Usurpation of a Land and People in the name of Law and Democracy

An analysis and insight into the draft of the so-called Kurdish constitution

Preamble:

Ashur shall remain the torch and Nineveh its throbbing heart ...This is our faith and the life that was given to us, with your efforts and will sons and daughters of Assyria (Ashur) from one generation to the other ... We pass the torch from one hand to the other with hearts throbbing moved by the blood flow of our great forefathers on the land of Ashur, your land which you have inherited from our great ancestors for you to be sanctified, and for your children and their children to inherit so that the torch of Ashur continues to flare and be passed from one hand to the other. Today, after 6756 years Ashur’s torch is in your hands and with your will and faith it shall remain lit for the next 6756 years for our children and the future generations. The politics of politicians shall neither sell nor buy who you are or what you have nor shall you be forced to accept the reality of a situation.

Following what happened in Iraq, the Assyrian nation was rendered unable to strategically control the national movement for its existence because of the dangerous impact of the Kurdish goals on Ashur’s land in order to Kurdify it as well as what has been going on with the Iraqi political process after the demise of the former regime on April 09th, 2003, therefore, the historical logic for the Assyrians have become their presence and fate.

Thus, vis a vis such a situation isn’t the contemporary Assyrian history entering one of the most dangerous links threatening the Assyrian nation, its existence, rights, national, political and cultural entity?!! Today, we at ANA Ashur taking into consideration our beliefs and principles, it’s our duty to clarify to the sons and daughters of Ashur what’s being plotted against the Assyrian nation.

We know the Kurdish chieftains as we know the racist inclination of their peoples… Our calamities and afflictions stem from the possessive racist behavior and the Kurdish directives of political authoritarian expansion, the latest being the “polite” threats which were framed legally within the so-called constitutional draft of the so-called Kurdistan issued on August 22, 2006.

This so-called “constitution” which is considered as a “document advocating secession” from Iraq and its history, but specifically its historically and geographically Assyrian north, it’s our national and patriotic duty to look at some of its articles and paragraphs in order to break it up and extract at the end of the analysis a summary which will be a witness for history to record:

The long introduction to this so-called “constitutional draft” mentions the historical, national and international injustices which befell the Kurds over a period of 80 years as it tries to mix reality with fiction in a “Greek Sophistry” manner in order to deceive those who can be deceived and convince those who can be convinced inside and outside Iraq about the real position of the Kurdish independence.

Hence, we say… When was the area of north of Iraq outside the current Iraqi State? Was it for example a state on its own before 1920 (Treaty of Sevres) and 1923 (Treaty of Lausanne) and that Britain or France had annexed this imaginary (Kurdish) state to Iraq later on… Are the Kurds so incapable of reading the history of their peoples? Where did the Kurds come up with the idea that the northern borders of the former Iraqi State before 1923 ended at Mount Hemreen? This idea is both ridiculous and pitiful because it’s one of those “Bernard Shaw” suggestions…

The problem of the Kurds is that they think they’re capable of deceiving the Iraqi, regional and international mind with these linguistic, historic, geographical, and legal absurdities with a stroke of a pen, a speech on a podium in a Parliament or a handful of green dollars for some book. All the research, historical and academic references which are covered by modern scientific scholarly oriented institutions confirm one sole fact, which is that the Iraqi Kurds are outsiders to Iraq who didn’t have a state entity before the treaties of Sevres and Lausanne, despite all this we consider the Kurds Iraqis by belonging and patriotism but not on the basis of obliterating us and Kurdifying our land, the Land of Ashur, north of Iraq, while looting our wealth and usurping our resources but the most dangerous of all is falsifying our Assyrian history which is based on every little bit of our Land Ashur (Assyria), the north of Iraq, a fact which is known to those near and far witnessed by the Assyrian civilization and its monuments above and beneath the ground, but there never was a Kurdish civilization nor monuments throughout history till today on the Land of Ashur, the Kurds don’t have neither a civilization nor monuments on a land which they’re claiming today to be theirs. We pose a question to them: “If this land was yours throughout history, then where are the remnants of your history and civilization on the Land of Ashur, today’s north of Iraq”?

Analysis:

The introduction is an excellent example of Kurdification and an exclusion of nationalities, specifically the rightful owners of the land: The Assyrians!!

Is this what the fate of the Assyrians is going to be after all these years of striving, offering endless sacrifices and going through massacres and genocides to preserve the Assyrian identity, existence, culture, and heritage?

