Nahle report pfok final

Demographic change in practice A case study on land disputes in Nahle Valley, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

This study has been conducted by the youth group of the Peace and Freedom Organization Kurdistan (PFOK) in cooperation with PAX as part of the “We Are All Citizens” program. The study has been translated from its original language Kurdish.

June – Sep, 2016

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Foreword by PFOK and PAX Ongoing waves of displacement and land disputes are resulting in patterns of demographic change in the Middle East region. These demographic dynamics are both a result and a trigger for violence and conflict between ethnic and religious communities. Given the sectarian framework of current conflicts in the region, demographic change has also strongly evolved as a strategy of war, applied both by States and non-state actors. The absence of demographic statistics and the insecurity in most areas affected by demographic change have resulted in almost total absence of studies or analysis on this topic. Moreover, affected communities are not able to claim their rights because of a lack of representation in the government or absence of rule of law.

As part of the We Are All Citizens project, diverse youth from all over Iraq have been trained to identify issues of concern in their communities and how to address these issues to policy makers. This component of the program aims to increase the influence of youth in Iraq and their access to decision making levels. For this report, a group of youth from a diverse background has chosen the case of Nahle as a case study to present and advise on recommendations to local and international decision making levels. This team of youth consisted of Rebin Fatah, Sinan Jalal, Rebin Hakeem, Nawzad Hiloree, Vanda Gorge and Hiwa Omar.

The issue of seizing the lands and properties of Christians in Iraq and Kurdistan region is dangerous and worrying. Though this issue has historical dimensions, it has been prevalent and escalating.

To shed light on some aspects of this issue and come up with some suggestions and recommendations to prevent the expansion, a group of youth and journalists from different components suggested to develop a field report on this issue.

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Though the land issue for Christians can be found in different parts of Iraq and Kurdistan, this report focuses on the villages in Nahle Valley as sample for ongoing trends of demographic change in the region.

Methodology In this field report, a team of journalists and youth from Peace and Freedom Organization (PFOK) in cooperation with the Dutch PAX organization within the project “WE ARE ALL CITIZENS” in June-Sep 2016 applied the following steps to generate information: 1- Field visits to the villages of Nahle Valley and conducting interviews with the Christian villagers who are landowners.

2- Conducting interviews with non-Christian villagers who are involved in taking over the lands of Christians.

3- Interviewing with Duhok Provincial Council, administrative units and Christian representatives in Kurdistan parliament and Duhok provincial council.

4- Interviewing with a number of Christian political parties 5- Collecting the court verdicts and evidences and memos of relevant formal departments on this issue.

6- Relying on a number of legal texts and official decrees in KRG departments which are related to the issue of land ownership.

After all these field visits and interviews and collecting the documents, the team of youths and journalists started investigation and analysis and developed the below report accordingly.

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Index 1.

Different views in dealing with minority issues

5

2.

Minorities and landownership issues

6

3.

The legal framework of Christians and other minorities in

8

Iraqi Kurdistan 4.

5.

6.

The case of Nahle: 4.1 Land ownership cases

12

4.2 Court cases

19

4.3 Nahle in Kurdish Government, Parliament and Presidency

22

4.4 Views of Christian parties

26

4.5 The reality of trespasses of Christian lands in Nahle

30

4.6 Mitigating factors

32

Suggestions and mechanisms to reach solutions

33

5.1 Recommendations to the international community

36

Annexes

37

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1. Different views in dealing with minority issues In view of the experiences of different countries, we notice different treatments with minorities and we can identify the experiences in general below: Trend of ethnic cleansing: denying the rights of minorities and attempting to dissolve the minority groups. This experience was practiced in the old times such as what was done to Armenians during the Ottoman Empire, or the practices committed against the Kurds, Turkmen, Yezidis, Kurdish Failees, Chaldeans/Assyrians, Shabak and Baha'is during the ex-regime of Iraq. The same thing is true for Jews in Germany during Hitler rule and Kurds in Turkey and also the practices that Daesh is doing in the areas controlled by its fighters such as the genocide of Yezidis and the mass killings and displacement of Christians and Turkmen.

Trend of displacement : forced displacement of minority groups such as the displacement of Jews in Arab countries and Kurdish Failees during the Ba’ath regime in Iraq.

Trend of neglect : not recognizing the minorities and depriving them from their own identity such as the practices committed against the Kurds in Syria and also what is known as “stateless” in most of the Arab countries. This experience might exist in some other countries as well.

Trend of marginalization : denying the rights of minorities and marginalizing them economically and in the public life such as the practices against Copts in Egypt and the Shi’a community in Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain.

Trend of separation : lack of coexistence and towards an independent entity such as the Christians in Sudan and the events of Kosovo and also Kurdistan Region in Iraq.

Trend of sectarian quota : the sectarian democracy in which the constituencies come to an agreement with each other based on the

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constitution and the laws and identify the rights, the obligations and the authorities. This is not as easy as it looks. Lebanon is an example and it is still suffering.

Trend of exceptionalism : some countries have special policies to deal with minority issues which are, to some extent, successful experiences and can be different types: 1- Type One: the government has several special institutions and departments to deal with the ethnic minorities and other groups and this can be found in the west European countries.

2- Type Two: The majority and the minority exist in a country and the state identifies the rights of the minorities by laws and regulations. This is found in Germany and USA. 3- Type Three: countries which have a specific national policy for minorities and do not have special laws and regulations such as Japan.

Experience Eight: the countries which do not have any policies at the state level for the ethnic minority groups such as Turkey and when the issue of minorities arises, they deal with it randomly.

The question is: in Kurdistan Region, which experience, do we want to adopt? Or we want a Kurdish experience different from the rest?

2. Minorities and Land Ownership Issues Christians are not only a minority group, but also indigenous residents in Kurdistan. Indigenous people has a strong spiritual connection with their own land, in the sense that, their land is not only the source of inhabitation, but also is part of their soul, body, cognition, philosophy, culture and religion.

They are strongly related to their land and any aggression on their land is an aggression on all these aspects.

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Not realizing this connection between the indigenous minorities and their land as well as showing disrespect to their rights is a starting point for problems and complications that will not have good results.

In addition to that, there are tens of other factors which pave the way for taking the land from th indigenous minority groups either legally or illegally and some of them have been highlighted below: 1- The governments do not recognize the right of ownership of land for indigenous minority groups.

