) levels. Also in Nineweh provincial council. Single reserved seat for Yazidis in Parliament.

Yazidis in Iraq have the right to vote and stand for all political offices.

2014–

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Annex 1 – Comparative chart of post-conflict social integration of groups persecuted because of religious or ethnic identity (2018)

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1924: Indian Citizenship Act was meant to help Native Americans assimilate into the United States, but allowed for their citizenship to be shared between their tribe and the US.

Legal discrimination in jobs sector.

Legal recognition of religious and legally acceptable religious and cultural difference while being full citizens.

Native American

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Yes

Huguenots

Government bodies in Germany, France, Russia, Sweden, USA and other nations have accepted the Armenian genocide. The European Parliament in 2015 has done so as well.

Turkey denies the Armenian genocide and refuses to use the term genocide in relation to the murder off 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 and beyond. Armenians.

Armenians

Yes

Holocaust

2010: Serbian Parliament apologises for the 1995 Srebrenica massacre.

2002: two of Bosnia’s regions, Serb Republic and the Bosniak-Croat Federation omitted the 1992–95 in history textbooks.

Bosnians

Government regulations prevent conversion of Muslims to other faiths; laws in place that: 1) require conversion of minor children to Islam if either parent converts to Islam; 2) outlaw practice of some faiths; and 3) override religious tenets of individuals adhering to non-Muslim faiths with Islamic law principles.

Yazidis continue to suffer from the forced ‘Arabisation’ (1960s–2000s) that destroyed their villages and forced them to register their identity as Arabs. Some claim a ‘Kurdification’ is now under way. Also controversy over a new national identity card.

Formal and informal practices undermine Yazidi employment in the public service (such as becoming judges). In 2016 Iraqi Parliament enacted law banning import, production, and sale of alcohol and alcoholic beverages that has had an impact on some Yazidi businesses.

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Annex 1 – continued

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Some acceptance of language, music and art as valuable and worth preserving.

Identification of the persecution, ethnic cleansing or genocide in the nation’s history.

National Museum of the American Indian opened in Washington, DC in 2004 in addition to many museums throughout the United States.

1916: Museum of the American Indian in New York City.

School text books teach Native American removal.

By Edict of Nantes (1598) ca. 1.2 million H. and at its Revocation (1685) dropped to ca. 1 mill. 200,000 spread through Europe, UK contribute to benefit of host countries in many fields. Amongst most successful refugee groups in UK. British H. names: Churchill, De Morgan, Romilly, du Maurier, Latrobe, Martineau, Roget, Olivier, Portal, de Ste. Croix, de Glanville, FitzClarence.

Some French museums dedicated to history of Huguenots. Ca. 2 mill. H. in France by St Bartholomew’s Day Massacre (1572)

School text books teach French Wars of Religion and persecution of Huguenots.

2009: presidential apology offered in appropriations bill.

2000: Bureau of Indian affairs offers apology.

1985: President Mitterrand issued official apology to Huguenots and a commemorative postage stamp released to honour “Tolerance, Pluralism, Brotherhood.

Huguenots

1993: joint Congressional resolution signed into law apologizes to Native Hawaiians.

Native American

2013: Armenian Culture, Art, and History section of the Diyarbakir City Museum opened at Sourp Gragos Church.

2007: Cathedral of the Holy Cross controversially restored by Turkish govt and reopened as museum. Govt denied Armenian community request to hold church services in the cathedral.

Turkey refuses to recognise the Armenian genocide. 1919: near Taksim Square, Istanbul memorial to Armenians erected, dismantled 1922. Turkish school education denies Armenian genocide (Armenian matter). Official government entities take a hostile stance against any Armenian claims.

Armenians

Jewish contributions in all fields of human endeavour acknowledged in Europe and internationally.

Museums dedicated to Jewish history and civilization exist throughout Europe (East and West), North America, a few places in Latin America, Australia, Turkey, S. Africa.

2003: Srebrenica Genocide Memorial established in Bosnia. Education ctr & annual ‘burial’ service held.

Holocaust is mandatory in German education system.

National Museum of Bosnia-Herzegovina in Sarajevo re-opened in 2015 but amidst complaints from the ‘National’ Museum in Banja Luka in Bosnia’s Serb Republic.

2015: Višegrad mayor removes word ‘genocide’ from memorial in cemetery amidst controversy.

2017: Bosnia’s Serb Republic leader banned teaching siege of Sarajevo, genocide in Srebrenica.

Bosnians

Since WWII Holocaust museums and memorials exist throughout Europe (East and West) and North America.

Holocaust

Education infrastructure is weak and Yazidis maintain a critical distance towards educational institutions.

Kurdistan Regional Government created Department of Yazidi affairs in the religious ministry. KRG renovated the Yazidis’ second holiest shrine.

KRG has launched a commission to investigate crimes of genocide, and uncover mass graves.

2014: KRG established in Duhok Genocide Office to identify Crimes against Kurdish People Outside of the KRG that serves Yazidis.

Iraqi Parliament has not recognised Yazidi genocide.

Yazidis

Religious Persecution – The Driver for Forced Migration

Annex 1 – continued

12/09/2018 15:03

European interaction with indigenous populations reduced these from ca. 80 million to 3 million through disease, massacres, slavery, resettlement, intertribal conflict, etc. US America native population experienced some systematic military massacres at Sand Creek, Bear River, Washita River, Wounded Knee, etc. and also forced migration and resettlement away from sacred sites.

