Brussels (AINA) -- Concerned Christian organizations from
the Middle East met in Brussels today under the umbrella of the Middle East
Christian Committee (MECHRIC) to demand action on the brutal and merciless
ethno-religious cleansing against Assyrians, Copts and other Christians taking
place in the greater Middle East. The message was simple: stop the massacres
and cultural genocide against Christians in the Middle East.
Currently there exists an exploding situation where
Assyrians and other Christians are being kidnapped, executed and driven out of
their homes -- and found in mass graves. This persecution is being carried out
systematically. These Christian communities must be recognized as persecuted
nations.
The delegations to the conference consisted of Assyrians,
Maronites, Copts, Chaldeans, Syriacs and Melkites. Each one reported on their
respective issues.
Assyrians {also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs} from
three continents formed the Assyrian Delegation at the Conference and at the
European Parliament, and presented the latest reports of atrocities perpetrated
against the Assyrian/Christian people in Syria by Muslims, and also reported on
the human rights violations in Iraq, specifically by the Kurdistan Regional
Government.
Former Secretary General of the United Nations Boutros
Boutros Ghali, who is an Egyptian Coptic Christian, sent a letter of support to
the conference, stating that it is very important that the suffering of the
Christians in the Middle East be highlighted in the world arena.
"We came to Brussels to discuss the issues of
Assyrians and other Christians in Middle East," said Aprim Rasho, vice
president of Assyrian National Council of Illinois "We feel that this was
a good beginning and we will of course follow up."
Behind the daily reporting about clashes between
different Muslim groups and regimes, Christian communities all over the Middle
East are persecuted both for their religion and their ethnicity. These current
atrocities are a chilling reminder of the genocide perpetuated against
Christians during WWI when 750,000 Assyrians were killed, as well as 1.5
million Armenians and 500,000 Pontic Greeks.
And now, tragically, nearly half of the remaining
Assyrians and other Christians of Iraq have left the country (report) since the
fall of Saddam and the exodus continues. The International Community turned a
blind eye to the plight of Christians in Iraq (report). The same fate is now
befalling the Syrian and Egyptian Christians. Approximately one million Middle
Eastern Christians have been made refugees and are stranded in countries such
as Jordan, Turkey, Chad, Sudan and even as far as Thailand.
"We have refugees all over the world and it's
overwhelming," said Pauline Jasim, who worked for seven years on women's
and minority issues in Baghdad for the US Embassy. "We need support from
the UN and the leaders of the free world to shelter, assist, and ensure that
countries are stabilized to enable these refugees to return." The
delegations met with top diplomats from various countries, including the
Russian Ambassador to the European Union, who said "be assured that Russia
will stand behind the Christians of the Middle East." Several members of
the European Parliament attended the conference and expressed great concern.
The MECHRIC conference proposed that it act as an
umbrella organization for all the delegations in leading an International
effort to bring the plight of the Christians in the Middle East to the
forefront in the free world.
The conference agreed to take the following steps
immediately:
Provide emergency aid provided to Christian refugees in
various countries.
Demand equal rights for the indigenous Christian
populations in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Turkey and Lebanon by putting pressure on
the respective governments.
Request self-administration to instill confidence among
Assyrians in Syria and Iraq.
Pressure Egypt and Turkey to enshrine equal rights and
protection under the law for all citizens.
Request funding for NGOs to draw attention to the plight
of Middle East Christians by producing documentaries, conferences and reports.
According to the general sentiment of the Christian
delegations at the conference, the only way to stop the ethno-religious
cleansing is through a more muscular foreign policy that holds the regimes of
the Middle East accountable. The European Union should apply pressure on
moderate movements and regimes to stop the persecution. The delegates called
for a high level special envoy to be appointed at the embassies in Middle
Eastern countries for the sole purpose of monitoring the human rights of the
Christian and indigenous peoples of the Middle East. During the MECHRIC
Conference each delegation presented its case. However, the EU specifically
asked for country reports for Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt. Five members of
the EU dealing with religious freedom were present. At end of the meeting, they
expressed their deep concern and astonishment of the atrocities committed
against the Christians in Middle East.
In the Assyrian Delegation was Nuri Kino, winner of the
2010 European journalist prize, and Attiya Gamri, Member of Parliament in
Netherlands and an Assyrian Activist. In his speech Mr. Kino spoke about Syria
and the deliberate targeting of Muslim militants of the Christian population
through systematic eviction, terror, kidnapping and executions. According to
Kino, within the last few days at least two mass graves have been found We, the
Assyrian delegates, were well prepared," said Nuri Kino. "We have for
a decade now gathered information about the ethno-religious cleansing. The
European Union cannot now say that it didn't know." The Assyrian
Delegation presented investigative and human rights reports to the other
delegations and to the EU members. The Assyrian Youth Federation of Sweden
(AUF) actively reviewed and summarized human rights reports for submission to
the EU and the MECHRIC conference attendees.
"Whatever more evidence they need we will provide it
to them," said Professor Malik Merza, who represented Assyrians in Sweden.