How are we going to ask for our rights when we don’t know what our rights are? Why we are causing ourselves to be refugees on our own lands when we are allowing foreigners to claim that we are the intruders and not them or that today’s Assyrians aren’t the descendants of the ancient Assyrians?

How are we saying that we want to lobby the United States and the international community for our rights when things were set up in such a manner to let us fight amongst each other so that we wouldn’t notice what’s going on or taking place?

The truth is that there isn’t any thing Kurdish in Iraq but rather if there is something then it is outside Iraq’s territory in parts of Iran, Turkey till Armenia but no one used the law to prove this point.

The land is historically and geographically the land of Ashur but they wanted the people to use a compound name which only serves to consider the Assyrians as religious denominations and that would serve the purpose of this whole despicable charade.

This is the outcome of what was legitimized in the Iraqi Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) where our Cause and rights were hijacked and eradicated in the name of law.
The plan was to obliterate anything Assyrian and any ties to Assyria historically and geographically. Thus when we look at the Iraqi Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) article 4, which states:

Article 4: The system of government in Iraq shall be republican, federal, democratic, and pluralistic, and powers shall be shared between the federal government and the regional governments, governorates, municipalities, and local administrations. The federal system shall be based upon geographic and historical realities and the separation of powers, and not upon origin, race, ethnicity, nationality, or confession.

Hence by obliterating every thing Assyrian, they were able to obscure the sole rightful owner of the North of Iraq and the national identity of the Assyrians.

The Kurds had to find a way to make sure that their federalism was established in the North on the Land of Ashur (Assyria) but they had to make sure also that there wasn’t another nationality that could have a claim on the land in North of Iraq which is historically and geographically known as Assyria. Therefore, they had to make sure that neither an Assyrian identity existed in Iraq or a whole nation that is ethnically known as Assyrian only. Thus the Kurds planted the denominational names and made sure that they were legally written in the Iraqi Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) as a compound name “ChaldoAssyrian” as per article 53 which states:

Article 53: (A) The Kurdi/stan Regional Government is recognized as the official government of the territories that were administered by the government on 19 March 2003 in the governorates of Dohuk, Arbil, Suleimaniya, Kirkuk, Diyala and Nineveh. The term “Kurdi/stan Regional Government” shall refer to the Kurdi/stan National Assembly, the Kurdi/stan Council of Ministers, and the regional judicial authority in the Kurdi/stan region.

(B) The boundaries of the eighteen governorates shall remain without change during the transitional period.
(C) Any group of no more than three governorates outside the Kurdistan region, with the exception of Baghdad and Kirkuk, shall have the right to form regions from amongst themselves. The mechanisms for forming such regions may be proposed by the Iraqi Interim Government, and shall be presented and considered by the elected National Assembly for enactment into law. In addition to being approved by the National Assembly, any legislation proposing the formation of a particular region must be approved in a referendum of the people of the relevant governorates.
(D) This Law shall guarantee the administrative, cultural, and political rights of the Turkomen, ChaldoAssyrians, and all other citizens.

Therefore, using the Iraqi Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) article 53 (A) the Assyrians weren’t recognized as the rightful owners of the land but rather as a denominational religious minority under the name “ChaldoAssyrian”, hence under this denominational religious identity the Assyrians wouldn’t be able to claim any thing because as per article 4 of (TAL) federalism isn’t based upon origin, race, ethnicity, nationality, or confession. Thus the only rights which could be given to the “ChaldoAssyrians” denominational identity were those mentioned in article 53 (D) of (TAL) This Law shall guarantee the administrative, cultural, and political rights of the Turkomen, ChaldoAssyrians, and all other citizens.

This is what happened exactly and took place legally:
1st- Making sure that when the Iraqi permanent constitution would be written and ratified, the Kurds would have to make sure that the Iraqi Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) would be annulled, excluding article 53 A and article 58 which is connected to Kirkuk only to be legalized and legitimized in the new permanent Iraqi constitution as stated in article 143:

Article 143:
The Transitional Administrative Law and its Annex shall be annulled on the seating of the new government, except for the stipulation of Article 53(A) and Article 58 of the Transitional Administrative Law.

So the claim on the right of establishing a federal region in the north, would be only for the Kurds and no one else, that’s why when the new Iraqi permanent constitution was written, it didn’t matter if the Assyrians were recognized and also the Chaldeans as separate ethnicities because they would only be given the administrative, political rights etc as it is stated in article 121 of the new permanent Iraqi constitution.