During the 1800s, the bodies of Native Americans were sometimes mutilated upon capture, either living or dead.

The Cherokee Indians were exposed to extreme cold, hunger and disease on their forcible expulsion. Other tribes suffered deprivations and resettlement lands were often harsh.

Killing members of group.

Causing serious bodily or mental harm.

Deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about torture, physical destruction in part or whole.

Native American

CHHJ6424-Religious-Persecution-report-180912.indd 32

Huguenots were forced to migrate in extreme weather conditions.

as a symbol of their uncleanliness.

The mutilation and display of Huguenot bodies was practiced, disembowelled, with their entrails displayed,

40,000–80,000 Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants) butchered by decree and mob violence. French Wars of Religion between 1562–98 ended by Edict of Nantes (1598). Revoked by Crown in 1685 Huguenot churches and schools closed, conversions forced and ca. half a million Huguenots expelled through forced migration.

Huguenots

Armenians were tortured and forced into death marches to death camps and systematically destroyed by the State.

Ottomans mutilated bodies of living people. Chopping off limbs and disfiguring face. Bodies were burned and Armenians underwent other tortures.

1.5 million of 2 million Armenian Christians murdered in Ottoman Empire by systematic massacres conducted by Committee for Union and Progress. Persecution also included destruction worship sites, forced conversion, migration, conscription, and exile.

Armenians

Nazis camps were designed to wear down, torture, exhaust, and systematically exter-minate Jewish people. Cattle car deportations where many died or suffered illness. Death camps and death marches.

Jews were routinely humiliated and beaten in civil society and in camps. Various tortures, physical and psychological were used in camps including working until exhaustion and death.

through ‘the systematic, bureaucratic, statesponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators’ through death camps, killing squads, gas chambers, malnutrition, science experiments, death marches, and exhaustion through slave labour. Places of worship destroyed.

6 million Jews murdered

Holocaust

Many bodies from the Srebrenica massacre were bound and mutilated before they were killed.

8,000+ Bosnian Muslim men and boys murdered systematically by Bosnian-Serb military (Army of the Republika Srpska) in UN safe havens Srebrenica and Zepa. The wider ethnic cleansing campaign (1992–95) resulted in the deaths of 100,000 Bosnian Muslims and Croatians.

Bosnians

IS fighters trapped more than 50,000 Yazidis on Mount Sinjar and allowed extreme exposure and starvation to destroy them.

Many female captives of IS rather commit suicide than continue to live in deplorable conditions as sex slaves. Women are psychologically tortured and boys are turned against their families.

3,000 Yazidi men systematically murdered by so-called Islamic State (Daesh) at Sinjar and Kocho, with 5,000 Yazidi dying in total and at least 5,000 women and girls forced into sex slavery, elderly lost, children forced to be IS fighters. Yazidis forced from ancestral lands and sacred sites.

Yazidis

Religious Persecution – The Driver for Forced Migration

Annex 2 – Groups persecuted because of religious or ethnic identity (2016)

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During Colonization, women were targeted to be raped or killed as a means to decrease population.

Imposing measures intended to prevent birth within group: euthanasia, rape, sexual slavery, sterilisation, forced abortions.

The Indian Removal Act is notorious example of forced resettlement. 16,000 Cherokee removed by force, 4,000 died underway. 3,000 Seminoles massacred. Creek tribe alone lost 22 million acres in Georgia, Alabama. Children taken from parents.

Indian Claims Commission and the US Court of Claims administer reparations through land, cash, tribal recognition. US Senate passed resolution on apology. Cobell Settlement (Dept of Interior) involves fund payments: scholarships, individual payments, land settlement.

Forced Immigration including forcible transfer of group’s children.

Justice.

1970s US – at least 3,000+ Native American women are forcibly sterilized.

Indigenous populations enslaved. American colonialists used Indians as slaves in earnest after the Powhatan Uprising of 1622.

Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty.

Native American

forced to flee France to escape persecution and death.

400,000 Huguenots.

Huguenot women were raped.

Some Huguenots and their sympathizers were imprisoned and tortured for their beliefs.

In 1754, 73 Calvinists were imprisoned or sent to the galley for gathering to worship.

Huguenots

Germany, France, Argentina, Canada, Russia recognize the Armenian genocide.

Ottoman Courts-Martial established by Ottoman Empire to prosecute massacres of Armenians (and Greeks) from 1915–18, yet those who committed genocide were not prosecuted and new Turkish gov’t pardoned them.

Armenians arrested, deported, forced into death marches, and executed in Syrian desert in 1915.

Systematic use of genocidal rape against entire villages. Women raped, forced into prostitution, and often died from prolonged sexual abuse. Children systematically destroyed.

The Deir ez-Zor camps housed Armenian refugees in the Syrian desert. Around 30,000 Armenians were housed in and around the Dier ez-Zor camps, while others were driven towards Damascus.

Armenians

International Military Trial (IMT) held at Nuremberg (1945–46) and later other national trials to prosecute for war crimes and crimes against humanity and euthanasia.