2- The existence of discriminatory laws regarding the right of ownership of land.

3- The lack of land delimitation 4- The lack of the laws or the lack of the implementation of the laws related with the protection of minorities by the government.

5- Confiscating the lands of the minority groups under the pretext of national causes, production and investment.

6- Forced displacement of minority groups from one place to another.

7- The intentional policies of government for land allocation, selling …etc in the areas populated by the minorities.

8- Lack of protection of minority groups lands by government There are even more factors and tools all over the world to confiscate the lands of indigenous minority groups. Undoubtedly, many of those factors and tools have been used in Iraq and Kurdistan.

In the face of those ongoing attempts to confiscate the lands of minority groups all over the world, the following measures and solutions have been put in place:  resorting to the court for legal remedies  Second: resorting to dialogue and negotiations

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 legal and constitutional reforms  resorting to human rights criteria

Each one of the points above have been tried at different stages and has got their own advantages in preventing the minority land confiscations.

3. The Legal Framework of the Rights of Christians and other Minority Groups in Kurdistan Region Due to the lack of a constitution in Kurdistan Region from 1992 to 2015 which constitute four terms of Kurdistan Parliament, we have more than one law which regulates the ethnic and religious minority affairs, such as: - The law of the KRG Ministry of Education numbered 4 in 1992 and its amendments.

- The law of the KRG Ministry of Endowment numbered 7 in 1992 and its amendments.

- The law of the KRG Ministry of Culture and Youths numbered 11 in 1992 and its amendments.

- The law of Kurdistan Parliament Elections numbered 1 in 1992 and its amendments.

- The law of KRG provincial Councils numbered 3 in 2009 - The law of independent Commission for elections and referendum in Kurdistan numbered 4 in 2014 - The law of official languages in Kurdistan region numbered 6 in 2014

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- The law of Minority Rights Protection in Kurdistan Region numbered 5 in 2015 As the laws are twofold, we notice the following rights for the minorities and constituencies: a)

the ministry of education law admits the right of study for the Turkmen, Chaldeans, Syriac and Assyrians and they have got 2 directorates in the structure of the ministry; one directorate supervises the Turkmen studies and the other one supervises the Chaldeans, Syriac and Assyrians studies and they have got some schools which belong to those directorates.

b)

in the law of the ministry of religious endowments, there are 2 general directorates for minorities; one for the Yezidis and the other for the Christians that supervise the religious affairs of both constituencies. Since 2015, a committee has been formed for the affairs of all the religions available in Kurdistan Region.

c)

As per the structure of the ministry of culture and youths affairs, 2 general directorates have been given to the ethnic and religious minority groups according to the law. The first one is the general directorate for Syriac & Assyrian Arts established in 1996 and the second one is the general directorate for Turkmen Arts. Both directorates take care of the arts of their constituencies.

d)

the official languages law in KRG admits that Turkmen, Assyrian, Syriac and Armenian languages are official languages in the areas in which they constitute the majority of the population, though some of the members of the minority groups show some criticism against some provisions of this law.

e)

in the parliament election law, the system of quota has been installed for minorities in the following manner: Five seats for the Chaldeans, Syriac and Assyrians, five seats for Turkmen, one seat for Armenians

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As per the laws of provincial council elections, particularly in the article 32 of the law, the following are noticed: - 2 seats for Chaldean, Syriac and Assyrians and one seat for Armenians in Duhok provincial council - In Sulaimniah provincial council, one seat is allocated for Chaldeans, Syriac and Assyrians - In Erbil provincial council, 2 seats for Chaldeans, Syriac and Assyrians and 3 seats for Turkmen have been allocated - Most importantly, it states that the representative of each constituency will be elected by their voters, but to what extent this has been implemented and preparations have been made for this purpose.

Here, we are asking, based on which criteria, these seats have been allocated for the minorities and what percentage is used? Why other constituencies have been neglected in the quota system? Others might be regarded as Kurds, but they have their own cultural, social and religious peculiarities that need to be taken care of. Based on the experience of the political parties, especially in the last Iraqi and KRG elections that the minority candidates were not voted by their political parties even though they are in top list of candidates. f) in the law of independent commission of elections and referendum, particularly in the article 5 which is about the composition of the commission, it states that the commission is made up of 9 members including the representatives of minorities. We noticed during the selection of members of the commission, the minorities groups complained against PUK, PDK and Gorran that the minority member for the commission is decided without their consent. This problem still exists. g) the minority protection law approved in April 21, 2015 in Kurdistan parliament is the first law in Kurdistan and Iraq as a whole to be enacted in favor of the minorities and voted by the

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representatives of minority groups in Kurdistan parliament. They unanimously agreed with the law. As the law is directly related with the protection of minorities in Kurdistan region, it can be considered as the most important law to protect the constituencies and the law has elaborated on religious, cultural, and ethnic rights of all minority groups in general.

The law includes some important articles about the land issues, particularly both articles 4 and 5, in which article 4 prevents any actions which might cause demographic changes in the territories where the constituencies live under any pretext. Article 5 emphasizes lifting any encroachment on the lands of minority groups.

Due to its significance, we refer to both articles below: Fourth: Disallowing any practice or negative policy that might contribute to a change in the original context of the territories populated by a particular minority group. Disallowing any possession that aim at a demographic change in a historical territory of the minority groups, no matter under any circumstances or pretexts.

Fifth: Addressing the trespasses committed against any minority groups and normalizing the situation to the original condition and to eliminate the traces and remnants that cause the demographic change and to compensate them if the normalization is impossible.

If article 4 in the law provides a legal framework to protect the original condition of the territories populated by minority groups, the article 5 has an utmost significance in admitting that there has been some trespass on the lands of the minorities on one hand, on the other hand it includes 2 important points. Firstly, it emphasizes lifting any encroachment on the lands of minority groups and secondly, it reiterates compensation for the minority groups if normalization and return are not possible.

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Beside these laws, there is an article in the law of council of ministers which stipulates that minorities need to be considered during the formation of the council. Although there was a Christian minister in last cabinet of Kurdistan government formed in 2014, but the minister has resigned following the events happened to the Christian IDPs and it has been one year the position is not filled yet.