Article 125:
This Constitution shall guarantee the administrative, political, cultural and educational rights for the various nationalities, such as Turkomen, Chaldeans, Assyrians and all other components. This will be organized by law.

“TAL” was annulled and article 53A was ratified so as to give the Kurds the power over the land legally in the new permanent Iraqi constitution.

The Kurds and whoever plotted all of this, knew that they had to somehow give the Assyrians administrative rights under the so-called kurdi/stani region, to administrate themselves but to abide by and be under the laws of the so-called kurdi/stani region, its judiciary system and also under the laws as legislated by the so-called kurdi/stani parliament. This had to be planned, that’s why the so-called Kurdish constitutional draft was presented in a way that all the people of so-called kurdi/stan can locally administer themselves as it is stated in their so-called constitutional draft from article 142 to 146 stating:

Part IV: A law shall regulate the administrative divisions in the Kurdi/stan region (governorate, region, and district) as well as creating and changing the centers, adjusting the borders, disengaging and annexing these divisions to other administrative units.

Article 143: First: Adopting the decentralized administration system, in managing the administrative units in the Kurdi/stan region (governorate, region and district) and each shall have a locally elected council using the direct secret ballot voting method; the powers and functions shall be regulated by law.

Second: Each administrative unit shall have its executive council headed by a chairman; the formation, powers, functions and relationship with the local council of the administrative unit, the ministries and central institutions in Kurdi/stan shall be regulated by law.

Article 144: Every centre of a governorate, region, district, and village with a population of 3000 or more shall be administered by an elected municipal council which will provide citizens with services as regulated by law.

Article 145: First: The local administrative and municipal councils shall enjoy an incorporeal status.
Second: Each administrative or municipal unit shall have its independent budget.

Article 146: When forming the local administrative and municipal councils, it shall be taken into account the fair representation of minorities living within an administrative or municipal unit and this shall be regulated by law.

One must definitely wonder how the political parties which are claiming to be Assyrian would promote the farce called autonomous rule/region when by definition the phrase means:

1- Not controlled by others or by outside forces; independent: an autonomous judiciary; an autonomous division of a corporate conglomerate.

2- Independent in mind or judgment; self-directed.

3- a. Independent of the laws of another state or government; self-governing.

B. Of or relating to a self-governing entity: an autonomous legislature

c. Self- governing with respect to local or internal affairs: an autonomous region of a country.

4- Autonomic

How are these political parties claiming to be Assyrian while allowing for the annexation of Assyrian lands to the Kurdish controlled areas when article 3 of the so-called Kurdish constitutional draft clearly states that no other federal region is allowed to be established within the so-called Kurdi/stan region?

Article 3: A new region must not be established within the borders of Iraqi-Kurdi/stan.

The following are parts 1 through 5 of the so-called Kurdish constitutional draft.

Part [1]

(We the peoples of Iraqi Kurdi/stan have suffered for decades of oppression and injustice because of extreme centralized dictatorships, which stripped us of our freedom and natural rights, God’s gift to humanity, and they considered it too much to recognize the civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights as confirmed by international conventions; before that We were victims to international interests that deprived us from the right of self determination and deciding our political and legal position contrary to other peoples who seceded from the Ottoman Empire following WWI and enjoyed their rights based on the XIV Principles of the American president Woodrow Wilson…)

Part [2]

(… The successive governments trespassed all the red lines and didn’t stop at ignoring our national rights but surpassed them to committing genocide, ethnic cleansing and eliminating over 4,500 villages changing in the process the demographics of large parts of Kurdi/stan…)

Part [3]

(… Following a policy of physical termination using chemical weapons in the town of Halabja, the areas of Balisan, Bahdinan and tens of other areas, while sending thousands of young Faili Kurds to their deaths in the chemical testing fields and mass graves…) (Followed by campaigns of genocide against the Barzanis; and the Anfal which resulted in the deaths of more than 182.000 unarmed youth, elderly, women and children).

Part [4]

(… However, the rulers who took over governing Iraq were either treacherous or didn’t keep their commitments; this was the essence of their policy and approach, this was evident when they revoked the agreement of 29/June/1966, renounced the agreement of March 1970, while they signed the agreement of Algeria on March 1975 which paved the way to crush our peoples liberation movement…).

