RRT ERBIL: THE PLIGHT OF THE SMALL: YAZEIDI COMMUNITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003923 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PINR IZ SUBJECT: RRT ERBIL: THE PLIGHT OF THE SMALL: YAZEIDI COMMUNITY CONCERNS IN KURDISH-DOMINATED AREAS This message is Sensitive but Unclassified; handle accordingly. Not for distribution on the Internet. This is an Erbil Regional Reconstruction Team (RRT) cable. ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The supreme leader of the Yazeidis believes that association with the Kurdistan Region (rather than the central Iraqi government) is better for his community, but resents the top-down imposition of KDP-chosen authorities in local communities and the diminution of his own powers that association would bring. He seeks greater Yazeidi political representation at the Ministerial level, and on Provincial Councils. Emigration has taken its toll on the community, and the leader fears that it will disappear altogether from Iraq. The Yazeidis also fear Islamic fundamentalism and have publicly announced their support for U.S. actions in Iraq. End summary. Yaziedi Demographics -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In a meeting with the Kurdistan Region Reconstruction Team (RRT) on November 18, Meer (honorific) Tahseen, the "Prince of the Yaziedis in Iraq the World and President of the Yaziedi High Religious Council" gave an overview of the situation of the Yaziedi people in the Dohuk/Mosul region, focused on population trends that threaten to make them a minority in their ancestral homes. He stated that there were overall 400,000 to 450,000 Yaziedi in the Mosul/Dohuk area. Yaziedis are in Semel district (in the Dohuk Province) and in a number of locations in Mosul. Using the Shekhan district in Mosul as an example of demographic trends, Meer Tahseen explained that this district had been 100% Yaziedi in 1930. Over the years Muslims and a few Christians had moved or been relocated to the district. In 1958 the district was 90% Yaziedi, 8% Muslim, and 2% Christian. In 2003 the district was only 70% Yaziedi and 28% Muslim, with Christians still only 2%. In places such as Semel the shifts were even larger - Yaziedis are now only 50% in an area where they were predominant. ¶3. (SBU) Meer Tahseen fears that the Yaziedi community may disappear from Iraq altogether. Some 150,000 were in Europe and another 1,000 in CANADA and the United States. He called his inability to help his people a tragic position to be in as the leader of his nation. KRG-KDP Control -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Meer Tahseen explained that all local officials in Shekhan, including the local heads of political parties, were assigned by the KDP. All except the "municipalities' boss" were Muslim. After the 2003 invasion, the KRG had taken over 200 government houses. If a (Muslim) Kurdish family wanted to live in Shekhan, he explained, the authorities would give him land - but not to Christians or Yaziedis. Land, in fact, was being given out to peshmerga and to police - and only 2% of the police force was Christian or Yaziedi. According to Meer Tahseen, the KRG is afraid that Yaziedis will ask for autonomy (like the Christians),so they were trying to send more Muslims to the area. In response to the question of whether local authorities in Mosul are named by the Mosul Governor, Meer Tahseen stated that "the KDP decides." Yaziedis in Provincial Elections -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Although Meer Tahseen was disappointed with the decision on minority seats in the Council of Representatives-approved Provincial Elections Law, the Yaziedi will not boycott the elections. (He explained that as part of the Kurdistan Alliance they would not want to "cause any problems.") The Yaziedis had originally asked for five seats for the Mosul Provincial Council and the PUK/KDP in the Qfive seats for the Mosul Provincial Council and the PUK/KDP in the Council of Representatives (CoR) had supported their demand, but others had not. Now they only have one seat. Meer Tahseen explained that the Yaziedi would not form their own political party; they did not think it appropriate for political parties to have an express religious affiliation. (He also offered that the KDP "would not let them" form their own party.) Appropriate Representation -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Asked which party would best represent the Yaziedi, Meer Tahseen said that, overall, the Yaziedi were best represented by the KDP and PUK. There were Yaziedi members of these parties, which were secular and Kurdish (and the Yaziedi consider themselves ethnically Kurdish). At the same time, Meer Tahseen confided his fear that some KDP leaders were in fact deeply Muslim and could constitute a threat. If the Yaziedi community had to choose between being part of the KR or part of Iraq, it would choose the KR - "better to be 12% of the population than 2%." BAGHDAD 00003923 002 OF 002 ¶7. (SBU) Returning to the question of political representation, Meer Tahseen said that the Iraqi Constitution (which has special provisions for ethnic groups) did not specifically protect them, although it did provide for freedom of religion. He affirmed that the Yaziedi community was able to practice its religion without hindrance; nonetheless, it "lacked rights." More Ministerial representation and more representation in the Kurdistan National Assembly were needed. One way to improve Yaziedi political representation would be for the KDP and PUK to put more Yaziedi candidates on their lists and push for Yaziedi candidates for the Provincial Councils. ¶8. (SBU) Meer Tahseen affirmed his support for the United States and explained that he had publicly supported the invasion - even before it was a sure thing that Saddam's regime would be toppled. He voiced his fears of Islamic extremism and stated that Al-Qaeda would kill Yaziedis for their association with Americans. Asked about the Islamic parties in the KR, Meer Tahseen said pragmatically "they won't eat with us or have anything to do with us - but at least they don't kill us like Al-Qaeda." However, Meer Tahseen did state his belief that members of AQI groups (e.g., Ansar al-Islam) have infiltrated the PUK and KDP. Approach to Barzani -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Concerning the draft Kurdistan Region Constitution, Meer Tahseen explained that he had sent a letter to President Barzani explaining Yaziedi views; he thought that there would be a positive response and respect for their "rights" in the Constitution. On the Personal Status Law, the Yaziedi community is drafting its own Personal Status Code (as is permitted by Article 41). This will be submitted to the Kurdistan National Assembly for ratification. ¶10. (U) Note: On November 19, the KRG announced the opening of a special directorate within the Ministry of Religious Affairs, headed by a Yaziedi Director General. A Yaziedi commentator on the event expressed the hope that special attention might be paid to renewing confidence between Yaziedis and their elected representatives in the KNA, restoring and protecting the Lalish holy shrine; and strengthening the Yaziedi cultural heritage. End note. Comment: -------------- ¶11. (SBU) Historically oppressed and shunned, Yaziedis now enjoy a measure of autonomy over their own affairs and tolerance within the Kurdistan Region and areas controlled by the Kurdish political parties. However, the toll of emigration has been severe on the Yaziedi, particularly given the absolute strictness with which marriage within religion and within caste is enforced. Anecdotal reports abound of Yaziedi men and women finding themselves facing a "choice" of only one eligible mate; in some instances there are no eligible mates, in which case their fate is lifetime bachelor or spinsterhood. ¶12. (SBU) As a traditional leader, the Meer is seeking to navigate the new opportunities for "democracy" and "rights" to the benefit of his people; but his aspirations do not always coincide with the top-down power distribution of the KDP/PUK political system to which the community is politically bound.