4. The case study of Nahle 4.1 Land Ownership Issues of Christians in Nahle Valley Nahle Valley is located 130 Km from Duhok city center and includes more than 100 villages. Some of the villages administratively belong to Akre district and others belong to Amedi sub-district. It lies between KRI-Turkey borders, therefore; it gets bombarded every now and then

by Turkish warplanes under the pretext that PKK fighters are present there. The dwellers of those Christian villages in Nahle Valley are busy with agriculture (orchards, harvests and livestock).

Land ownership issues in the villages of Nahle Valley dates back to the mid-1960s up to now. At different points during this period, the issue has had different aspects with regard to the size of the seized land and the identity of the trespassers.

The Christians themselves recall the story of the land takeover to the beginning of their settlement in these areas up to the period of Kurdish revolution led by Mullah Mustafa Barzani. Those who supported the revolution, their lands were confiscated by the Iraqi regime and the lands were given to those who stood against the revolution. This event coincided with the forced displacement of Christians in Nahle Valley to the areas in the middle and south of Iraq.

(Ninos Audisho) the Christian representative in the legal committee of the Duhok Provincial Council talked with the team on the 17th of July 2016 and said:

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" Due to the forced displacement of the Christians and occupying their villages, specifically 10 Christian villages in Nahle Valley that were completely invaded and the lands were taken from the Christian villagers, some of the lands were handled by government and others were handled by other villagers. The Christians have ownership registration documents of the lands issued by Iraqi government from 1920s to 1960s. Later, the Kurdistan Front returned the ownership of the lands to the Christians. Also, after the Kurdish uprising, the Kurdistan Region Government reiterated the ownership of those lands to the Christians".

In addition to this, during the Ba’sth regime in Iraq, some changes happened to the ownership of lands of Christians in Duhok governorate in the form of transferring the lands from individual ownership to the public ownership under the pretext of public interest.

The Christians disagree with the term “public interest” and think that the term is used to give legitimacy to the demographic change of Christian areas which was practiced by the ex-regime of Iraq in the second half of the last century. For example, the forced displacement of Kurdish people in the villages surrounding Kirkuk province and making their areas “No-Go Zone Oil”, while the villages were very far from the oil projects. Another example is the displacement of the villagers in the border areas under the pretext of border protection …etc.

During the time of administrative vacuum, deteriorated security situation due to revolution, displacement, and the political situation of Iraq and Kurdistan, some people from the neighboring villages seized the Christian lands in some villages and seemingly the trespassers have been supported by the dominating forces either directly or indirectly which made the matter worse.

In July 29th, 2016, a team from Peace and Freedom Organization made field visit to the Nahle Valley to look into the case closely and discuss some of its aspects. In this visit, the team met with the dwellers of the

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villages of (Kashkawa, Hizanke, Khalilane, Zhule) talked with a number of Christians, the village council of Kashkawa and its priest and their opinions were well taken.

Nwya Yukhana is one of the dwellers of Zhule village who spoke to the team of Peace and Freedom organization and said: “In 1961, some of the Christian villagers were displaced by Iraqi exregime under the pretext that they have assisted and supported the revolution and Peshmerga in the areas of Bartla and Kirkuk. In the same year, a number of Kurdish families were settled on the lands of the Christians in Nahle Valley as per a request from Mullah Mustafa Barzani because those families had supported the revolution and eventually lost all their belongings. The Christians agreed and allowed them to settle on their lands. Later, these Kurdish families which belong to Zebari Clan forcefully took over the lands and did not leave the area”.

This continued up to 1991 uprising in which people in Kurdistan rose up against Iraq Ba’ath regime. Nahle Valley, due to its mountains and geographic importance, had become a center for the revolution and some of the leaders were from this Valley. At the same time, the issue of land takeover was raised before the Kurdish leadership of that time and the same case had been submitted to Kurdistan Front which was later formed following the uprising. So, the cases of the lands have been raised before the leadership for the purpose of finalizing the land ownership issue of Christian villages including the cases of Kashkawa and Grasor villages in Nahle Valley.

In accordance with Kadistro map in 1957 which is still used by KRG ministry of Agriculture to delimit the boundary of villages and agriculture lands and is used as the only formal and reliable source, Grasor is part of the Kashkawa village, but due to the seizure of lands, a big part of Grasor has been taken from the Christians and practically Grasor is treated as an independent village, though there are no

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houses there. The people from the surrounding villages of Kashkawa farm Grasor lands and harvest products.

Abraham Toma Yaqu, the mayor of Kashkawa village met with the team of Peace and Freedom Organization in his house in Kashkawa village. He said: “Within the boundary of Kashkawa, there are 1059 acres of Christian land seized and the Grasor lands which are part of Kashkawa village are used by the people of the neighboring villages. Though there are decisions from Akre Court and agricultural committee in favor of the Christians, but the land takeover is ongoing and the lands are not returned to their owners. The reason is that the trespassers are powerful and supported by political parties. In addition to the decisions about the case of Grasor in favor of Christians, a mayor has been appointed illegally for Grasor who uses a formal stamp which is valid in the administration of this area. In 2010, a committee was formed to resolve the land ownership issue in Grasor and suggested to give away %5 of the lands of the Christians in favor of the trespassers, but the Christians rejected this suggestion, because the trespassers have no rights to use those lands and the ownership should go back to the original owners, while the other party wants the lands to be divided between them and the Christians. The Christians land owners refuse this suggestion totally and they want the court to finalize the land ownership issue for them”.

After the 1991 uprising of people in Kurdistan against the institutions of Iraqi Ba’ath regime, the issue of land takeover was presented to the Kurdistan Front, government departments and judicial council. Though there are some final decisions by the judicial council and the specialized committees, but they are not implemented by the executive bodies. So, not only the land takeover is not solved, more lands had been taken over and the problems are getting accumulated and thus, it won’t be easy to provide practical solutions.

Ogr Oraha is a Christian in Zhule village spoke to the team:

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“Though the land ownership issue has been raised to the leaders of Kurdistan Front, the court in Akre and the issue is finalized in favor of the Christians, the land trespassers are powerful people from Zebari Clan and the decisions are not implemented on them. We do not have problems with Zebari Clan, only with the group of people who took over the lands from the Zebari Clan. On the contrary, there are some people from the Zebari Clan who support the Christians to regain their lands.

There is a strong relationship between us and the people from the neighboring villages”.