Part [5]

(Being aware of persecution, oppression, and injustice suffered by our generations and as a recognition to the leaders and symbols of the Kurdi/stani liberation movement, its martyrs and Peshmerga who sacrificed for…)

Divulging the above five parts of the introduction we conclude the following:

1-There’s a historical narration of the injustices, suffering, tragedy and massacres only of the Kurdish peoples beginning in 1920 until 2003 without paying attention to the cruelty, persecution, and suppression of the other components coexisting with the Kurdish peoples and specifically by the Kurdish peoples against the owners of the Assyrian land the “Assyrians” in the Land of Ashur, the north of Iraq.

2- The introduction in its entirety relates solely to the Kurdish peoples. If we take a look at part (1) we will clearly see that what was mentioned in it corresponds totally with the historical narration of their writers and historians regarding the Mosul Velayat and the injustice which befell them because of the Lausanne treaty and what they acquired in the treaty of Sevres.

3- The mentioning of the word (national) in a singular form is a clear indication that the articles of this so-called constitution are exclusive to the Kurds with a racist name for the region which make the other nationalities lose their loyalty to the region thus those citizens don’t sense their real belonging…

4- The terms (Halabja), (Anfal), (Balisan), (Bahdinan), (Barzanis), (chemical) are vocabularies which specify and indicate to the Kurds as we can clearly see it in part (3).

5- The dates mentioned in part (4) are those related specifically to the agreements of the Kurds with the Iraqi government except for the agreement of Algeria which was a blow to the Kurdish movement…

The mention of the phrase (our peoples’ liberation movement) clearly proves that the introduction is limited to the Kurdish peoples.

6- Part (5) has more than one term and expression which refer to the Kurdish movement in the north of Iraq, such as, (the symbols of the Kurdi/stani liberation movement) and (Peshmerga).

7- The Iraqi rulers were the only ones accused of (Persecution, repression, genocide, killings, displacement, Anfal… etc) without referring to their Kurdish allies who distanced and denied their persecution, repression, killings, and displacing till today of the owners of the land, i.e. the Assyrians.

Let’s take a look at article (6) of the so-called regional draft:

(The peoples of Iraqi Kurdi/stan are composed of the Kurds and other nationalities “Turkomen, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Armenians, and Arabs” who according to the laws are citizens of the region).

Where are these important components in the introduction of the so-called draft? Why none of them were mentioned? Didn’t they suffer and agonize just like the Kurdish peoples? Or is this area a monopoly for a certain faction or group…!!!

Where are the Kurdified Assyrian parties which supported the (Kurdi/stani) stand?

Isn’t this marginalization and exclusion?

Isn’t this monopolizing power?

Isn’t this a racist method and a chauvinistic entity?

Let’s take a look at article (7) [1] of the Iraqi constitution: (No entity or program, under any name, may adopt racism…).

The question here is how will we be able to prevent this entity which is creeping in and to all directions when all the nationalities and components have been melted within this sole entity?!

Article [1] of the so-called Kurdish constitutional draft (Kurdi/stan is a federal region within the federal state of Iraq and its political system is republican, parliamentarian, democratic based on political pluralism, peaceful succession of power and the principle of separation of authorities).

When we look at article (1) of the Iraqi constitution: (The republic of Iraq is a single, independent federal state…).

We notice that there’s a wide gap when it comes to the name of Iraq, for in the so-called regional constitution we see the use of (federal Iraq) to indicate the name of the Republic of Iraq, while in the new Iraqi constitution we see the use of (Republic of Iraq) without the word (federal) as the Kurds like to call it in their statements and media declarations specially in al-Taakhi news paper to introduce us to a dangerous precedent and a typical example in applying the principle of (de facto) or (political rebellion) over legitimacy…

Article [2] of the so-called Kurdish constitutional draft First:(Iraqi Kurdi/stan consists of the governorate of Dohuk with its present administrative borders and the governorates of Kirkuk, Sulaimaniya, and Arbil as well as the districts of Aqra, Sheikhan, Sinjar, Tel afar, Telkef, Qaraqosh, with the areas of Zammar, Ba’ashiqa, Eski Kalak in the governorate of Nineveh, and the districts of Khanqeen and Mandali in the governorate of Diyala with the districts of Badra, and Jassan in the Wassit governorate with its administrative borders prior to 1968).

This paragraph mentions the promised administrative borders of the so-called Kurdistan; it contains more political absurdity than the federal thought or the co-habitation system as per the past, present or future federal systems… These borders which are spreading from Dohuk to Tel afar, Ba’ashiqa and Badra… are “historic, geographical, political and diplomatic jokes” used by colonial western politicians and the Kurdish chieftains quoted them “etymologically”. Thus we still remember Churchill’s suggestions concerning “English India” or de Gaulle’s regarding “French Somalia” and Bush’s “American Iraq”; but India didn’t become British, Somalia didn’t submit to the Eiffel Tower and Iraq didn’t turn into an American state… On the contrary, we find that these countries are today into a strategic animosity with the countries which tried to swallow up and control them.

