III 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 322 

Expressing the sense of the Senate on religious minorities in Iraq. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 26, 2009 

Mr. LEVIN (for himself, Mr. BROWNBACK, and Mr. DURBIN) submitted the 

following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate on religious minorities 

in Iraq. 

Whereas threats against the smallest religious minorities in 

Iraq jeopardize the future of Iraq as a diverse, pluralistic, 

and free society; 

Whereas according to the United States Commission on 

International Religious Freedom, there are grave threats 

to religious freedom in Iraq, particularly for the smallest, 

most vulnerable religious minorities in Iraq, including 

Chaldeans, Syriacs, Assyrians, and other Christians, 

Sabean Mandeans, and Yazidis; 

Whereas the February 2009 Country Report on Human 

Rights issued by the Department of State identifies ongoing ‘‘misappropriation of official authority by sectarian, 

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criminal, and extremist groups’’ as among the significant 

and continuing human rights problems in Iraq; 

Whereas in recent years, there have been alarming numbers 

of religiously motivated killings, abductions, beatings, 

rapes, threats, intimidation, forced conversions, marriages, and displacement from homes and businesses, and 

attacks on religious leaders, pilgrims, and holy sites, in 

Iraq, with the smallest religious minorities in Iraq having 

been among the most vulnerable, although Iraqis from 

many religious communities, Muslim and non-Muslim 

alike, have suffered in this violence; 

Whereas the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom continues to recommend that the President designate Iraq as a ‘‘country of particular concern’’, 

or CPC, under the International Religious Freedom Act 

of 1998, because of the ongoing, severe abuses of religious freedom in Iraq; 

Whereas the Assyrian International News Agency reports 

that 59 churches have been bombed in Iraq between June 

2004 and July 2009; 

Whereas persecution and violence in Iraq have extended to 

church leaders as well, such as the March 2008 kidnap 

for ransom and killing of 65-year-old Chaldean Catholic 

Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho; 

Whereas members of small religious minority communities in 

Iraq do not have militia or tribal structures to defend 

them, do not receive adequate official protection, and are 

legally, politically, and economically marginalized; 

Whereas control of ethnically and religiously mixed areas, including the Nineveh and Kirkuk governorates, is disputed 

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ernment of Iraq, and Chaldeans, Syriacs, Assyrians, and 

other Christians, Sabean Mandeans, Yazidis, Shabak, 

and Turkomen are caught in the middle of this struggle 

for control and have been targeted for abuses and discrimination as a result; 

Whereas governments in the region report that approximately 

2,400,000 refugees and asylum seekers have fled Iraq 

since 2003; 

Whereas many religious minorities in Iraq, who made up 

about 3 percent of the population of Iraq in 2003, have 

fled to other areas in Iraq or to other countries, where 

they reflect a disproportionately high percentage of registered Iraqi refugees; 

Whereas the flight of such refugees has substantially diminished their numbers in Iraq, and few show signs of returning to Iraq; 

Whereas approximately 1,400,000 Christians were estimated 

to have lived in Iraq as of 2003, including Chaldean 

Catholics, Assyrian Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the 

East, Syriac Catholics, Syriac Orthodox, Armenians 

(Catholic and Orthodox), Protestants, and Evangelicals; 

Whereas it is widely reported that only 500,000 to 700,000 

indigenous Christians remain in Iraq as of 2009; 

Whereas the Sabean Mandean community in Iraq reports 

that almost 90 percent of the members of that community either fled Iraq or have been killed, leaving only 

about 3,500 to 5,000 Mandeans in Iraq as of 2009; 

Whereas the Yazidi community in Iraq reportedly now numbers about 500,000, a decrease from about 700,000 in 

2005; 

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Whereas the Baha’i faith, estimated to have only 2,000 adherents in Iraq, remains prohibited in Iraq under a 1970 

law; 

Whereas the ancient and once-large Jewish community in 

Iraq now numbers fewer than 10, and they essentially 

live in hiding; 