After more than half century has passed on the issue of land ownership of the Christians in the Nahle Valley and other areas within the boundary of Duhok governorate, the issues have been piled up and marginalized. Currently, the friction of the people in those areas have been escalated. For example, over the past months, a mayor from the Christian villages has been threatened and physically beaten and his head is broken. This needs to be addressed at the level of formal institutions of Kurdistan Region.

Khori, Andrios Mikhael is a priest from an old eastern church in the Nahle Valley who met with us in Hizanke village and spoke to the team of Peace and Freedom Organization: “We have been living in this area since 1924 and we have got registration ownership documents. We faced forced displacement and our lands were taken over. The last aggression was the takeover of lands in Zhule village, though there were court decisions in this regard, they were not implemented. The same thing is true for the Grasor village, the lands have been seized by some Bakirman families who separated the lands from Kashkawa village and changed the area demographically. Court decisions have been issued in favor of the Christians, but due to political factors and the power of trespassers, the decisions are not implemented. We want the land issue to be finalized by court and implemented, not through tribal solutions. It is important for the local authority, the court and other institutions to take the responsibility and fulfil their obligation without being influenced. A

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while ago, we wanted to protest on the street, but they did not allow us and attacked the car of a Christian person called “Isho Winya”.

Following the destruction of an illegal house in Zhule village, they cut our electricity. It is obvious that some trespassers are powerful and threatening, but we want to lead a peaceful life and respect each other, as we have also struggled along with the Kurds and Peshmerga for the sake of independent Kurdistan”.

The Christians in Nahle Valley state that land takeover is ongoing by some powerful people from the residents of Bakirman and Sharmin villages where the chiefs of Zebari clan are living.

Sheikh Raza Zebari who is the chieftain of Zebari Clan met with the team of Peace and Freedom organization in his house in Sharmin village and talked about the takeover of Christian lands by some powerful people from his Clan. He said: “The issue is not between Zebaris and Christians. The Christians are our brothers and there are so many Christian and Jewish Zebaris. The Christians who have got land ownership problems are the Assyrians who were brought temporarily by King Ghazi in 1927 to the villages of Kashkawa, Shile, Bilmande, Birok, and Cham Rubatke. Some of these villages, particularly Shile village, were originally populated by Zebaris, before the arrival of the Assyrians. The Christian Assyrians were guests and became land owners by virtue of Zebaris. The Assyrians are now 2 groups; one group have no problem and lead a peaceful life, the other group create problems, do not recognize Kurds and do not wave Kurdistan flag. The houses which were destroyed by the directive of the governor were not built recently, but they have been built 50 years ago and they are now just renovated. The villages and the houses were built for the people of Bakirman following the order of the district manager during Aelul revolution, but the Assyrians do not recognize law and make troubles. If the court, even if the judge is an Assyrian, decides on something, we respect law and decisions, but they don’t. If I were not going between both sides, bigger problems could have occurred”.

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Throughout half century of the standing land issue in Nahle Valley, no incidents of bloodshed and casualties have been reported and this is a good indicator that people in those areas have not resorted to violence. This is in a time when most of land issues all over Kurdistan region has led to violence and bloodshed. This however does not mean that the current land issue does not lead to violence and casualties. If the situation perpetuates as it is, the danger of violent clashes between the Christians and the neighboring villages could happen, especially, over past months, the Christians are more concerned and more focused on their land issue.

The fact that land disputes lead up to fights and killings is widespread in Kurdistan region. In some cases, many people have been killed and the land issue has turned to hostilities. In March 14, 2012 due to land disputes in Takya sub-district belonging to ChamChamal district, 5 persons were killed and 4 others were injured. In June 14, 2013, in Kirkuk, 2 families fought with each other and 5 persons were killed and 6 others were injured following some land disputes.

These bloody events have repeatedly occurred. In April 18, 2015, 3 persons were killed and another one was wounded following land dispute. Again, in Sep 2, 2015 a fight occurred between 2 families in Taqtaq sub-district, 5 killed and 4 injured. In July 1, 2016 again 2 families came to clashes with each other following land disputes in Qushtapa sub-distract and 5 persons were killed and a number of other people were injured.

These numbers and data above tell us that if the KRG institutions stay silent towards the current land ownership issues, it might lead to unprecedented disasters. In most of the cases of land issues, we notice that the formal institution are not doing their basic work which includes deficiency in their work results , especially some of these issues existed for more than 20 years and remained unresolved and has led to bloody actions. Like the violence and fight which erupted between two Kurdish families in 2013 in Degala sub-district in which 6

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people were killed. The conflict between the two families dated back to the 1980s and already claimed the lives of 13 others.

This is really outstanding and worth commending that land dispute of Christian villages existed for more than half century and as yet no person has been killed. It is feared that if these issues are not addressed, the land dispute could result in conflict.

In view of the land dispute data and cases presented, we can say that the land ownership issues of the Christian villages have their own characteristics that need to be treated accordingly along with the dossier of minorities in Kurdistan region.

The fact that if the takeover of Christian lands in Nahle valley is not intentional, similar attempts have been made by Iraqi ex-regime to change the demography of the region. Not addressing the land problems and the continuation of the trespasses after 25 years of the establishment of Kurdistan region government is the indication of the indifference of the political authority of Kurdistan towards the minority issues and adopts a policy that is not different from the previous one.

Another aspect of the land ownership issues related with the Christians is the presence of two constituencies in conflict. Cases of land dispute in KRG involves one group of people who share the same ethnicity and religion, the case of Nahle Valley is different. The trespassers are religiously and ethnically different from the land owners. This land dispute might escalate from a land problem to the problem between the constituencies. When a problem from land dispute turns to ethnic and religious dispute, it gets out from the control and all Christians from all over Kurdistan might be involved and targeted.

4.2 The Position of Court and Other Relevant Departments Following 1991 uprising and the formation of the first Kurdistan government cabinet, the case of land issues of Christians in Nahle valley, particularly the land disputes in Kashkawa, Grasor was

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submitted directly to the leadership of Kurdistan Front, then to the police and court following complaints from the Christians.

A memo from Kurdistan Front committee/Akre requests the attendance of one of the trespassers before the committee in Sep 16, 1992. Another memo of Agriculture committee in Akre numbered 488, dated Oct 14, 1992 referred to the Kurdistan Front committee/Akre explaining the trespasses and seizure of lands by both individuals on Christian lands.

