DELEGATION FROM NETHERLANDS DENIED ACCESS TO MONITOR PROVINICAL ELECTIONS IN NORTHERN IRAQ
“ Kurdistan Regional Government (“KRG”): No Permission for Dutch Organizations”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Netherlands September 22, 2013 – Assyrian Attiya Gamri, member of the Provinical Parliament in Netherlands (Holland) was part of the Dutch delegation who had planned to monitor the provincial elections in Northern Iraq, scheduled to take place Saturday, September 21, 2013. It never happened! The delegation was turned down, as permission from KRG was not granted.
The three organizations, Jubilee Campaign, Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (“UNPO”) and Assyria Council of EU were expecting to arrive in Erbil, where they would monitor the fairness of the election process throughout Beth Amka (Ankawa), Zakhotha (Zakho) and Nohadra (Dohuk), especially for the Assyrians, due to the deliberate confiscation of their right to vote, similar to the 2009 elections when KDP pressured the Assyrians to vote for its Kurdo-engineered Chaldean Syriac Assyrian People’s Council (“Majls”) slate to cater to its own political agenda, and the most recent complaint, which was formally placed with the office of the Kurdistan Regional Elections of KRG by the Assyrian Democratic Movement, and made publicly known.
“We have received information from observers of our Al-Rafedain slate #126 and other employees of the military and security forces in Nohadra (Dohuk), under the “special vote” for the parliamentary elections that took place today, September 19, 2013, suggesting that senior political and security in the region has been directing voters to vote for Chaldean Syriac Assyrian People’s Council slate #127, and, in particular, for candidates numbers 2 and 4, and that an average 1,500 (one thousand and five hundred) votes in each polling centers throughout Dohuk,,Amadiyah, Zawitha, Sarsank, Simmel, Zakho, Darapon, Batufah and others, in addition to the guidance and pressures that continues to be waged against the voters inside the polling stations and in public, by dozens of employees from various political entities in all the centers referenced above.
And that this is a flagrant violation and a great abuse of the democratic process, as it is the confiscation and forging of the will of the voters through the monopolization of power and the imposition of the will of the minority, thus draining the concept of a quota and its meaning, as it prevents an opportunity for the real representatives to be elected at their own free will.” www.zowaa.org
In her statement, Gamri stated, “The elections organization in Iraq first gave permission only to UNPO, and a few days later to the Jubilee Campaign and the Assyria Council EU. This permission came within three days of the elections, and at that moment, we were told that we still needed permission from KRG. No one can get permission from KRG on such a short notice! This process prevented the Dutch delegation from monitoring the elections, in person, and writing reports about its fairness to present to the EU delegation and the Dutch Parliament.” Meanwhile, the elections have come and gone!
This press release is dedicated to the Assyrian nation, who remains restless and in-between borders, because, Assyria, you shall be free once again!
About Jubilee Campaign
Jubilee Campaign is a charity that brings real and lasting change to the lives of Children at Risk worldwide. www.jubileecampaign.org
About UNPO
The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization is an international, nonviolent and democratic membership organization that protects and promotes human and cultural rights, while preserving the environment, and finding nonviolent solutions to conflicts. www.unpo.org
About Assyria Council EU
Assyria Council EU is a human rights organization in Holland. www.assyriacouncil.eu
Helen Talia, MBA, CPA
September 22, 2013