Whereas in 2008, the United Nations High Commissioner for 

Refugees (UNHCR) reported that approximately 221,000 

Iraqis returned to their areas of origin in Iraq, the vast 

majority of whom settled into neighborhoods or 

governorates controlled by members of their own religious 

community; 

Whereas many of these returnees reported returning because 

of difficult economic conditions in their countries of asylum, principally Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon; and 

Whereas Chaldeans, Syriacs, Assyrians, and other Christians, 

Sabean Mandeans, and Yazidis are not believed to be 

among these returnees: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that— 

2 (1) the United States remains deeply concerned 

3 about the plight of vulnerable religious and ethnic 

4 minorities of Iraq and is particularly concerned for 

5 the Chaldeans, Syriacs, Assyrians, and other Chris6 tians, Sabean Mandeans, Yazidis, Baha’is, Jews, 

7 and Muslim ethnic minorities, the Shabak and 

8 Turkomen, and other religious and ethnic minorities 

9 of Iraq; 

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1 (2) the United States Government and the 

2 United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq should 

3 urge the Government of Iraq to enhance security at 

4 places of worship in Iraq, particularly where reli5 gious minorities are known to be at risk; 

6 (3) the United States Government should con7 tinue to work with the Government of Iraq to— 

8 (A) urgently train and deploy into the 

9 Iraqi police and security forces members of vul10 nerable minority communities in Iraq, including 

11 in Nineveh and other areas in which religious 

12 minorities are located, who are as representa13 tive as possible of those communities; and 

14 (B) ensure that members of such commu15 nities— 

16 (i) suffer no discrimination in recruit17 ment, employment, or advancement in the 

18 Iraqi police and security forces; and 

19 (ii) while employed in the Iraqi police 

20 and security forces, be assigned to their lo21 cations of origin, rather than being trans22 ferred to other areas; 

23 (4) the Government of Iraq should, with the as24 sistance of the United States Government— 

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1 (A) ensure that the upcoming national 

2 elections in Iraq are safe, fair, and free of in3 timidation and violence so that all Iraqis, in4 cluding religious minorities, can participate in 

5 the elections; and 

6 (B) permit and facilitate election moni7 toring by experts from local and international 

8 nongovernmental organizations, the inter9 national community, and the United Nations, 

10 particularly in minority areas; 

11 (5) the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan 

12 regional government should work towards a peaceful 

13 and timely resolution of disputes over territories; 

14 (6) the United States Government and the 

15 United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq should 

16 urge the Government of Iraq to work with minority 

17 communities and their representatives to develop 

18 measures to implement article 125 of the Iraq Con19 stitution, which guarantees ‘‘the administrative, po20 litical, cultural, and educational rights of the various 

21 nationalities, such as Turkomen, Chaldeans, Assyr22 ians, and all the other constituents’’ in Nineveh and 

23 other areas where these groups are present; 

24 (7) the Government of Iraq should take affirm25 ative measures to reverse the legal, political, and 

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1 economic marginalization of religious minorities in 

2 Iraq; 

3 (8) the United States Government should direct 

4 assistance to projects that develop the ability of eth5 nic and religious minorities in Iraq to organize 

6 themselves civically and politically to effectively con7 vey their concerns to government; 

8 (9) the United States Government should con9 tinue to fund capacity-building programs for the 

10 Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights, the independent 

11 national Human Rights Commission, and a new 

12 independent minorities committee whose membership 

13 is selected by minority communities of Iraq; 

14 (10) the Government of Iraq should direct the 

15 Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights to investigate and 

16 issue a public report on abuses against and the 

17 marginalization of minority communities in Iraq and 

18 make recommendations to address such abuses; 

19 (11) the Government of Iraq should, with the 

20 assistance of the United States Government and 

21 international organizations, help ensure that dis22 placed Iraqis considering return to Iraq have the 

23 proper information needed to make informed deci24 sions regarding such return; and 

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1 (12) the United States Government and inter2 national organizations should continue to work with 

3 the Government of Iraq to develop the legal frame4 work necessary to address property disputes result5 ing when displaced Iraqis attempt to return to their 

6 homes in Iraq. 

Æ 

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