A warning memo was issued in March 6, 1993 in Akre police station requesting the attendance of the same person with another person. In another memo of the same police station in March 13, 1993 requesting the attendance of the same 2 persons. A different memo in April 14, 1993 of the same police station requesting the same 2 persons. The district manager’s decision was referred that legal measures will be taken against them in case if they refused to attend.

In 1990s, many memos have been issued in the police stations, directorates of agriculture, Akre district manager, agricultural committees and Duhok governorate on the land ownership of the Christian villages in Nahle Valley which all reiterate the continuation of the issues.

Some of the recent memos have been very decisive regarding the land ownership issues. For example, in May 17, 1995, a committee from Duhok governorate was formed to sort out the land issues in Cham Rabatke village. The committee was chaired by the governor himself with the membership of general director of agriculture in Duhok, PDK representative, PUK representative, and representative of Assyrians Democratic Movement.

The committee reiterates that the Christians are the original owners of those lands following the investigation of all the documents, laws and decisions issued since 1927 on the land ownership.

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The committee was originally formed to look into the ownership case of 40 acres of land within the boundary of the given village between a Christian person and another one who used the land. The committee realized that the second person also have got a land registration document, but the document belongs to a special time during the rule of Ba’ath regime which were rendered invalid by decisions from the leadership of Aylul revolution and government and parliament of Kurdistan. Thus, the land ownership goes back to the Christians.

The administrative officials of this territory reiterate that throughout the past years, the issues of land ownership have been raised to the local authority, but some of them have been solved, while others remained unsolved.

Haval Mohammad, the sub-district manager of Chamanke belonging to Amedi District spoke to the team in Aug 4th, 2016: “The land ownership issue between the Christians in the Nahle Valley and the neighboring villages date back to more than 50 years. Up to now, some of the cases have been resolved such as the case of Cham Rabatke village, but in some other villages such as Zhule village, the issue still stand. The issues of some of these lands remained unsolved due to the lack of ownership documents and the issuance of agricultural reform decisions. We, as the administration of this area, have always supported the government agencies to find urgent solutions. We raise the land ownership issues to Sarsang court of first instance. Now, the Christians and others have submitted their documents to the court, though some of the cases have already been resolved in 1998, but the court needs to delve more into the cases and strengthen their legality. Some of the lands have been taken over and others were trespassed”.

In May 18, 1997, the agriculture committee in Duhok governorate sent a memo on the issues in the Hizanke village to the district management of Akre reiterating that the Hizanke lands are governmental lands as

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per the law numbered 90 in 1975 and used by 117 Christian farmers in reference to the decision numbered 3598 in Oct 30th, 1975.

It is noted that, over the past years, the legal institutions, the courts, the special committees formed for the purpose of land ownership dispute settlements in Nahle Valley have made follow ups, taken decisions based on the formal documents of land registration belonging to the directorate of agriculture and they have all done their job. In some cases, the ownership issue has been soon finalized, the problem is that the decisions are not implemented and made the issues to perpetuate.

The issue of trespassing Christian lands in Nahle Valley has been raised as a lawsuit by the Christian peasants to the courts in Akre and Duhok.

Over the past years, at least, 3 cases in Akre court have been solved in favor of the Christians including the case of the land belonging to two Christians named Ramzi Toma Sawa and Sawa Toma Sawa which had been raised to Akre court since 2005. The court decision was in favor of the 2 Christians and later in 2007, the decision was ratified by the Court of Appeal in Erbil.

It is noted that the cases of land dispute raised legally by the Christians have been normally treated as per the valid laws in the courts. Some of the cases have been finalized, after they have gone through all the stages of legal procedures and proceedings. The real problem starts after the cases are finalized in the court. The court decisions are not implemented by the executive authority. The local authorities including the Chamanke sub-district manager emphasize that if the issues are not solved, it will lead to more complications.

4.3 The Nahle Dossier in Parliament, Government and Presidency Office in the Kurdistan Region The continuation of land trespass on the Christian lands in Nahle Valley in one hand and the lack of implementation of the court decisions on the other hand made the representatives of Christian political parties

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to submit the cases to Kurdistan parliament and government in an effort to find solutions in a higher level.

In the beginning of 2015, all three Christian fractions in Kurdistan parliament (Assyrian & Chaldeans Forum, Rafidayn, Abna’a Al-Nahrain) submitted a report entitled “The dossier of demographic change in the Assyrian & Chaldeans areas in Duhok Governorate” to the speaker of Kurdistan parliament.

The report was officially supported by 9 Assyrian, Syriac & Chaldeans political parties which include (Assyrian, Syriac & Chaldeans People Council, Bait Al-Nahrain, Chaldean National Council, Assyrian Movement, Assyrian National Party, Chaldeans Democratic Platform, Bait Al-Nahrain National Union, Democratic Warka List, Abna’a AlNahrain Entity).

The submitted dossier is a critical milestone on the land ownership issues of Christians in Duhok province in which more than 53 cases of demographic change are presented throughout different authorities ruling Iraq. The report classifies the takeover of Christian lands in three stages as follows: Stage One: in 1960s, when the Chaldean, Syriac & Assyrian people joined Kurdish revolution led by Mullah Mustafa Barzani against the Iraqi ex-regime, a large area of Christian lands were taken over and given to the pro-regime people who were, as per the report, mostly Kurds and the residents of the neighboring villages.

Stage Two: the implementation of the evacuation policy of border areas by Ba’ath regime to cut various methods of support to the revolution. As a result, tens of acres of land were confiscated and used for residency compounds and investments & tourism projects without compensating the owners.

Stage Three: after the 1991 uprising, when rule of law was week and security & local authorities were not effective, many plots of land were taken over by the people from the neighboring villages and the

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situation has been left unresolved. This is in addition to land confiscation under the pretext of public interest and unfair municipality regulations.

Following the submission of the report, the speaker of parliament referred the dossier to the council of minister via a letter in March 2015 which holds the signature of Dr. Yousif Mohammad (The Speaker of Parliament). The council of ministers has referred the report to the ministry of interior for investigation and follow up via a letter numbered 2485 in April 1, 2015 which carries the signature of Nechirvan Ahmed (the head of Divan of Council of Ministers), but no reply has been provided from the ministry of interior to the parliament, except for the letter sent by the head of Divan of Council of Ministers to the ministry of Interior submitted to the Christian Fractions by the vice-speaker of parliament.

