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Iraq

The Social Contract of Tribal Leaders and Prominent Figures of Nineveh Governorate for Supporting Stability and Peaceful Coexistence [EN/AR]

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We, the Tribal Leaders and Prominent Figures of Nineveh stand in front of God and you today to renew our support to the laws and Iraqi State institutions for obtaining stability and peaceful coexistence in the governorate.

We reveal to you, that our precious governorate has been through consecutive Takfiri waves that took the lives of many innocent Iraqi people from different ethnicities, religions, and affiliations unjustly during the past years to spread chaos and discord and to split the cohesive social fabric in the country. These radical Takfiri waves led to the displacement of thousands of families, the destruction of property and infrastructure, and the disturbance of all aspects of life. We also reveal to you that our partners with whom we share this homeland, our brothers from the Ezidi component have been subjected to genocide and other crimes, as defined by the Law No. 8 on Ezidi Survivors that will remain a shame in the Iraqi memory and they have left behind a stain that history will remember for decades. We believe that addressing these impacts is a collective responsibility of the government with all its institutions, national and international organizations, and society jointly. We, the tribal leaders and the prominent figures of Nineveh stand once again united, announcing our continuation to confront this great responsibility with all the power and resources we own to protect the societal fabric from the consequences of discord and cleavage, and we continue in our relentless pursuit towards achieving stability and sustainable peaceful coexistence among all components.

From here, we call on all federal and local governmental institutions and national and international organizations to continue maximizing their efforts to achieve stability and address the remnants of the past in order to turn this page forever and open a new page filled with hope and optimism in a secure and prosperous future. We also call on Sheikhs and notables of other dear components to renew their adoption of the same position.

In order to achieve this goal, we, the representatives of the tribes in Nineveh Governorate, have held a series of internal discussions during the past months with direct support and backing from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Peace Paradigms Organization (PPO) and the Tribal Affairs Office of Nineveh governorate. As a result of these discussions, we agreed on this unified statement in order to clarify (once again) our position rejecting all the crimes committed against Iraqi citizens by radical Takfiri groups and we support the obligation of law and the state institutions in order to achieve justice and rehabilitate the oppressed from all components of Nineveh Governorate in general and from the Ezidi component in particular, as follows:

First: The takfiri terrorist groups such as ISIS and Al-Qaeda and criminal organizations do not represent any tribe, religion, sect, or nationality. Anyone who was affiliated with these groups and terrorized the citizens and committed a crime against them represents only themselves. We show our tribe’s acquittal of these crimes until the Day of Judgement.
The conviction of these criminal acts is a human and legitimate duty of every human being.

Second: The basis of our work as tribes is to preserve the national identity, unite the citizens, and enhance stability and social cohesion. Our approach, from which we do not deviate from, is forgiveness and reconciliation among the different components of Nineveh and to achieve justice.

Third: We are citizens of one nation, and that ethnic, religious, sectarian, or national diversity does not weaken us but rather this increases our strength and cohesion. We are one body, “if one organ has complained, the rest of the body responds to it with wakefulness and fever”.

Fourth: We continue in our quest to stave off strife and renounce racism and sectarianism, and strengthen national cohesion. We continue supporting judicial and security institutions that seek to achieve justice and rehabilitate the oppressed.

Fifth: The tribal discourse is independent of political or partisan orientations and agendas.

Sixth: Bridging the gap between the members of the same society that was left by terrorists is a national and moral duty of all our authentic sheikhs.

Seventh: We always strive to maintain good neighborliness and a common history, and to build strong relations among the Nineveh spectrums.

Also, we, the sheikhs and prominent figures of Nineveh Governorate have agreed to implement the following steps:

a. Working seriously and vigorously to assist the security and judicial authorities in providing clear and reliable information about the criminals of ISIS.

b. Spreading awareness to all segments of the society in Nineveh through religious platforms, tribe bureaus and various forums with the aim of combating extremist ideology and hate speech, limiting the spread of malicious rumors, spreading the spirit of brotherhood and good neighborliness, and strengthening social cohesion.

c. Ensuring coordination between the tribal leaders and figures of Nineveh and the Ezidis who are decision-makers, with governmental and international support and sponsorship, in order to develop solutions to all societal issues in the region and bring justice to the oppressed and the families of the victims.

d. Organizing joint work between Ezidis and tribal leaders, with government and international support and sponsorship to return the displaced to Sinjar and Qahtaniyah in a way that preserves their dignity and meets their requirements and demands.

e. Creating a sustainable and effective communication mechanism between tribal leaders in Nineveh Governorate that contributes in diagnosing and solving outstanding or emerging problems, and maintaining social cohesion continuously.

In order to achieve clear results from these steps, and to unify efforts between the tribal community, state institutions, national and international organizations, we recommend the following:

1. National and international organizations should provide technical support to community representatives in resolving local conflicts and tensions.

2. Utmost governmental and international efforts should be exerted in order to preserve the privacy of the components and not allow any demographic changes that may lead to generating problems that will continue for generations to come.

3. The federal and local governments should prioritize the completion of the compensation file to facilitate the return of the displaced, provide justice in getting their rights, and achieve social stability.

4. Full protection to our people in Sinjar and western Nineveh should be provided; the full authority in this regard should be in the hands of the Iraqi state exclusively.

5. Technical and logistical support to peace structures and tribal committees needs to be provided in order to achieve sustainable and positive effects, especially in the context of solving problems in Western Nineveh (Sinjar and Qahtaniyah in particular)

6. It is necessary to include all martyrs, the injured and the missing in the decision of the Martyrs Foundation and compensate them.

7. It is necessary to find a transparent mechanism to raise society’s awareness about the role of the judicial and governmental institutions in prosecuting and holding criminals accountable for genocide and other crimes.

8. The government, national, and international organizations should strengthen dialogue with the tribal committees in order to detect signs of conflict and tensions and design meaningful and constructive solutions.

9. A joint committee that includes representatives of the security, judicial and administrative institutions from the federal and local government should be formed. It would also include representatives of international organizations and representatives of Nineveh tribes and Ezidis, aiming at diagnosing issues/tensions obstructing the achievement of stability and social cohesion in Sinjar and Qahtaniyah. It would take decisions and actions directly in order to develop sustainable solutions. This committee will develop security, administrative and judicial solutions to integrate with the efforts of tribal structures that work to take measures and remedies for societal issues.

On the foregoing, we, the tribal leaders and prominent figures of Nineveh Governorate, from the Arab component and other components, agreed on August 2nd of the year 2022 in Mosul and authenticated these clauses as confirmation of our social contract that seeks to achieve stability and social cohesion in the governorate.

We pray to the Almighty God to bless our martyrs with his mercy and to inspire, give the families and relatives patience and reward, and return back the missing and disappeared.
Shame and disgrace to all those who committed crimes against Iraq and Iraqis and terrorized them. Honor and immortality to our martyrs.