Therefore, where are the legal, historical and geographical indications which prove that these lands are Kurdish? Where did the Kurdish chieftains obtain the geographical and demographical information about the ownership of these lands? Was there an ethno-demographic population census for example which proved a Kurdish majority in these areas? Are there archaeological-sociological features that the inhabitants of these areas were Kurds? Where is the evidence?

If there were historical standards to decide such matters, then the Assyrians are the owners of all the lands and areas in the north of Iraq and if we were to go by the population argument, then the national-population logic doesn’t indicate that these areas are Kurdish.

Thus, where are the historical, national-population arguments to prove that these areas are Kurdish? The pressing question is:” Did the former regime manipulate the administrative boundaries of these areas so that they may be returned to the region?

How are these cities disengaged from their original governorates and annexed to the governorates of Arbil, Sulaimaniya and Dohuk? If they were not annexed then on what basis would a referendum be held in order to know the will of the inhabitants without taking into consideration the original governorates?

Article [3] of the so-called Kurdish constitutional draft (A new region must not be established within the borders of Iraqi-Kurdi/stan).

This is a clear racist scheme contradicting with the United Nations charters and the International covenants for civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights as issued by the United Nations in 1966 and the principle of the peoples’ right of self-determination which shouldn’t be obscured for others… This article also contradicts with the meaning of article 115 in the new Iraqi constitution (One or more governorates shall have the right to organize into a region based on a request to be voted on in a referendum submitted in one of the following two methods):

A. A request by one-third of the council members of each governorate intending to form a region.

B. A request by one-tenth of the voters in each of the governorates intending to form a region.

Article [8] of the so-called Kurdish constitutional draft (The peoples of Iraqi Kurdi/stan have the right of self determination and as such are free to determine their political position and their economic, social and cultural growth, thus they have chosen the free union with Iraq’s people, land and sovereignty as per the federal constitution and the federal, parliamentarian, pluralistic, democratic system respecting individual and collective human rights and (the Kurds) have the right to reconsider their choice to determine their future and political position in the following situations:

First: Violating the sanctity of the federal constitution in a manner which would be considered as repealing the commitment to the federal system or the main constitutional principles of democracy as well as the individual and collective human rights.

Second: Following a racial discrimination policy and changing the demographic reality in Kurdi/stan or employing methods to keep the previous implications and consequences would be repealing the constitutional obligations in article 140 of the federal constitution.

The article above presents the situations and gives an advantage to the peoples of the so-called Kurdistan to self determination based on what is mentioned in the introduction of the new Iraqi constitution:

(We the people of Iraq of all components and shades have taken upon ourselves to decide freely and with our choice to unite…) However, they forgot an important and very precise matter and that is the introduction isn’t related and doesn’t have any effect because it’s not part of the constitution’s articles. Thus, any thing that is written in it doesn’t have a legal effect.
When we try to dismantle the legal and political aspects of article (8) we don’t find any indication whatsoever to obtaining the public constitutional and administrative approvals from the parliament and the Iraqi government in regards to what the Kurds consider as their “right”.

Once again we see that there’s a constitutional and legal violation as well as a clear separatist political rebellion with the paragraphs and articles of the present Iraqi constitution. How would article (117) of the Iraqi constitution mention that the region of the so-called Kurdistan is an integral part of the Iraqi nation while the so-called Kurdish constitutional draft introduce an article which violates the new Iraqi constitution. Do the peoples of the so-called Kurdistan hold the right to impose their will on all the other Iraqi factions, and political blocks?

Where did they draw upon this right? If the Kurdish chieftains had decided to include this paragraph in their so-called constitution then why did they rejoice, participate in writing and later on publicly vote on the current federal constitution?

When we look at the situations which permit resorting to the principle of self determination we see that paragraph (first) is in violation of the federal constitution which is considered repealing the commitment to the federal system and the main constitutional principles.

Article [9] of the so-called Kurdish constitutional draft (Asking for the opinion of the region before concluding any agreement between the federal government and any foreign country in order not to compromise the situation, conditions or rights of the Kurdi/stan region present and future).