Millions of Jews forced from civic, professional, economic, and social spheres of life in effort to make Europe ‘Judenrein’. Jews forced to resettle in reservations and ghettos and then to concentration, and death camps, death marches. Children taken from parents.

Medical researchers used Jewish women for sterilization experiments. Jewish women were raped.

The Nazis and its allies created more than 40,000 camps to house Jews and other minority groups, including 6 extermination camps.

Holocaust

Yazidis

ICTY: International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia since 1991 est. by UN Resolution 827 with jurisdiction over breaches of the Geneva Conventions, violations of the laws or customs of war, genocide, and crime against humanity.

More than 20,000 civilians expelled from Srebrenica and surrounding areas.

Estimates of around 20,000 women raped, with the majority being Muslim. These victims continue to suffer from PTSD and other mental and physical difficulties from past traumas to this day.

Scattered recognition of Yazidi genocide: OHCHR panel, European Parliament, Lithuanian Parliament Resolution, US House of Representatives Resolution & US Sec. of State, etc.

An estimated 500,000 refugees have been displaced due to IS’s campaigns against the Yazidi. Some Yazidi “converted” to Islam, only to be forcefully relocated to different cities. During the 2014 IS Sinjar invasion, 150,000 Yazidis fled their homes to escape imprisonment and death. Children taken from parents.

Women assigned price and sold into sex and domestic slavery – rape is used as weapon of genocide to destroy Yazidi women, families, kinship & community. Forced abortions.

10,000 men from Srebrenica As of 2014, an kept in holding sites before estimated 3,500 Yazidi being massacred. women are still in captivity. Men are forced to work on infrastructure projects, while boys are held in IS training camps. Any who attempt to leave are severely beaten or shot.

Bosnians

Religious Persecution – The Driver for Forced Migration

Annex 2 – continued

12/09/2018 15:03

CHHJ6424-Religious-Persecution-report-180912.indd 34

1882 Edmunds Act repealed women’s suffrage; Mormons disenfranchised owing to illegal cohabitation (polygamy).

1882 Edmunds Act bars Mormons standing for office for illegal cohabitation.

1862 Morrill Act limits property, then Congressional 1887 Edmunds-Tucker Act disincorporates Mormon Church, assets & property seized.

Right to stand for office.

Right to own property.

1857–58: Utah or Mormon War between US Govt and Mormon settlers.

1846–47: Mormons driven from Nauvoo, Illinois; start of Mormon Exodus, 1,300 mile pioneer trek leaving the US to Mexican territory.

1844: mob murders Joseph Smith, Mormon prophet.

Yes.

Technically, yes, but this would likely involve. life-threatening peril.

Ahmadis are unable to register as Muslim voters. Separate voting lists identify Ahmadis and expose community to great risk.

Since 1984: 250 Ahmadis killed; 83 mosques demolished; 65 burials denied; 183 assaulted for faith. Ahmadi Muslims and places of worship are attacked and believers are prosecuted and jailed (including tortured) under penal code ordinances, blasphemy as well as anti-terrorism laws.

1974: Anti-Ahamdi riots in Lahore; wide-spread destruction of Ahamdi property, destruction and occupation and closure of mosques, beatings, killings.

1838: Gov. Boggs, Missouri, issues Executive Order 44, the ‘Extermination Order’ against Mormons; lands seized.

1838: Haun’s Mill Massacre; increasing mob violence.

1974–present.

Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan

1830–1890

Right to vote.

Dates of persecution and/or ethnic cleansing.

Mormons in United States

1967: property expropriated.

1963: right to sell property banned.

1948: restrictions on property.

N/A: 1958 and 2003 Iraq was ruled by a series of military governments.

1972–73: terrorization of remaining Jewish population by security police.

1969: 9 Jews publicly hanged; Jews given permission to emigrate, then permission rescinded.

1963–68: Jews required to carry yellow identity cards; sale of property banned; severe travel restrictions; expropriation of property, no telephone use; salary limits, dismissal from employment, etc.

1952: emigration banned; 2 Jewish men hanged publicly.

1950: Iraq law permitted Jews to emigrate on condition that their Iraqi citizenship was cancelled and their property reverted to Iraq. Synagogue bombed; 120,000 depart via airlift to Israel and 15,000 remained; $150,000,000 in property forcibly forfeited by Jewish community.

1948: Jewish civil servants dismissed from posts; businesses boycotted; restricted access to secondary schools and universities; prominent Jewish businessman hanged publicly; Jews forbidden to bank; export/import licenses revoked; emigration not permitted; ca. $80 million extorted.

1941: ‘Fahrud’ pogrom 180 killed; 1,000 injured; dozens of homes looted & destroyed.

1934–36: Jewish civil servants begin to be dismissed; restrictions on travel & business, numbers of Jewish students restricted.

1941–2003.

Iraqi Jews

Religious Persecution – The Driver for Forced Migration

Annex 3 – Mormons, Ahmadis, Iraqi Jews persecution because of religious or ethnic identity

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In 1890, President of Mormon Church issues Manifesto that halts the practise of plural marriage; 1896 Utah is accepted as a State of the United States. 1902 and 1907 first Mormons elected to the US Senate; now there are multiple Mormon members of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Legal recognition of religious and legally acceptable religious and cultural difference while being full citizens.

Some acceptance and integration into society.

Identification of the persecution, ethnic cleansing or genocide in the nation’s history.