As per the memo numbered 6/356 in June 29, 2016 from the chief of public prosecution department in Kurdistan addressed to the ministry of Justice requesting the ministry to send an official letter to the ministry Interior to show its commitment to the law numbered 5 in 2015 related to the protection of minority rights in Kurdistan, particularly the article 3 of the law which is about the remedy for the encroachment on minority territories.

Following the memo of the chief of public prosecution, the ministry of Justice sent a letter numbered 3/1548 in July 11th, 2016 to the ministry of Interior and attached the report about the demographic change of Chaldean and Assyrian areas for investigation and follow up.

After the submission of the reports of parliamentary fractions via the speaker of the parliament to the government and the public prosecution department, the independent board of human rights in Kurdistan submitted the complaints of the people of Kashkawa, Zhule, Upper Hizanke, Lower Hizanke and Khlilane villages to the public prosecution department. The complaint referred to the names of two individuals (M.S.M.T) and (H.H.R) who are two powerful people in the

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area and encroached/trespassed on the agricultural lands in 89-90 sectors in the Christian villages. The same letter of complaint of the independent board of human rights has been sent to the office of president of Kurdistan Region.

The letter of complaint of the independent board of human rights was referred to the Akre Public Prosecution Office for more follow up. The public Prosecution in Akre replied to the Chief of Public Prosecution in Erbil in May 25th, 2016 reiterating the follow up and taking legal measures for the complaints of the Kashkawa village. As for the complaints of the people in Zhule, Upper Hizani, Lower Hizani and Khlilane villages, the Akre public prosecution was unable to work on them because these villages are administratively linked to Amedi district. Similar letter of complaint has been sent to the Amedi public prosecution.

A clarification memo from the directorate of Agriculture in Akre has been sent to Akre public prosecution in May 25th, 2016 reiterating that the ownership of Kashkawa lands is attributed to the ministry of finance and the farmers of this village do not have land contracts with Akre directorate of Agriculture.

Another clarification memo from Dinarta sub-district management in May 10th, 2016 has been sent to the Akre public prosecution stating that Kashkawa and Grasor are 2 separate villages and each has its own mayor and stamp.

It is noted that the complaints of Kashkawa people and the complainants of people from Zhule, Upper Hizanke, Lower Hizanke and Khlilane villages, after they are submitted by the Independent Board of Human Rights to the Chief of public prosecution, then soon submitted to Akre public prosecution, they are investigated and followed up shortly at the level of Akre public prosecution and the clarification memos have been sent by directorates of agriculture in the region.

The land ownership issue of Christian lands in Nahle valley has also been submitted to the office of Kurdistan president as per the

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statement of Christian parties and there is a committee in place at the level of president office to sort out this issue.

Mikhael Binjamen, the Christian writer and CSO activist in Duhok governorate who belong to Nahle Valley spoke to our team: Through Polis Malik Khoshaba (one of the dignitaries in the region), we visited the president office of Kurdistan and submitted the dossier of land trespass in Nahle Valley to Mr. Sidad Barzani, the manager of president’s office and he told us that he will put the dossier on the president’s desk.

Although the complaints of residents in Nahle valley have been submitted to the office of Kurdistan parliament via the independent board of human rights, the Christian political parties have also raised the issue to the president’s office.

Romeo Hakary, the secretary of Bait Al-Nahrain party told the team: “The president himself is included in the process and what happened recently regarding the destruction of illegal housing in Zhule village has been agreed by the president. The destruction of illegal housing in Zhule village is the beginning of the solution and we continue with the president until all problems are resolved. We know that this process requires a lot of effort and time and compensation has to be considered. The president is more effective than anybody else for resolving the issue. He pledged to solve this issue while he was meeting with the representatives of our people and as far as I know he had given pledges even before that meeting”.

4.4 The Views of Christian Parties The continuation of the takeover and trespass on Christian lands in Nahle Valley created a position by the Christian representative in Duhok Provincial Council and Kurdistan Parliament as well as the Chaldeans, Syriac & Assyrian political parties that the issue requires a

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political resolution to finalize it. This is in a sense that courts are unable to solve the problems, since if the court verdicts are not implemented by the executive authority, they do not make any change in reality and on the ground.

Ninos Audisho, the Christian representative and member of legal committee in Duhok governorate. While meeting with the team, he thought: We have tested the court approach in the past and court verdicts were issued in favor of the Christians, but unfortunately the court verdicts were not implemented. Thus, the issue needs a political support and agreement between the parties in conflict, particularly the PDK and the Assyrians who represent the people of these area. Silence of relevant agencies around this issue will bring more trespass and encroachment on the lands here and elsewhere.

Though there are Christian representatives in Duhok Provincial Council and there are people from Nahle Valley in legal committee and agriculture committee, yet the Christians submitted no complaints to the council.

Faris, Youhana, Balios, Mirkahi, the representative of Christians and the chair of agriculture & irrigation committee in Duhok provincial council spoke to the team on the second of Aug, 2016: “No one has officially submitted any complaint on the disputed lands to the Duhok provincial council. The disputed lands are in Nahle valley and there had been some disagreement about them. We as the agriculture committee visit those area so as to closely comprehend the issue and then get in touch with parliament and government. As a matter of fact, to address these issue properly, the courts need to have full authority so that they can play a more effective and efficient role to sort them out. Over the past time, most of the lands within the Duhok governorate boundary have been finalized by Iraqi agriculture reform law while the lands were under the control of Christians and this is an evidence that the land ownership belongs to the Christians. The other

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party in conflict can submit their evidences and prove that the lands belong to them. If the people in those areas request from us, we can intervene and make follow ups. Plus, it is necessary to include the international role so that land trespass and takeover will not happen again against anybody. Weak rule of law and instability in Kurdistan contributed to the fact that the issue gets more complicated still stands today. Thus, it is essential the courts are efficient and the rule of law is strong and the local forces should play a more positive role so that the decisions are fully enforced”.

It is obvious that the Christian representatives in Duhok provincial council are aware of the land ownership issues in Nahle valley. But because the Christians have not submitted any complaints, they have not followed up with the issue. This is in addition to the fact that there is no proper relationship and cooperation among the parliament, government and the provincial council to shape a common policy and position to address the issues. Though they emphasized the role of the courts to finalize the cases, they reiterated the existence of weak rule of law and suggest a political agreement in this regard. At the same time, some of them believe that political agreements might not be at the interest of the Christians.

