A central component of the VIII UNPO General Assembly, held this year in Taipei, Taiwan, from 27 – 29 October, was to facilitate the discussion of specific problems facing UNPO Members, as well as potential strategies for resolving these with the help of UNPO, its Members, and its supporters.

As part of this process, a Session on the final day of proceedings, Sunday 29 October, was dedicated entirely to the presentation and discussion of resolutions submitted by UNPO Members, detailing specific problems faced by their communities, and detailing the steps that might be taken towards a peaceful and equitable solution.

The following resolution was submitted by the delegation from Assyria and adopted by the UNPO VIII General Assembly:

Member Resolution

Assyria

The UNPO General Assembly;

RECOGNISING the needs of the Assyrian people in their historical homeland (Assyria) and expresses its concern about the political, national and human rights situation of the Assyrian people;

RECALLING the beheadings, kidnappings, assassinations, exodus, and internal displacement of the Assyrian people in Iraq;

RECALLING the bombings of Assyrian churches, kidnappings and killing of religious figures,

RECALLING that Assyrian national rights are not constitutionally recognised in Iraq,

EXPRESSING concern of Iraq’s new constitution because of the absence of secularism, rights and freedom of the Assyrian people as per international declarations and covenants;

RECALLING that Iraq’s constitution fails to assign a quota of seats in the national assembly for the Assyrian people nor the right and guarantee of having self-chosen representation in the government;

RECALLING the prevention to vote in recent elections in certain Assyrian populated cities;

REAFFIRMING the Assyrian people are the indigenous people of Iraq;

REAFFIRMING the unity, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Iraq;

EXPRESSING our strong condemnation of acts of terrorism;

Therefore, we urge The UNPO General Assembly to:       

1. Support an autonomous status (self-administrated region) to the Assyrians, on the land of their ancestors “Assyria”, in the north of Iraq (the territory located between the greater Zab and the Tigris River), under the jurisdiction of the central government of Iraq and the protection of the United Nations;

2. Call for specific attention to Assyrian human rights abuses, specifically in Iraq and generally in the Middle East;

3. Urge for the international community to monitor the upcoming census in Iraq by international and human rights organisations to safeguard the rights of the Assyrian people;

4. Call for specific measures to ensure the restoration of Assyrians villages and churches;

5. Demand the Assyrian rights to return to their homes and villages in Iraq;

6. Call for a guarantee to the right of autonomy and self-determination for the Assyrian people, as per international declarations and covenants;

7. Call for the establishment of a unified, democratic, secular, pluralistic and parliamentarian government in Iraq that will guarantee human rights and equality for all citizens, which is multi-ethnic and based on the rule of law, and free from all militia;

8. Demand the free practice and preservation of the Assyrian language, culture and customs, without any form of persecution.

Submitted by
Name: Mary Younan
Organization: Assyrian Universal Alliance

[resolution as pdf file]