No.

Legal discrimination in jobs sector.

1893: Chicago World’s Fair first performance outside of Utah of Mormon Tabernacle Choir that has since won Grammy & Emmy awards. Mormons recognized for contributions to US society: arts, medicine, science, sport, business, etc. global humanitarian efforts.

1850–80: Mormons found educational institutions that will become major universities (Univ. Utah, BYU, BYU-Idaho).

School textbooks identify persecution and forced migration of Mormons.

2004: Illinois legislature passed resolution expressing ‘official regret’ for the violence and state-sanctioned condemnation of the Mormons.

1976: Executive Order 44 formally rescinded by Gov of Missouri.

2012: Mitt Romney is Republican candidate for the Office of the President of the United States of America.

2005–2017: Senator Harry Reid leads Senate Democrats from 2005 to 2017.

1893, restitution of assets seized in 1887; no formal restitution of lands in Missouri.

Restitution and Property Restoration.

Mormons in United States

Prominent Ahmadis in Pakistan’s history are being erased from historical memory such as Sir Zafarullah Khan, first Foreign Minister, President of the UN General Assembly and President of the International Court of Justice; Nobel Laureate, Dr Abdus Salam, the Prime Minister’s science advisor; and Ahmad Aziz, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence.

Examinations of textbooks reveal intolerance for those considered non-Muslim, including Ahmadis. Ahmadi children report being discriminated against and faced with physical and psychological abuse and bullying by their teachers and other children (who are taught to exclude Ahmadis.

1984–86: Ordinance XX in Pakistan’s penal code ordinances public expressions of Ahmadi belief are subject to imprisonment and fines. Ahmadis frequently face societal discrimination, harassment, and physical attacks, sometimes resulting in murder.

1974: 2nd Amendment to Pakistan’s constitution declares Ahmadis to be non-Muslim. Legal barriers are created for Ahmadi wanting to pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina to perform Hajj.

Ahmadis are subject to exclusion from non-Ahmadi shops and businesses. Some jobs require employees to declare faith, which can result in discrimination.

Some Ahmadi property and mosques have been destroyed, desecrated or shuttered.

Ahmadi Muslims in Pakistan

The systematic violation of the human, political and civil rights of Iraqi Jews and their constant persecution in modern Iraq has resulted in the complete expunging of Jewish communal life and culture from the country. Fewer than 10 Iraqi Jews remain in the country.

The persecution and ethnic cleansing of Jews in modern Iraq does not feature in Iraqi textbooks.

The current Iraqi Constitution does not mention Judaism at all, including in Article 2 where Christians, Yazidis, and Mandaean Sabaeans are mentioned.

Jews in practice largely debarred from official employment; new Jewish professionals seldom able to obtain licenses; commercial enterprises curtailed; dismissed from employment.

Ongoing efforts to seek restitution of expropriated property largely unsuccessful.

Iraqi Jews

Religious Persecution – The Driver for Forced Migration

Annex 3 – continued

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Some acceptance of language, music and art as valuable and worth preserving; educational contributions.

Identification of the persecution in the nation’s history.

Legal recognition of religious and legally acceptable cultural difference while being full citizens.

• • •

Right to own property and Restitution and Property Restoration.

• • • • • • • • • •

• • • • • •

•

1850: Brigham Young founds University of Deseret that would become a state university, the University of Utah, Salt Lake City; 31,000 students. 1875: Brigham Young University, Provo; 33,000 students. 1886: LDS Business College, Salt Lake City; 2,200 students. 1888: Brigham Young University, Idaho; 19,399 students. 1893: Chicago World’s Fair (first performance outside of Utah of Mormon Tabernacle Choir). 1929: first radio Broadcast of Music & Spoken Word from Temple Square Salt Lake City; longest continuously-running weekly network broadcast in the world. Choir wins many accolades including Grammy & Emmy awards. 1955: Brigham Young University, Hawaii; 2,800 students. 1963: Polynesian Cultural Center in Oahu, Hawaii opened to help fund BYU-Hawaii students now a top cultural attraction in the islands. 1964: Mormon Pavilion at New York City’s World Fair widely hailed. 1985: LDS Charities has provided assistance to millions of people in 189 countries. 1991: The Latter-day Saint Humanitarian Center established. 2001: Perpetual Education Fund provides funding to cover tuition and other school expenses to members in developing nations. 2009: PathwayConnect is a one-year educational opportunity that combines online courses with local gatherings. 2017: nearly 160 temples, with unique architecture, throughout the world. Mormon historical and cultural artefacts in permanent collection of the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, DC. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has performed for US presidents of both parties, including seven presidential inaugurals.

1976: Missouri Executive Order 44, also known as the Extermination Order, issued by the Governor of Missouri in 1838 rescinded by Gov of Missouri. 2004: Illinois legislature passed a resolution expressing ‘official regret’ for the violence and state-sanctioned condemnation of the Mormons that caused them to leave. School textbooks identify persecution and forced migration of early Mormons and subsequent 1,300 mile Mormon pioneer trek to Rocky Mountains.