Dilveen Muhammad Saleem, the chair of municipalities and public services in Duhok provincial council and the member of PUK fraction talked to the team in Aug 2nd, 2016: “The only solution is to give full power to the courts because if the issue is politicized and the PDK wants to bias with one group based on its interests, then they can do that, since all the administrative positions are held by PDK members and has all the power and authority in the region. PDK can create evidences and finalize the issue in the way they want, as the issue is out of the court ability and has turned into a tribal issue. This issue should not be politicized and the courts need to play their part in this regard”.

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Not implementing the court verdicts has caused lack of confidence by the Christian parties in the political system of Kurdistan to the level that Christians think that the mottos of coexistence and the rights of minorities are only inks on paper.

Srood Saleem Mata Muqadasi from the fraction of Abna’a Al-Nahrayn/ Assyrian democratic movement in Kurdistan parliament spoke to the team: “It was necessary for the KRG to try fixing the issue of demographic change of Christian territories since 1991, but unfortunately, we did not see a serious work in this regard. We have some areas in Nahle Valley formally registered such as the villages of Chumabs, Girbsh, and Duria, but they are taken over, though the courts have decided the trespassers leave those areas, but unfortunately the trespassers are chiefs of clans and supported by a particular political party who do not recognize laws and they view themselves above the law. We have prioritized this issue in this term of parliament and prepared a 1200 page dossier which include all the villages including the list of 53 villages trespassed and submitted it to Kurdistan parliament. The speaker of the parliament has sent it to the council of ministers and the council requests the ministry of interior to follow up with the issue through an official letter, but unfortunately nothing has been done yet. Unfortunately, the government has not been neutral in this issue. For example, there is court decision about Bebat village in Duhok, but the Duhok governor and the ministry of interior say that we cannot implement the decision and talk to the person who occupied the land”.

Although some of the Christian political parties say that there is an intention for remedy, but they find it essential to have a political agreement between the Christian representatives and the dominant power in the region represented by PDK to support the implementation of the court decisions and find solutions for the Christian lands.

Romeo Hakary, the secretary of Bait Al-Nahrayn party told the team:

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“In the 1990s, we were 2 Assyrian political parties and agreed with PDK to form a committee to resolve the land ownership issues, the representative of the Assyrian Democratic movement retreated from this committee, and therefore, we could not unilaterally participate in the committee and the issues remained as they are. The legal and political circumstances of Kurdistan is different today. There are some helping factors that could help solve the issue today and it entails some political agreements to support the implementation of court decisions to regain the lands to Christian owners. Such a complicated issue should not be treated verbally or by a statement. Dialogue and negotiations are the only way to reach solutions. We should work far from political influences and serve the interest of the people and stay away from individual interests. Most importantly, the unification of Assyrian political parties and bodies can contribute a lot to the solutions of the issues. We are the first party to submit a petition to the president office regarding the issues, but due to some misbehavior of our parties and some side talks, they made us lose confidence in this attempt. We were continuously trying to avoid any harm against our people in the region�.

Encroachment and trespass on the lands of Christian villages are undeniable facts, following the observations of the team of Peace and Freedom organization and its field visit to the Nahle Valley and interview with the people in the area, Christian representatives in Duhok provincial council and Kurdistan parliament, political figures and Christian CSO activists. This is in addition to following up with the some complaints, court decisions, memos and letters of the relevant bodies, directorates and committees of agricultural lands. We try to sum up the findings of the takeover and encroachment of the Christian lands in Nahle valley below:

4.5 The reality of the Trespass on Christian Lands in Nahle Valley

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1- The trespass on the Christian lands in Nahle Valley has a long history starting from the Iraqi successive regimes and reaching its climax during the rule of the Iraqi Ba’ath regime when direct efforts were made to make demographic changes in the Christian areas. At that time, many Christian villages faced displacement and evacuation.

2- After the 1991 uprising and the formation of the Kurdistan region government, many of the Christian trespassed lands remained the same with no solution and in some other Christian villages, the lands of other Christians have been trespassed.

3- The takeover and the trespass on Christian lands in Nahle Valley have taken two forms. Firstly, some lands which have been taken from their owners due to the Iraqi ex-regime policies and so far their original owners have not got their lands back. In some villages, the entire land is taken over. Secondly, the lands which have been taken over by some powerful people from the area before and after uprising.

4- Right after the uprising, the Christians whose lands were taken resorted to the leadership of Kurdistan Front, local authority institutions, agricultural directorates, courts, relevant government agencies, parliament ‌etc to resolve their issues. In some cases, decisions have been made in favor of the Christians, but not implemented by the executive bodies and the rights were not regained to the owners.

5- Over the past 20 years, the Christian political parties have used different methods and adopted various approaches to present their cases of the land takeover in Christian villages in Nahle valley, but they have only been able to present their cases, not to offer solutions for the issue and this is one of the shortcomings in their endeavor.

6- At the level of Chaldeans, Syriac and Assyrian political parties, there were not good positions and common mechanisms for solution, rather each party has made individual attempts in

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different cases and this resulted in weak pressure to resolve the issue.

7- The internal conflict of the Christian political parties on one hand, and the dispute of Assyrian Democratic Movement with PDK on the other hand exerted a bad influence on the land ownership issues of Christians in Nahle Valley. It is clearly felt that each party wants to use this case as a political tool against each other and this has given the case a political dimension.

4.6 Mitigating Factors Although the land ownership issues existed for more than 50 years between the Christians in Nahle Valley and the residents from the neighboring villages, there are various potentials available socially, politically and legally that can be utilized to address the gaps and the problems. Below are a number of those potentials: 1- Up to now, the land ownership issues in Nahle Valley have not led to violence and bloodshed, unlike most of the land problems in Kurdistan region. The problem remained as it is “land ownership issue”, it has not expanded to “bloodshed” and this can make the issue to be easily controlled.

2- The enactment of the minority rights protection law by Kurdistan parliament, particularly the article two which reiterates the lift of trespass on the minority lands is a strong legal base to address the land ownership issue.

3- The availability of land ownership registration document and the issuance of the previous resolutions from the revolution leadership, Kurdistan Front, the administrative committees formed to finalize land issues, and the court decisions. These are all important legal tools and evidences to be utilized to address the land ownership issue in Nahle Valley.