The above article contradicts with article 110 of the Iraqi federal constitution which states the following (1st- Drawing up foreign policy, diplomatic representation, negotiating international accords and agreements, negotiating and signing debt agreements, drawing up foreign sovereign economic and trade policies). The Kurdish side sees that the principle of sharing power can’t be ignored in federal systems, but they forgot or pretended to forget that such a procedure falls within the jurisdiction of a con-federal system.

2nd The region has the right to hold agreements with the foreign countries governments with respect to the laws which are out of the federal government’s powers. The Kurdi/stan region considers this as a normal practice of the region’s rights and powers which is consistent with the constitutional aspects in the world. The concept of constitutional aspects is unclear here…

Why should we depend on the world’s constitutions when we have a constitution of our own which was voted on by the peoples of this region? Why these paragraphs were not added to the federal constitution prior to the referendum? However, there is still room to amend the constitution in the light of article 142 and that’s why a constitutional committee of 27 people was formed.

3rd The region has the right, in what concerns the laws which are outside the federal government’s powers, to hold agreements with foreign governments with the approval of the federal government which can’t withhold its approval without convincing legal justifications.

The legal justifications to withhold such approval are those which were mentioned in article 110 which was previously mentioned.

Article [10] of the so-called Kurdish draft (Shall be an essential and constitutional right for the region. Third: Assigning employment ranks of the federal government’s departments in the Kurdi/stan region to citizens).

As per above the jobs must be assigned to citizens in the region as per the principle of autonomy, while in article 16 of the Iraqi federal constitution we see a different explanation (Equal opportunity is a right guaranteed to all Iraqis, and the state shall take the necessary steps to achieve this). That is the State is responsible to take the necessary measures to find employment opportunities, however, we didn’t see any of this in Chapter V of the federal constitution (Regional Authorities).

Article [12] of the so-called Kurdish draft; First: the Kurdi/stan region has its own flag which would be raised beside the federal Iraqi flag, it also has its own emblem, anthem and national feast (Nurouz) and that shall be regulated by law.

Second: The flag of Kurdi/stan consists of the red, white and green colors with a yellow sun in the centre with twenty-one rays.

Third: A law shall regulate the medals, decorations and official holidays.

The federal constitution didn’t specify any thing concerning the flag, emblem or anthem in the region’s authorities but rather article 12 refers to the following (First: The Iraqi flag, emblem and anthem shall be regulated by law in a manner to reflect all the Iraqi components.

Second: A law shall regulate the medals, decorations, official holidays as well as religious and national occasions in addition to both the Islamic and Christian calendars. Thus the Iraqi State is the sole responsible for the flag, emblem and anthem because all the Iraqi components are represented in a symbolic manner… As for the so-called national day (Nurouz) it is not necessary to refer to it in the so-called Kurdish draft because it is already included in section two, article 12 of the new federal constitution under (religious and national occasions).

Article [17] of the so-called Kurdish draft, Second: The un-extracted natural resources, surface and underground water, quarries, and mines are national wealth for the region thus their extraction, and conditions of managing them shall be regulated by law in order to preserve the interests of both present and future generations.

The above contradicts with article 110 section Eight of the new Iraqi constitution which states: (planning policies connected to water resources from outside Iraq and guaranteeing levels of water flow into Iraq, according to international law and custom).

We don’t know the purpose of inserting the phrase “un-extracted surface water” but the term (national) appeared in more than one paragraph and as we have seen in article 17- Second clearly indicates and refers to a national entity.

The policy of organizing internal water resources is the joint responsibility of the federal government and the regional authorities as per article 114, section 7 of the Iraqi federal constitution.

Article [40] of the so-called Kurdish draft states, a political refugee may not be forcibly extradited back to the country which he fled from.

The above contradicts with article 110, section IV, paragraph V of the new Iraqi constitution which states (Regulating the issues of citizenship, naturalization, residency and the right to apply for political asylum).

