[RUDAW.NET] Practical ways of protecting minority rights in Kurdistan were discussed at a roundtable hosted by the Erbil-based Middle East Research Institute (MERI) on Thursday.
"Our aim is to bring stability into Kurdistan. That would not be possible without a mechanism to protect individual and human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
. Our research is a step towards rebuilding the state," said MERI president Prof. Dlawar Ala'Aldeen.
He emphasized that the protection of minority rights would be a win-win situation for all people living in Kurdistan, regardless of their ethnic and religious backgrounds.
MERI has proposed its own model for protecting minority rights in the multi-ethnic and multi-religious Kurdistan region. Its research has shown that can be achieved through the creation of two parliamentary councils, one for religious minorities and another for ethnic groups.
MERI's findings are presented in a report titled "Protecting Minorities' Rights in the Kurdistan Region: A Tailor-made Model."
"A council for ethnic minorities will represent Turkmen, Arabs, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Armenians," the report recommends, adding that the second council for religious minorities would protect the rights of "Yezidis, Christians, Kaka'is, Zoroastrians, Mandaneans and Baha'is."
The MERI roundtable was attended by some 40 participants, representing civil society, human rights and minority activists, as well as law experts, members of parliament and representatives of major ethnic and religious minority groups.
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