• •

1896: Territory of Deseret that was established by the Mormons in 1847 and permitted to become a US State in 1896. 1907: Reed Smoot, a Mormon Apostle, was elected Senator for the State of Utah in 1903 but had to wait for four years to take his seat. This election meant Mormons would not be legally excluded from full political participation and standing for any office in the land. 2005–17: Senator Harry Reid (Nevada) served as leader of the Senate Democrats from 2005 to 2017 (Senate Majority Leader from 2007 to 2015). 2012: Mitt Romney is the Republican candidate for the Office of the President of the United States of America.

1843: Mormons seek redress for properties confiscated by Missouri or loss to lawlessness of mobs. 1862: Morrill Act limits LDS Church property ownership. 1887: Edmunds-Tucker Act disincorporated LDS Church and halted Mormon immigration in effort to end polygamy. Directed confiscation by federal government of all Church properties valued over $50k. 1893: seized assets resulting from the 1887 legislation were released back to LDS Church. Edmunds-Tucker Act repealed in 1978. 2002: Dedication of the rebuilt Nauvoo, Illinois temple that early Mormons had to abandon owing to persecution; Church had to repurchase the land. 2012: No formal restitution made to LDS Church for lands confiscated in Missouri, but LDS Church purchases 6,000 acres, including sites where its members were massacred and buried.

1838: Attempt to stop Mormons from voting in Missouri led to the violence that eventuated in the Mormons being driven from the state. 1870: Utah legislature enfranchises women to vote. 1887: federal Edmunds-Tucker Act disenfranchised women in Utah. 1895/6: Utah women re-enfranchised.

• •

• • •

Right to vote.

Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) in the United States of America

Religious Persecution – The Driver for Forced Migration

Annex 4 – Chronology of Mormons (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) journey from persecution to integration in the United States of America

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Kazakhstan, 2008–11: restrictive religious laws passed banning public expressions of faith and making legal registration difficult. Kyrgyzstan, 2009–11: Ahmadis refused legal registration. Bangladesh, 1999: bomb attack on Ahmadi Muslim Jamaat mosque at Nirala. 2003: Jessoree, Raghunathpurbag Ahmadi mosque attacked, imam killed; Kushtia, Uttar Bhabanipur local cleric declares 17 Ahmadi families excommunicated; for 25 days refused to allow them to leave their homes, harvest, children to school, etc. Mob descends on Ahmadi mosque in Nakhalpara, Dhaka. Anti-Ahmadi signs posted. 2004: government ban all Ahmadi publications; 2005 high court suspends this. 2006: in Dhaka, Ahmadi mosque attacked; 8 injured. 2010: in Dhaka, nine Ahmadis injured when local residents oppose building of Ahmadi mosque; 15 Ahmadi homes and 2Ahmadi poultry farms attacked; Ahymadiyya Muslim woman refused burial in Muslim cemetery. Homes of 32 Ahmadi families damaged and looted, 20 injured, in Chandtara village under Ghatail upazila. Anti-Ahmadi signs posted. 2011: Ahmadi convention is prevented in Bahadurpur by madrassah activists threatening violence. 2013: mob of thousands burn down Ahmadi festival site in Dhaka. India, although Ahmadi are recognised legally as Muslims, fellow Mu slims refuse them a seat on the All India Muslim Personal Law Board that is meant to be representative of all Indian Muslims. 2008: Ahmadis denied permission to meet in Hyderabad owing to protests from Islamic groups; 3 Ahmadis attacked. 2009: in Chennai, Ahmadi grave desecrated. Major Ahmadi festival disrupted; three-day curfew imposed. 2010: Islamic clerics demand removal of mentions of the Ahmadi Muslims from the syllabus in Mayawati. 2011: Islamic seminary in Mumbai asked Saudi govt to ban Ahmadis from pilgrimaging to Mecca and Medina to perform Haj and Umrah. 2012: in Hyderabad afternoon prayers at an Ahmadi mosque are disrupted by a mob. Belarus, 2007: Ahmadi community refused legal registration. Belgium, 2011: far right group protests Ahmadi mosque construction in Brussels. Bulgaria, 2006: efforts made to strip Ahmadis of their legal status.

• • • •

• • •

Central Asia.

South Asia.

Europe.

• • • • •

• • •

• •

•

• •

•

Thailand, 2011: around 24 Ahmadi asylum seekers and refugees were arrested. Singapore, 2008: thirty Ahmadi graves were desecrated in an Ahmadi Muslim cemetery in Choa Chu Kang. Malaysia, 1975: the Selangor state religious department issued a Fatwa declaring that the Ahmadi movement is not Muslim. 2000: Selangor Islamic Religious Council of Malaysia issued a letter that forbade members of the Ahmadi Muslim Community from offering Friday prayers at their central mosque under threat of imprisonment and fine. Signs posted outside of mosque declaring Ahmadi not Muslim. Indonesia, 1980: Indonesian Ulama Council (country’s largest Muslim Council) declares Ahmadi a ‘deviant sect’; 1965 Indonesian blasphemy law has been used by hardliners to persecute Ahmadi Muslims. 2008: Joint Decree of the Minister of Religious Affairs, the Attorney General and the Minister of the Interior of The Republic of Indonesia: ‘A Warning and Order to the followers, members, and/or leading members of the Indonesian Ahmadi Jama’at (JAI) and to the General Public’. Following this 26 provinces and regencies in Indonesia issue local decrees banning the Ahmadi faith. 2010: 50 separate attacks against Ahmadis (in 2006 three recorded). 2011:138 unregistered Ahmadis live in shelter in Mataram, Lombok and must forage for fuel (one person attacked); in Cikeusik, Banten 1,500 extremists attack Ahmadis, leaving three dead and others injured; mob of 30 storms Ahmadi mosque in Jatibening, Bekasi and attempts to halt worship – the mayor bans Ahmadi worship effectively closing six mosques; East Jakarta officials seal off an Ahmadi in Duren Sawit. 342 cases of assault were recorded from 2007 to 2011, including the resettlement of an entire Ahmadi community to an island off Lombok. 2012: hundreds interrupt Ahmadis religious study session in Yogyakarta; more than 100 forced to live in shelters in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, not registered to receive electronic identity cards. Five Ahmadi homes in Kampung Cisalada, West Java, attacked and damaged. 2013: mob attacks Ahmadi Muslim village in West Java resulting in damage to 29 buildings including two mosques and a school. 2017: in Depok, Lakarta Ahmadi mosque is shut down (for the seventh time).

