May 7, 2002

The Honorable Henry J. Hyde
Chairman, Committee on International Relations
House of Representatives

Dear Mr. Chairman:

Thank you for your letter of April 25th, 2002 inquiring about the treatment of Assyria community inside Iraq. The State Department's annual "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices" makes clear the abysmal state of human rights and religious freedom inside Iraq. All Iraqis suffer under the current government.

Iraqis of Assyrian, Turkman, and Kurdish ethnicity suffer additional abuses due to the ongoing "Arabization" campaign of ethnic cleansing. The Iraqi government gives members of these groups living in cities such as Kirkuk and Jalula the stark choice of denying their ethnicity and heritage by registering as Arabs or having their lands and belongings confiscated and being expelled to Northern Iraq. Turkman and Assyrian groups report that the Iraqi government now forbids parents from giving their children traditionally Turkish or Assyrian names. They must use Arabic names before the Iraqi government allows their children to be registered. The Iraqi government does not allow education in any language but Arabic, does not allow any language but Arabic to be used in government offices. Abuses like these are a long-standing part of the Iraqi government's decade long campaign dedicated to eliminating the non-Arab presence in villages and towns under regime control in northern Iraq.

Operation Northern Watch provides protection from oppression or attack by the Iraqi government to all Iraqis living in the part of northern Iraq outside regime control. In contrast to the treatment of ethnic minorities by the Iraqi government, in northern Iraq Assyrian schools teach using the Assyrian language. Assyrian parties are allowed to print Assyrian language newspapers and broadcast Assyrian language programming on radio and television. Assyrian villages and churches destroyed by the Iraqi government have been rebuilt. Assyrian political parties participate in the regional administrations.

State Department delegations that travel to northern Iraq routinely meet with a variety of Assyrian and Chaldean representatives. The Kurdish dominated administrations in northern Iraq tell us they are both committed to providing all Iraqis, regardless of ethnic or religious background, equal treatment. Desk officers in the office of Northern Gulf Affairs are in regular contact with Assyrian representatives both here in the United States and in northern Iraq, in part to monitor and assist when difficulties arise.

We believe the people of Iraq -- whether they are Arabs, Kurds, Turkman, or Assyrian -- deserve a better government. Our goal is an Iraqi government that respects the rights of all its citizens, regardless of ethnic origin or religious beliefs, that is at peace with its neighbors, and that obeys United Nations Security Council Resolutions.

Sincerely,
Paul V. Kelly
Assistant Secretary
Legislative Affairs
United States Department of State