P10-Legal-RightsofMinorityPopulations

Institute for Domestic & International Affairs, Inc.

Legal

Rights of Minority Populations

Director: Brianna Gillespie

© 2010 Institute for Domestic & International Affairs, Inc. (IDIA)

This document is solely for use in preparation for Philadelphia Model United Nations 2010. Use for other purposes is not

permitted without the express written consent of IDIA. For more information, please write us at [email protected]

Policy Dilemma ______________________________________________________________ 1

Chronology__________________________________________________________________ 2

Ottoman Empire - 1300-1922________________________________________________________ 2

Lebanese Constitution - 23 May 1926 _________________________________________________ 3

1948-Present - Founding of Israel and the Palestinian Refugee Crisis ______________________ 4

1970s - Lebanese Civil war__________________________________________________________ 4

1984-1999 - Kurdish Rebellion in Turkey______________________________________________ 5

1990s - Saddam Hussein’s Crimes Against Minorities ___________________________________ 5

Possible Causes ______________________________________________________________ 6

Actors and Interests ___________________________________________________________ 7

Economically and Politically Dominant Minorities ______________________________________ 7

Suppressed Minorities _____________________________________________________________ 8

Enfranchised Minorities____________________________________________________________ 9

Projections and Implications___________________________________________________ 10

Conclusion _________________________________________________________________ 11

Discussion Questions _________________________________________________________ 12

Bibliography________________________________________________________________ 13

For Further Reading______________________________________________________________ 13

Works Cited_____________________________________________________________________ 14

Works Referenced________________________________________________________________ 15

PhilMUN 2010 1

Policy Dilemma As the bridge between three continents, the Middle East played a strategic role in

the development of many civilizations and empires. As such, there are many different

types of ethnic and religious minorities in the region. When the lines of the Middle East

were drawn by the former colonial powers after the First and Second World War, they

ignored the composition of the indigenous peoples, leading to a number of large

minorities as nations without states. For example, the Kurds, with a population of 35 to

40 million people are divided among several states, including Turkey, Iraq, and Syria.1

An ethnic minority refers to a group that maintains a different culture, history,

language, race and identity within a certain region. A religious minority is a group of

people who practice a different religion from the dominant majority population. The key

issues facing minorities are the political enfranchisement and economic inclusion of

peoples within the systems of the states. Governments in the Middle East have not

worked to encourage the political participation of minority communities. Occasionally,

governments actively suppress minorities in order maintain political dominance.

Economically, minorities often belong to lower socio-economic class due to limited

access to credit, education, and both official and tacit discriminatory hiring practices. For

example the Coptics in Egypt, have limited opportunities due to institutional limits. In

the worst of situations, minorities endure open violence and government persecution.

Minorities facing these situations have very little social mobility, preventing them from

joining political and governmental institutions in order to change policies.

Not all minorities, however, endure poor conditions; many minorities in fact hold

power. The dominance of a minority over a political system often corresponds to the

economic dominance of that minority over the majority populations. The Maronites in

Lebanon for example, compose a small percentage of the population, yet are

disproportionately wealthy. Some groups use violence and discriminatory policies in

1 William L. Cleveland and Martin Bunton, “A History of the Modern Middle East,” Westview Press, 2009. 390

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order to maintain their political dominance. Under Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the

Sunni ruling population used violence to suppress any group deemed a threat to its own

power, despite it being a population minority. Minorities in power often breed

resentment from the majority population, therefore holding power is important to

maintain security.

Minorities maintain many roles within society. Establishing equality requires a

reorganization of society. Working to prevent the institutional discrimination often aids in

eliminating the barriers to establish a democracy. It is the job of the United Nations to

promote equality of all minority groups by establishing policies to support equal access to

political systems and working with states and minorities to resolve historic issues

inhibiting progress.

Chronology Ottoman Empire - 1300-1922 Under the Ottoman Empire many religious minorities gained a semi-autonomous

status. The Ottoman Empires vast reach and diverse composition required that the

government not only rule tolerantly but also govern under a system of regional local

control, subject to the will of a federal state; similar to how the United States runs today.

Religious minorities, like the Jews and Catholic and Orthodox Christians, fell under an

Islamic tenant of jurisprudence called Ahl-al-Kitab, or People of the Book, which

afforded certain religious minorities a protected, though inferior, status. While their

degree of acceptance varied, depending on the leader or situation, minorities in the

Ottoman Empire enjoyed greater freedoms than they would in Europe. For example,

growing tides of racism, bigotry, and nationalism drove many populations of Jews to the

Ottoman Empire, even before the idea of Zionism, the right for a Jewish homeland,

existed.

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Lebanese Constitution - 23 May 1926 After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire following the First World War,

European powers, namely the United Kingdom and France, divvied up the territories of

the Middle East. Ruling under colonialism, these European powers created artificial

rivalries between ethnic and religious minorities under a strategy called “divide and

conquer.” This strategy encouraged competition for power based on identity, in order to

divide any viable opposition against the colonial power. Often times, colonial powers

would enfranchise a minority group because that group would not have sufficient

numbers to rebel against the colonial power, and would in fact, require the protection of

the colonial power against other groups.

The Lebanese Constitution is a constant reminder of the colonial period and the

era immediately following colonialism. The French, in an effort to keep some control

over Lebanon, following independence devised a type of government based on identity.