• • •

Southeast Asia.

Algeria, 2016: Ahmadis refused legal registration; 2017: Minister of Religious Affairs declares Ahmadi Muslims ‘not Muslim’. Egypt, 2010: Ahmadi Muslims arrested for performing pilgrimage rituals. Saudi Arabia, 2009: school textbooks continue to define Ahmadi Muslims as heretical. West Bank/Gaza, 2010: clerics declare Ahmadi Muslims apostates; Ahmadis face intimidation and violence.

• • • •

MENA countries.

Religious Persecution – The Driver for Forced Migration

Annex 5 – Discrimination and persecution of the Ahmadi Muslim Community globally (2017)

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Ahmadi culture in the UK and global humanitarian efforts.

Peace activism.

Ahmadi political engagement in UK.

•

Persecution in the UK.

• • • •

•

• •

•

• •

•

• •

• • • • • • • •

Ahmadi UK History.

1994: Muslim Television Ahmadi (MTA) International is launched in the UK. 1996: death of Prof. Abdus Salam, F.R.S., first Muslim Nobel Laureate, Professor of Theoretical Physics at the Imperial College. 2018: The Fazl (London) mosque given Grade II protected heritage status for historic, architectural, and cultural significance. Humanity First is the international humanitarian arm of Ahmadi. It works in conjunction with the International Association of Ahmadi Architects & Engineers in 50 countries worldwide. They have built 40 hospitals, 400 schools, and support five villages in Africa and work to provide clean water and electricity.

1985: Annual Charity Walk for Peace initiated. In 2017 over £685,000 was raised distributed among 114 UK based charities. To date over £4.2 million has been raised by Charity Walk for Peace and donated to 364 UK Charities based over the years. 2003: Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK National Peace Symposium initiated in London. Interfaith event open to all with press conference, there is also a special meeting with UK Pakistani leaders (religious and political) where respectful discussion occurs. 2009: Ahmadi Muslim Prize for the Advancement of Peace begins. £10,000 awarded annually at the National Peace Symposium in recognition of an individual’s or an organisation’s contribution for the advancement of the cause of peace. 2010: launch of UK peace campaign, ‘Love For All Hatred For None’.

2002: Tariq Mahmood Ahmad was elected councillor in Wimbledon. He is made Baron in 2011 and appointed Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2017. 2015: Dr. Iftikhar A. Ayaz, prominent Ahmadi leader in the UK and the Consul General of Tuvalu in the UK is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. 2018: Karim Asad Khan, QC, appointed as Special Adviser of the UN Investigative Team to collect, preserve and store evidence of acts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed by the terrorist group ISIL (Da’esh) in Iraq. 2018: APPG for the Ahmadi Muslim Community Inquiry into the denial of freedom of religion or belief and human rights abuse of Ahmadi Muslims and other religious communities in Pakistan.

1983: The Khatme Nubuwwat, or ‘finality of the Prophethood’ movement, begins in the UK. Its purpose is to propagate anti-Ahmadi misinformation. Its ‘Academy’ teaches how to refute Ahmadi doctrine. 2010: 86 Ahmadi are killed when two mosques are attacked in Lahore, Pakistan. Among the murdered were several Britons. 2010: Some Islamists are reported to have circulated leaflets prompting the killing of Ahmadis in Kington-upon-Thames, vandalized mosques in Newham and Crawley, and organized a boycott of Ahmadi businesses in South London. 2010: UK-based Ummah Channel broadcasts three interactive television programmes before and after the Lahore massacre of Ahmadi Muslims in May 2010, in which religious leaders and callers alike said that Ahmadis should be killed. 2016: Asad Shah is murdered in his Glasgow shop by a Bradford Sunni Muslim man who said that Shah ‘disrespected Islam’. 2016: Leaflets circulate around London mosques, universities, and shopping centres that encourage the murder of Ahmadi Muslims. The Stockwell Green mosque in London was then closed for investigation of the flyers found there. 2016: Following pressure to clarify its relationship to the Khatme Nubuwwat, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) releases a statement condemning attacks on Ahmadis and affirming the right of all people to freely exercise their religious belief. They reiterate their position that Ahmadis should not be considered Muslim and therefore unable to be affiliated with MCB. Subsequently, the MCB asserts that Muslims should not be pressured or made to classify Ahmadis as Muslim, but that Muslims should respect people regardless of their religious affiliations.