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4- The recognition of Kurdistan parliament of the reality of minority land takeover and trespass within the framework of minority rights protection law. The recognition of Kurdistan region government of demographic change of Christian territories. This is clarified through the receipt of the special dossier on the demographic change of the Christian territories. These all pave the way for reaching a practical solution to the problem.

5- The availability of an Islamic fatwa issued by the Islamic Scholars Union in Kurdistan/ Fatwa Committee about “the status of the occupied social and religious places”. The fatwa was issued in April 24, 2016 in the form of “Sharia’a Fatwa” prohibiting the takeover of the social and religious shrines and places of the minority groups. This is an important supportive religious tool since the majority of the Kurdish society are Muslims as the trespassers are seemingly Muslims.

6- The presence of the Christian representatives in Kurdistan parliament, Duhok provincial council will help in conveying the dossier to the decision making positions and centers 7- Having a sort of unified voice of all the Christian political fractions in Kurdistan parliament representing the Chaldeans, Assyrian and Syriac parties defending the land ownership dossier. This is also another political tool and opportunity for advocacy and to put more pressure on the decision makers to regain their rights.

8- The presence of independent board of human rights in Kurdistan as a critical medium for registering complaints against the land trespassers can be a channel for a peaceful settlement for land ownership issues.

9- The existence of civil society organizations at the current situation of Kurdistan region as well as the mass media will serve as another opportunity to own the land ownership dossier, influence the public opinion, create a lobby on the decision

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making positions and propose reasonable solutions and recommendations.

10- Attempting to enhance common values and goals between the residents of Nahle Valley asserting that they are all on the same boat had fought against one regime. They had sacrificed for the sake of their soil and homeland. These common values and goals will be helpful factors to contain the problem socially.

5. Suggestions and Mechanisms to Reach Solutions Short Term Mechanisms 1- Serious and concrete steps have to be taken at all levels of Kurdistan political authority to prevent more trespass and encroachment on the Christian lands in Nahle Valley.

2- The political entities need to take responsibility and avoid the politicization of Nahle dossier and play their role to address the gap and the issues and keep the social cohesion intact.

3- avoiding any talks and statements related to the land issues in Nahle valley that cause violence realizing that both the Christians and the trespassers are neighbors and destined to live together.

4- Speeding up the follow up procedures already started by government at the level of all government agencies, particularly at ministry of interior that is connected with the follow up on the land ownership issues and the demographic changes in Christian territories.

5- Direct implementation of the court verdicts related with the land ownership issues in Nahle Valley which have not yet been implemented by the KRG ministry of Interior.

6- Political agreements between the Christian parties and the parties of the authority to support the implementation of the court verdicts and enhancing rule of law.

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7- Guiding the persons in conflict to resort to the relevant courts to stay away from any actions and reactions.

Medium & Long Term Mechanisms 1- Working to build complete confidence between the Christians and Muslims, Kurds and Assyrians in Nahle Valley and other areas and to end the dispute and frictions between both parties, though not all of the people from both parties are in conflict.

Otherwise, the threat of lack of trust and the eruption of violence and disruption of social security would be expected from both sides.

2- The Christian political parties are to unanimously and jointly develop a proposal to correct the demographically changed Christian territories in Kurdistan region and submitted to the political decision making authorities and work hard to implement it.

3- Any land decision/decree from the departments/ministries of municipalities, investment and agriculture related with Christian territories need to be closely studied so that it will not lead to demographic change in the ethnic and religious minority areas.

4- The Christians need to get compensation for the loss of their lands taken for state projects, or trespass that cannot be lifted.

The Kurdistan region government will take the responsibility to provide some compensations as per different stages of land encroachment that happened during its rule. For the land trespass and encroachment happened during the Iraqi exregime, the compensation has to be demanded through courts and other means to put pressure on the current Iraqi government to provide the compensations.

5- Encouraging the social and religious figures and dignitaries from Christians and Muslims in the region to prevent more trespassing and encroachment and keep the social relations of both contingencies intact.

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5.1 Recommendations for activating the role of the international community: 1- The United Nations need to remain connected in all parts of the problem in order to facilitate dialogue between the two sides.

2- The international community can convey international experiences in solving the land problems, particularly the problem of the Lands of minorities from other countries to the Kurdistan Region, especially by bringing experts and specialists to solve that problem.

3- Constant pressure on the government of the Kurdistan region of Iraq to resolve that problem, and Kurdistan region government's commitment to activating their real role without distinction between citizens on the basis of nationalism and religion and ... etc.

4- Pressure on the government of the Kurdistan region of Iraq to commit and implement the laws of the Special Court of the problem and not to politicize the judiciary and law enforcement without delay.

5- Continuous monitoring of the problem and view all the information to determine the path of progress and obstacles as part of attempts to solve the problem.

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6. Annexes A letter from the Court of Cassation on the occupation of the land of one of the peasants of the Nahla

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valley.

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-A letter from the Department of Agriculture in Aqra to Kurdistan Front in 1992.

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- A letter from the Agricultural Committee / Kurdistan Front before the founding of the Kurdistan Regional Government on the problem of the Lands of Nahla valley.

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- Nahla valley on the map of Kadstro 1956

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-A letter from local government in Aqra over the ownership of lands of the village (Heyzanki) in 1997.

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-A letter from Dohuk province over the ownership of lands of the village (Heyzanki) in 1997.

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-Special Committee's decision to resolve the problem of the village (Gem Rabtky) in the year 1994.

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- A letter from Christian parties about the demographic change in the areas of the Chaldeans , Sryanin, Assyrians to the presidency of the parliament.

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- A letter from the Council of Ministers of the region to the Interior Ministry on the problem of Nahla lands.

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- A letter from the public prosecutors to the ministry of Justice for the implementation of the law of the people rights of and stopping the violations.

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- A letter from the Ministry of Interior in the Kurdistan Region about demographical changes in Chaldeans and Syriacs, Assyrians areas in Dohuk.

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- A letter from the Independent Commission for Human Rights to deliver the demands of the residents of Nahla valley .

A letter from the Prosecutors in Aqra to deliver the lawsuit of the residents of Nahla c -valley

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- A letter from the Agriculture Department in Akre over the ownership of lands in some villages in Nahla valley.

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- The advisory opinion of the Union of Muslim Scholars in Kurdistan, about the judgment of the occupation of social and religious places.

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- Some pictures of the villages of Nahla valley

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