In her testimony, Attiya Gamri said "If the EU prefers to see Iraq devoid
of its oldest people, language and some of the oldest churches in the world,
then the Member States and institutions of the EU should close their eyes to
this catastrophe." She said the Assyrians are not asking for more than
what the other citizens of Iraq enjoy today, including an Assyrian police force
for Assyrian areas, an Assyrian parliament, an Assyrian university and
protection for ancient and historical churches and monasteries. "We, the
Christians of the Middle East, need to cooperate and make our plight
known," said Sargon Lewie, former president of Assyrian American National
Federation. "Copts, Maronites, Melkites and the various denominations of
our people such as the Chaldeans, Syriacs and Assyrians must all stand as one
against the atrocities. Our goal, and the only way to stop the persecution, is
federal states for the Christians of Middle East."
Nuri Kino's Testimony
My name is Nuri Kino, I'm a researcher, an author, a
filmmaker, a human rights advocate. I have been trusted to be the voice of many
as I stand here before you today, and I take that responsibility very
seriously. I speak for the surviving relatives and friends that a week ago
uncovered two separate mass graves in Sadad, an ancient Syrian Christian town.
And to the thirty Christian civilians that were found in those graves,
including women and children. To the family, six persons, that were found in a
well, shot in their head. And for those missing who still are to be found.
We, the Assyrian delegation, are here today to give you
the truth about what is happening to Assyrians and other Christians in parts of
the Middle East. A truth that is gathered on thousands of interviews, actually
the last ones were done last night.
Syria. We are dying over there. We are being raped,
persecuted and tortured. And our homes and land are being occupied.
We are followers of Jesus. When he lived among us, he
refused to accept injustice, lies and persecution. That made a lot of people
hate him. But it's not as followers of one prophet, one God or a religion the
Christians of Syria should be looked at, they should be considered as what they
are: A persecuted native minority.
The last days, while preparing our reports and speeches,
we realized that in the final analysis it is about one question. Are you
alright with the fact that your tax money might be used for massacres in Syria?
And are you alright with whatever comes next. A brutal
Jihadist regime, that in the best case will force all Syrians that do not want
a fundamentalist leadership out of the country for good?
If you think the world is out of ideas when it comes to
Syria, we're here to tell you that we're not. If you think you're powerless.
We're here to prove you wrong. Force the founders of terrorism, Saudi Arabia
and Qatar, to protect non-Muslims in Syria. Withdraw European tax money that
goes to al-Nusra and other extremists. I'm Swedish and I have the right to know
where my money goes to.
And if any of you have just given up on the mess that is
the Middle East and that there's nothing you can do, that's fine. But then you
cannot call yourselves leaders of the free world.
Because we will not stop speaking out for Mary who, was
dragged out of her house for being an Assyrian activist. She was pushed to the
ground in the middle of the street and shot in the head. Then the killers
shouted that whoever would touch the corpse would also be killed. The same
night dogs started to eat her body. We will not stop to talk about the Assyrian
girls that are kidnapped and forcibly converted and married to Jihadists.
We know for sure that in some places, the rebels do not
want to openly show that they are against non-Muslims or even moderate Muslims.
They don't want their sponsors to stop arming them and sending them aid.
Therefore, they let some "kaffirs" or infidels, as they call us, to
remain in areas that they take over. Then they kill us one by one, causing the
rest of us to flee voluntarily, so it doesn't appear as if they are committing
massacres.
City after city is being emptied of Christians. On the
eve of Syria's civil war, more than 200 Assyrian families, 1,000 individuals,
lived in Tabqa. Nearly all of them have left the country, some of them are
stranded all over the world, even in Chad in Africa, abandoned by cynical
smugglers who failed to get them to Europe.
Three Assyrian families had remained in Tabqa. The rebels
told them that they would not be harmed. The remaining Assyrians were poor, and
were trying to maintain what little they had. One of them was 26 years old
Ninar Odisho, a handsome young man.
Ninar was killed, brutally murdered by the terrorists.
The reason he was killed we could find on his body. They burnt a cross into his
face. That cross is a symbol of the ongoing persecution in Syria. Every day we
get reports of atrocities. Our clergymen have been kidnapped and killed, our
sisters and brothers have been raped and beheaded. Our nation and our religion are
bleeding.
Why? Because we don't want to convert to Islam.
100 years after 1915, when we lost 4/3 of our people to
the sword of Jihad, we are on the brink of another Genocide. Yesterday I spoke
to a priest who cried in fear "what is it that you can't see? Please,
please, I beg you, be our voice, be the voice of the slaughtered women and
children before it's too late. They are here from more than 30 other countries
to establish an Islamic state. That leaves no room for us." The priest was
one of the people that just found 6 Christians, all from the same family, in a
well, shot in their head. A family that the villagers thought had fled. Now
they fear more mass graves will be found.
You are saying that you don't have any information, we
are going to provide you with whatever evidence you need -- reports, video
clips -- whatever you need to prove the ethno-religious cleansing we are
experiencing. Now you can't say you didn't know.
The question is what are you going to do? We are asking
you to help us before it's too late.
Nuri Kino
news-noreply@aina.org
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