The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this morning heard from representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from Iraq, Cameroon and Japan, ahead of its review of their country reports this week. On Iraq, representatives of NGOs spoke about the current crisis and violent discrimination towards Yezidi, or Iraq's indigenous Assyrian Christian population, by the Islamic State since June 2014, and the resulting humanitarian situation. The dire fate of Assyrians who were unable to flee the Islamic State militants was also raised. Systematic discrimination of the Faili Kurds, the Shabak or the Turkmen, persons of African descent and the Roma was also raised, and the organization spoke about ongoing failures of the Government of Iraq to implement any measures to address the historical and systematic nature of the discrimination. The following non-governmental organizations spoke in today's meeting: On Iraq: Minority Rights Group International and Assyrian Universal Alliance. On Cameroon: Cercle de Recherche sur les Droits et les Devoirs de la Personne Humaine. On Japan: International Movement against all Forms of Discrimination and Racism, Japan Federation of Bar Associations, Korean Residents Union in Japan, Japan Network for Human Rights Legislation for Non-Japanese Nationals and Ethnic Minorities, Buraku Liberation League, Ainu Association of Hokkaido, Shimin Gaikou Centre, Human Rights Association for Korean Residents in Japan, Lawyers Association of Zainichi Koreans, Asia-Pacific Human Rights Information Centre, Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan, Attorney Team for Victims of Illegal Investigation Against Muslims, and the International Movement Against all Forms of Discrimination and Racism. Statements on Iraq A representative of Minority Rights Group International, an international organization that had been working for and with ethnic and religious minority groups in Iraq for over 10 years with a number of partner organizations on the ground, said since the submission of its shadow report a number of important developments had taken place in Iraq. What was now known as the Islamic State had taken over a growing number of cities in the north of the country since June. Those tragic developments made this review even more timely and needed. In Iraq, ethnic and religious belonging were closely linked. While a lot of attention had been devoted to the crimes perpetrated by the Islamic State, little had been said about the Iraqi Government's responsibility under the Convention when it came to protecting its ethno-religious minorities, and the Group had made recommendations in its report on that regard. The organization spoke about discriminatory laws and practices in Iraq, highlighting blatant inequalities in terms of the poverty rate and access to education, healthcare and employment, particularly to the detriment of the Yezidi, the Shabak or the Turkmen. The Group also spoke about the Roma and Black Iraqi communities. While Black Iraqis represented a large number of people they did not have a reserved seat in the Parliament and suffered from social stigma and economic exclusion. Neighbourhoods inhabited by Black Iraqis were characterized by extreme poverty and neglect, with a lack of clean water and sewage facilities. Living conditions in Roma villages were among the most deplorable in all of the country, and many Roma settlements had been attacked over the past decade. The Government of Iraq had failed to implement any measures to address the historical and systematic nature of that discrimination. The organization said this review was also an opportunity to address the long-lasting plight of Faili Kurds, who were massively deprived of their nationality in 1980. Despite a 2006 law establishing their right to regain Iraqi nationality, the process to obtain documentation was slow and cumbersome and hundreds of Faili Kurd families were still stateless. A representative of Assyrian Universal Alliance spoke about Iraq's indigenous Assyrian Christian population, also referred to as Chaldeans or Syriacs, who represented a distinct, ethno-religious and linguistic community in Iraq. Their heritage as one of the oldest Christian communities in the world served as a justification for violent attacks by members of the Islamic State. Following the Islamic State's capture of Mosul in early June 2014, an edict was issued to all non-Muslims in the city to convert to Islam, pay a tax, flee or be killed. As nearly all of the city's 35,000 Assyrian residents escaped Mosul, members of the Islamic State marked their homes with an Arabic letter to indicate they were Christian. Each of the 30 churches and monasteries in the city were believed to have been looted or destroyed. Initially, most sought refuge in the Nineveh Plain region, but earlier this month nearly all of the 200,000 residents there fled the region as Islamic State militants advanced. Now that culturally unique and historically significant territory was almost empty of its indigenous inhabitants. The resulting humanitarian crisis had been given the highest level emergency designation by the United Nations as tens of thousands of perpetually uprooted ethno-religious minorities struggled to access food, water and shelter from the scorching summer heat. As disastrous as the situation of the refugees may be, their fate was better than those unable to escape the Islamic State militants, including as many as 1,500 Christians forced into sexual slavery. The persecution of Assyrians at the hands of the Islamic State was compounded by a longstanding legacy of discrimination targeting non-Arab communities within Iraq, which began under the regime of Saddam Hussein and had persisted -- and even been reinforced at times -- by various levels of Iraq's new democratic Government. The Alliance asked the Committee to raise with the Government of Iraq issues concerning the establishment of a competent local security force to protect the Nineveh Plain and other indigenous territories, and the establishment of special measures in the realm of political participation, religious freedom and the security of person to ensure the adequate advancement of the rights of indigenous Assyrians in their ancestral homeland of the Nineveh Plain. Questions on Iraq by Committee Members Committee Experts asked for more information on the situation of minority women, quotas for political participation for minorities, about reports that members of minorities were barred from employment by the security services, and the situation of Black Iraqis and Roma, who the Committee was concerned were not really being mentioned in reports on the current situation. Did non-governmental organizations believe that the religious persecution problem came from Syria, an Expert asked, as the Islamic State rebels had come into Iraq from Syria. An Expert expressed concern about the name 'Islamic State'; it was not a State and should not be referred to as if it was. What did civil society think about that? Response on Iraq A representative of Minority Rights Group International briefly answered the questions on people of African descent in Iraq, saying there had been migrations from East Africa over centuries, since the seventh and eighth centuries, and Black Iraqis were also descendants from slaves in Iraq, and were mostly concentrated around Basra. He said the Iraq Director of his organization had already arranged to brief Committee Members and any other interested parties this afternoon, and would answer the remaining questions then. A representative of Assyrian Universal Alliance answered the remaining questions, confirming that Church figures showed nearly 200,000 Assyrians had been displaced. The Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Iraq had said that female-headed households in Iraq had multiplied since many men were staying back to guard their property. The quotas for political participation held for one representative per 100,000 Iraqi citizens. The current population was not known; in 2003 the population numbered 1.4 million, but today it was estimated to be half of that, and six Assyrian families were estimated to leave the country every day. The statistic was alarming given the community represented only three per cent of Iraq's population before 2003. The quota seats should be given to reflect the population as it was when the law was established, he said. The representative agreed with the Expert that the name 'Islamic State' was self-designating, and although he used it for clarity, it did seem to reinforce the aims of that group.