Article [42] of the so-called Kurdish draft states [any entity or path that adopts a fascist, chauvinistic or racist thought shall be prohibited…] We have pointed to the racist path in the so-called Kurdish draft where they mention the name of the region adding the word (national) in some paragraphs in addition to limiting the introduction to the suffering and injustices of the Kurdish peoples only…

When we look at article 63 of the so-called Kurdish draft we will see clear indications to the racist path where the term (national security) is used

[every individual who lives within the region has the right to move freely and choose his residence; this right may not be restricted except for the necessity of protecting national security…]

The so-called constitutional oaths [article 83, the oath of a member of parliament; I swear before God Almighty to preserve the interests of the peoples of Kurdi/stan, its unity and dignity as well as the rights and freedoms of its citizens. I swear as a member of parliament to perform my duties honestly and sincerely]

[Article 102, the oath of the region’s president. I swear before God Almighty to preserve the rights, acquisitions, unity and interests of the peoples of Kurdi/stan region. I swear to perform my duties honestly, sincerely and be committed to the Iraqi Kurdi/stan constitution]

[Article 110, the oath of the prime minister and cabinet members; I swear before God Almighty to sincerely preserve the unity of the land and peoples of Iraqi Kurdi/stan, respect the constitution, legitimate laws and take care completely of the peoples interests]

The oath in the new Iraqi constitution (I swear by God the Almighty to carry out my legal tasks and responsibilities devotedly and honestly and preserve the independence and sovereignty of Iraq, and safeguard the interests of its people, and watch over the safety of its land, skies, waters, resources and federal democratic system, and I shall endeavor to protect public and private liberties, the independence of the judiciary and adhere to the applications of the legislation neutrally and faithfully. God is my witness). This oath is shared between the members of parliament, the president and the prime minister. We read several times the presidential oath of the so-called Kurdistan region but we didn’t find in its content any indication to a federal perspective nor to the unity of Iraq. All that the Kurdish oath contained was the independent, separatist language which came with the word “Iraq” attached at the end to the so-called “Kurdistan” only because they felt a little shame, but it is possible to have a little law which will allow them to delete the term “Iraq” turning it into a pure patriotic Kurdish oath.

Article [93] of the so-called Kurdish draft states; the parliament’s duties: Second: The approval of a proposal to amend the region’s constitution by a two-thirds majority of its members on the condition that the proposed amendment doesn’t diminish from the basic freedoms and rights as identified in the constitution.

It is difficult to implement the above because amendments to a constitution are brought before the parliament for a vote and then the amended articles are put before the people for a referendum, and this wouldn’t be successful if it is not approved by a majority, and if it’s rejected by two thirds of the voters in three governorates or more…

As a matter of fact the aim behind adding the condition (two thirds of three governorates) in the process of amending the Iraqi constitution, is to protect the rights of the minority vis a vis the majority but especially to protect the demands of the Kurds but when we look at the so-called Kurdish constitutional draft, we see that this advantage doesn’t exist for the other components who live in the region, and this gives us a conclusive evidence about an authoritarian regime limited to the majority…

Article [13] The Kurdi/stan has its own peshmerga defense forces to guard the region, their mission and formations are governed by a law, also there may not be other militias formed outside the law.

Article [99] the region has a president called {the Kurdi/stan president} he’s the highest power of the executive authority and the commander in chief of the peshmerga (the region’s guards).

Before discussing the two above articles, we must shed the light on Mr. Masoud Barzani’s statements regarding the peshmerga during an interview with al-Arabiya satellite channel “We shall unite the security forces including the peshmerga and turn them into a modern army in every sense of the word”.

When we examine carefully such a statement it becomes clear that giving the peshmerga different names is only to fill in the blanks and fill the legal loopholes in order not to embarrass the central government because when we look at the formation of Nechirvan Barzani’s government we notice that there are two ministers for the peshmerga, a direct minister Mr. Omar Othman Ali and the other one is the region’s minister for the peshmerga affairs and that is Mr. Jaafar Mustafa Ali; this is a clear indication that one of the two functions as the Secretary of Defense while the other has been appointed as the chief of staff of the armed forces, otherwise why would Masoud Barzani the region’s president be appointed a general commander in chief for the peshmerga and would he have accepted to be the commander in chief of the region’s guard forces? We also know that the peshmerga aren’t defined in the constitution…! Lastly, Mr. Barzani issued a regional order defining where the Kurdish flag would be raised, and amongst the places specified were all the locations of the Kurdi/stan army… What was the intention behind the phrase Kurdi/stan army? And what does the phrase (Kurdi/stan army) mean?!

Article [104] Tenth: The declaration of a state of emergency in the case of war, occupation, rebellion, anarchy, natural disasters and epidemics…

The above is one of the central (federal) government’s authorities as per article (61) section (9-A).

[Approving the declaration of war and state of emergency by a majority of two thirds according to a joint request from the president and the prime minister]
Article [104] 12, Allowing federal or any other armed forces to enter the region when needed with a consent from the Iraqi-Kurdi/stan parliament but their commission, area and duration of their presence would be determined

Article [104] 13, the region’s president can send the peshemrga (region’s guards) or the internal security forces outside the region with the consent of the Iraqi-Kurdi/stan parliament. No comment on the above because the meaning is within the text.