1889: The Ahmadi Muslim community is founded in Punjab, India and led by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. 1913: Fateh Muhammad Sial is the first Ahmadi missionary sent from India and travels to England. 1922: Ahmadi Muslim Women’s Association UK is established. 1926: Fazl (London) mosque in Southfields, Wandsworth, is first purpose-built Islamic place of worship in British capital. 1938: Ahmadi Muslim Youth Association UK is founded. 1964: The Ahmadi’s annual convention, Jalsa Salana, is first held in the UK. 1984: The 4th Caliph, Mirza Tahir Ahmad transfers the official Ahmadi global headquarters to London. 2018: 35,000 Ahmadi Muslims in the UK.

Religious Persecution – The Driver for Forced Migration

Annex 6 – Integration of the Ahmadi Muslim Community in the United Kingdom (2018)

12/09/2018 15:03

Religious Persecution – The Driver for Forced Migration

Annex 7 – Persecution of the Yazidis The Yazidis of northern Iraq have been under attack in a ‘forced conversion campaign’ by ISIL since 2014. It is estimated that at least 5,000 Yazidi civilians have been killed, 5,000–7,000 women and children have been abducted (with women taken as sex slaves), and around 500,000 Yazidi have been displaced and are now living in refugee camps. These atrocities have been recognised by the United Nations as genocide. The Yazidis are a distinct religious people deeply connected to their ancestral homeland, and are in urgent need of protection. As a religious people, Yazidis share the same basic human right as people of other faiths as set out in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. The Yazidis have a long history of persecution, and speak of having suffered ‘seventy-four genocides’. A key reason for this sustained hostility is religious: for centuries the Yazidis have been portrayed as ‘devil worshippers’. This accusation is false, yet it persists and is highly destructive. This paper has been written to challenge the accusation of ‘devil worship’ and to put right other religious misunderstandings that have been used against the Yazidi people. It is hoped that by doing so it will help Yazidis now and in the future live without the fear of being misunderstood or persecuted for their faith. It is hoped, too, that it will stimulate interest in this ancient religion and its people and encourage positive encounters between Yazidis and people of other faiths or none.

Understanding Yazidism Yazidis see their faith as ancient, beginning from the dawn of memory. However, the first written information about the religion dates from the 12th century CE, relating to Shaykh ‘Adi ibn Musafir, whose influence in shaping the Yazidi faith was considerable. Although nothing is known for sure about its history before Shaykh ‘Adi, what is certain is that Yazidism has affinities with other ancient religions and religious traditions of the Middle East, such as Zoroastrianism and Gnosticism. Nevertheless, Yazidism is unlike any other religion. This makes Yazidism difficult to describe or compare, and it can only be properly understood on its own terms and not from the perspective of any other faith. Three of its most important features are: •

To be a Yazidi one must be born a Yazidi, as marriage is only permitted between Yazidis. Yazidism is therefore a closed religion, and Yazidis have no interest in attracting converts to the faith.

•

Yazidism is an oral religion. For much of its history its sacred ‘texts’ or ‘scriptures’ have been held in the memory of its priestly castes and passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. This means that the religion has not been studied or taught in the same way as many others with written scriptures.

•

In Yazidism, emphasis is placed on religious observance and practice rather than learning about the tenets of the faith. Most Yazidis outside the priestly castes know little about the theology of their religion, which makes it difficult for them to explain or discuss their religion with others.

Together, these factors not only help make Yazidism distinctive but also hard to understand and prone to misunderstanding by outsiders.

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Like many religions, Yazidism has been porous, absorbing some practices and ideas from neighbouring religions, notably Islam and Christianity. Nevertheless, Yazidism has its own distinctive theology and is not dependent on other religious traditions for its teachings. The theology of Yazidism has been shaped by what are understood to be divine revelations to its own holy people. It is therefore wrong to regard Yazidism as an off-shoot of Islam, Christianity or any other religion.

God and Angels Yazidism is based on the belief that there is only one God, the ‘supreme being’ who is the origin of all that exists – both good and evil. For this reason, Yazidism does not have the concept of the devil – an independent evil and malevolent being who is opposed to a God who is purely good, and who seeks to turn people away from God – such as Satan in Islam and Christianity. In Yazidism, God is remote from what he has created. Unlike Christianity, for example, Yazidis believe that God does not interact directly with humans. In Yazidism God is ‘transcendent’ – above and beyond the created order – and instead interacts with humans through angels who have a Godgiven role to act as our guides and helpers. The most important angel in Yazidism is Ta’us-es Malak (or Malak Ta’us), the Peacock Angel. Ta’us-es Malak is believed by Yazidis to have been given by God particular responsibility for caring for the Earth. As well as being a spiritual being, Ta’us-es Malak is also believed to have manifested in human form on several occasions, most notably as Shaykh ‘Adi (who, within Islam, is regarded as a Sufi saint). Shaykh ‘Adi’s tomb is in the Yazidi temple in Lalish, north-east of Mosul in Iraq, which is a focal point for Yazidi religious observance and an important place of annual pilgrimage (in a similar way that Mecca is a place of pilgrimage for Muslims). Because of the current situation most Yazidis no longer have access to the temple. Given the prominence of angels, who are greatly revered in Yazidism, the religion is sometimes mistakenly described as polytheistic (based on a belief in many gods) rather than monotheistic (based on the belief in one God). Angels have similarly prominent roles linking earth and heaven in other religions, including Judaism, Islam and Christianity. To Yazidis, Ta’us-es Malak is God’s agent and not a god. The reverence shown to Ta’us-es Malak bears similarities to the reverence shown to the archangel St Michael in Christianity, for example, or to the human Blessed Virgin Mary in Roman Catholicism.

Devil worship In Yazidism, Ta’us-es Malak is made chief of the angels by God after refusing to obey God’s instruction for him to worship Adam – the first human. According to this tradition, Ta’us-es Malak tells God that he is prepared only to worship him, and for this act of devotion God immediately forgives him for his act of disobedience and makes him the chief of angels. This story bears a close resemblance to a story in the Qur’an in which a spiritual being or jinn, Iblis, disobeys God by refusing to worship Adam. In this story God punishes Iblis, who becomes a malevolent spiritual being – Satan – who seeks to divert humans away from God. In the Christian tradition Satan is associated with a ‘fallen angel’, Lucifer, who similarly disobeys God. Because of the similarity between these traditions, Yezidis are often accused of being ‘devil worshippers.’ This accusation is false, however, and based on a theological misunderstanding of trying to understand Yazidism from the perspective of another faith. Yazidis do not share the scriptural or theological traditions of other faiths that identify the disobedient angel as Satan, and

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so the story in the Qur’an is not directly comparable with the story in the Yazidi tradition. As already explained, Yazidism does not have the concept of a devil – a malevolent being who seeks to turn humans away from God. Instead, Yazidi theology asserts that God is the ultimate source of all – both good and evil – and it is therefore the responsibility of each person (human or angelic) to choose between the two. The story of Ta’us-es Malak is a story of absolute devotion to God and not about rebellion against God, as in the case of Iblis or Lucifer.

Scriptures As previously mentioned, Yazidis have ‘scriptures’ that have been transmitted primarily by word of mouth – a very practical means of transmission within a community that for centuries has been largely illiterate. It means, however, that Yazidis cannot be regarded within Islam as ‘people of the book’ as this status is confined to certain religions with written scriptures, particularly Judaism and Christianity. Yazidi scriptures consist mostly of highly allusive poetic compositions, which are regarded as being divinely inspired and which are explained by narratives or sermons during acts of worship for the benefit of the congregation. These narratives and oral traditions have started to be written down, and an official collection – or ‘canon’ – of written texts is beginning to form, which literate Yazidis are increasingly using for guidance. Yazidism therefore appears to be moving towards becoming a religion with written scriptures.

Summary Yazidis themselves strongly maintain that they worship one supreme God, and all the evidence from their tradition confirms that they should correctly be regarded as monotheists. Their religion underpinned by a theology that is prone to misunderstanding – a problem reinforced by the closed nature of the religion and its lack of written scriptures. The most serious consequence of this misunderstanding is the accusation that Yazidis are ‘devil worshippers’. The accusation is not only false, but underpins much of the hostility shown to Yazidis over the centuries. If the Yazidi people are to be allowed to practise their religion and live in peace, then this accusation must be refuted. This document is offered to help provide the theological understanding to do so. Canon Edmund Newell 21st March 2017

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Annex 8 – Westminster Declaration with the Yazidi Spiritual Council

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Annex 8 – continued

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Annex 9 – Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne’s letter relating to the relationship between certain First Peoples of North America and the British Crown

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Annex 9 – continued

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Annex 9 – continued

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Annex 9 – continued

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Annex 9 – continued

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Annex 9 – continued

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Annex 10 – Numbers of beneficiaries from AMAR’s Human Rights and the Rule of Law Programme in Iraq Component 1 – Prisons Total guards: 711 Total prisoners: 1882 Total: 2593 Total number of individuals since Nov. 2010 (Prisons) Basra

Maysan

Thi-Qar

Baghdad

Prison trainers

–

Prison guards

213

243

255

–

Men

317

451

194

–

Women

168

183

–

Juveniles

205

171

193

–

Level 1 Men

116

123

120

–

Level 1 Women

–

Level 1 Juveniles

–

Level 2 Men

116

123

120

–

Level 2 Women

–

Level 2 Juveniles

–

Prisoners attending Human Rights Lectures

Prisoners attending literacy and numeracy classes

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Component 2 – WHRCs Total: 4540 Total number of individuals since Nov 2010 (WHRC) Basra

Maysan

Thi-Qar

Baghdad

Number of WHRC members

Number of WHRC beneficiaries

1251

1129

1057

1103

Component 3 – Schools and universities Total university students: 4562 Total university students and schools students: 15,035 Total number of individuals since Nov 2010 (School and Universities) Basra

Maysan

Thi-Qar

Baghdad

–

University students attending lectures

1926

1073

1563

–

University students receiving certificates

265

–

Trainers at schools

–

10,473

–

Trainers at universities

School pupils

Component 4 – Government employees Total: 6395 Total number of individuals since Nov 2010 (Government Employees)

Trainers Government Employees

Basra

Maysan

Thi-Qar

Baghdad

1680

1691

1440

1584

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