Article [113] section IV, the government of Kurdi/stan and the federal government shall manage the oil fields and gas extracted from the lands of Iraqi-Kurdi/stan and commercially exploited before 15-08-2005 with a fair distribution of the materials as per the basis in article 112 of the federal constitution and this shall be regulated by law; in order to apply the rule of the above mentioned article with a production of 5000 barrels a day during the twelve months prior to 15-08-2005. Indeed this article is compatible with article 112 of the federal constitution but it is contrary to article 111 (oil and gas are the ownership of all the people of Iraq in all the regions and governorates). The difference is clear here because the types of oil and gas wells aren’t identified thus the commentators have to explain the contradiction and misunderstanding between these two articles.

Article [142] a law shall regulate the administrative divisions in the Kurdi/stan region (governorate, region, and district) as well as creating and changing the centers, adjusting the borders, disengaging and annexing these divisions to other administrative units.

Implementing the procedures of the above mentioned constitutes demographic changes since the danger of such a procedure is the result of ethnographic dissimilarities in the majority of this region’s cities and districts which has the same results as changing Kirkuk’s administrative boundaries during the former regime when four regions were disengaged from Kirkuk and annexed to neighboring governorates…

The gravity and repercussions of this constitutional article is similar to what the former regime used to do in order to change the demographics of one faction in favor of another, in order to reach the goal of marginalization, exclusion and finally melting the identity and culture of one group to the advantage of the strong faction.

Article [150] of the so-called Kurdish draft, first: The proceeds of taxes, fees of public services and revenues from institutions, companies and public services in the region as well as what’s collected in taxes, custom duties and other federal revenues in the region.

Fifth: The region’s share of the wealth in oil and gas revenues in addition to custom duties and other federal revenues.

We see that the custom revenues are already a joint administration with the federal government as per article 114, paragraph (I) the following specialties shall be shared between the authorities of the federal and regional authorities. First: Regulating by law the management of customs in coordination with the regional governments and the governorates which aren’t organized into regions.

Here we see a matter of utmost gravity because if we go back to article 150 and specially paragraph (V) of the so-called Kurdish draft we will clearly and without doubt see that the region has its share in the wealth of oil, gas, customs and other federal revenues in addition to what they are obtaining from the oil, gas, mineral wealth and custom revenues… in the region which are solely theirs. Therefore, they are partners with the rest of the country to ensure a just and equitable distribution with the rest of the Iraqi people but no one shares with them in what they own or acquire.

Conclusion:

The preliminary reading of the so-called Kurdish constitutional draft presents the following:

- A total Kurdification, looting and usurpation

1- The Iraqi constitution is absent in many articles and paragraphs of the so-called regional constitution.

2- There’s an obvious trust crisis and its remaining past effects.

3- The intention for secession is clear and apparent.

4- Surpassing the limits of federalism and mixing it with the limits and powers con-federalism or an autonomous state.

5- Iraq’s name is only mentioned loosely and insignificantly.

6- The expression of Iraq and its unity as people and land was never mentioned.

7- The wide gap in the constitutional oath: The federal government and the regional one.

8- A separatist national state even if it didn’t separate from Iraq proper.

9- The fundamental and constitutional rights of self determination are so easy that they can separate any time they want.

10- They are partners in the homeland according to the population percentage but their regions belong to them and they don’t share them with any one.

11- The conflict concerning the identity of many cities such as Kirkuk hasn’t been determined yet before applying article 140 but they have already entered it within their so-called constitution as a de facto situation on the central government.

We don’t know what would be the federal court’s reaction when this so-called constitution is passed?

Will the Iraqi people continue to watch this absurdity?

What is the opinion of the cultural, intellectual and political activists? Are they convinced of the Kurdish chieftains’ intentions or have they fallen into an eternal slumber?

After four years of occupation there comes the Kurds with their arrogant, separatist so-called constitution, as our people are fighting ethnically, racially and siding with one party or another.

Iraq and its North shall not be looted or divided neither by the occupying forces nor by the political parties or the chambers of the Iraqi parliament…

History and the future shall confirm the verity of this path…

Long live Ashur, the North of Iraq with its sons and daughters.

Long live Iraq with all its components from Zakho to al-Fao … Land and people.

 

Assyria National Assembly
The Legal Committee
ANA-ASHUR

 

 

 

 

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