Called a confessionalist system, this government divides power on the basis of ethnic and

religious identity. In order to apportion power, the 1932 Census concluded that

Christians outnumbered Muslims by a six- five ratio.2 This census included large

Christian Maronite populations abroad, as well as divided Muslims into Shi’a and Sunni

sects, for a number of reasons.3 It was on the basis of this census that the French divided

power. According to the Lebanese Constitution, a Maronite will always hold the

presidency, a Sunni will always hold the seat of Prime Minister, and a Shi’a will always

be the Speaker of the Parliament, and the other major seats of power will be agreed upon

by all three.4 The 1932 Census still remains the only official census even taken in

Lebanon, despite radical population changes.

2 Sandra Mackey, “Mirror of the Arab World: Lebanon in Conflict,” W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York 2008. 52 3 Ibid 4 William L. Cleveland and Martin Bunton, “A History of the Modern Middle East,” Westview Press, 2009. 390

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1948-Present - Founding of Israel and the Palestinian Refugee Crisis The founding of Israel in 1948 and the resulting war, led to a mass exodus of

Palestinians from the new state of Israel into Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria.

Refugees from subsequent wars only increased the populations in United Nations Relief’s

Works Agency for the Near East (UNRWA) organized refugee camps. Host states of

refugees deal with a myriad of associated issues like offering citizenship, increases in

unemployment, and competition for resources in general. In many states, these

populations, while many hold the full rights of citizens, are treated as minority

populations. In fact in Jordon, Palestinian refugees and their decedents rival the

Jordanian population. For Palestinians with citizenship in Jordon or Egypt, they are still

considered Palestinian. As minority populations, Palestinian refugees often face

discriminatory policies that prevent them from getting jobs, receiving an education, or

applying for state programs like aid programs. These policies are most evident in

Lebanon where Palestinian refugees are barred from state universities, cannot be doctors

or engineers outside of their camps, and cannot become citizens. The plight of

Palestinians varies from state to state, however they now compose large minorities in

many Middle Eastern States.

1970s - Lebanese Civil war Lebanon is perhaps the most diverse Middle Eastern State, with large minorities of

Maronite Christians, Druze, as well as both Sunni and Shi’a sects of Islam. The political

representation of Lebanon led to civil unrest in Lebanon in the 1970s. That civil unrest

broke into all out civil war along sectarian lines in 1975 and lasted until 1990. This war

fostered the creation of militias that reflected not only different political groups, but also

different ethno-religious groups. Greater regional politics, like the Arab Israeli Conflict

also fueled violence as different parties provided weapons and monetary support to

certain militias. Estimates of civilians killed during the conflict range conservatively

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from 130,000 people to 250,000.5 This war destroyed the economy, infrastructure, and

political landscape of Lebanon.

1984-1999 - Kurdish Rebellion in Turkey The Kurds are the largest nation without a state. Estimates of their population

range from twenty four million to thirty million people divided among a number of

states’ most prominently Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria.6 There are ten to twelve million

Kurds in Turkey alone, composing twenty per cent of the total Turkish population.7 The

Kurdish people have maintained a separate cultural and linguistic identity. Often

persecuted by the secular Turkish government, the Kurds openly fought against the

Turkish government multiple times in their bid for independence. Most recently, in 1984

the Kurdistan’s Workers Party, or PKK, led an insurrection aimed to receive political and

cultural autonomy. Recognized by the United Nations, European Union (EU), and the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as a terrorist group, the PKK led a campaign

of assignations, bombings, and kidnappings against the Turkish government from 1984

through 1999. In response, the Turkish army destroyed 2,300 Kurdish villages and

displaced or forcibly removed two million Kurds.8

1990s - Saddam Hussein’s Crimes Against Minorities While the Iraq War did not uncover “weapons of mass destruction” (WMD), it did

uncover the crimes of humanity committed by the Saddam Hussein regime against the

Kurds, Shi’a Muslims, the Madan or Marsh Arabs, and people on “Persian” decent. This

regime practiced the use of torture, forced disappearances, murder, use of WMD against

civilians, rape, and the systematic execution of anyone suspected of dissent and their

families. Saddam Hussein was a Sunni Muslim; Iraq is a Shi’a majority. Yet his crimes

targeted minority populations, in addition to the majority Shi’a population. In 1988, 5 Sandra Mackey, “Mirror of the Arab World: Lebanon in Conflict,” W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York 2008. 52 6 William L. Cleveland and Martin Bunton, “A History of the Modern Middle East,” Westview Press, 2009. 416 7 Ibid,529. 8 Ibid,531.

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Saddam Hussein launched the Anfal campaign, which deployed poison gas against

Kurdish civilian populations killing one hundred thousand civilians, destroying four

thousand villages, and displacing one million people.9 After the First Gulf War, with the

encouragement of the first Bush Administration, Shi’a and Kurds fought to bring down

the Saddam Hussein regime. However, their rebellion resulted in a crushing display of

force by Saddam Hussein, which killed thirty thousand civilians.10 His political terror

was more profound, low estimates believe that Saddam Hussein killed over three hundred

thousand political opponents and dissenters, many of whom belonged to minority

communities.11 This estimate does not include deaths from the Iran-Iraq War or the

Kuwait Invasion, and is still under review as new evidence arises.

Possible Causes The root causes of the roles and treatment of minorities within society originate

from the historical impacts of imperialism before and after independence. French and

British colonialism left its mark on the Middle East in a number of different ways.

Colonial powers created the map of the Middle East after both World Wars without

regard to indigenous populations. Nations of people, like the Kurds for example, were

divided between four different states. In addition, colonial powers influenced the role of

minority populations by doling out positions of authority and power to varying

populations. Often times, colonial powers put minorities in positions of authority

because the minority community would require the colonial power to maintain their

legitimacy.

The era of independence brought on a new series of problems, for minority

groups, rooted in the issues of colonialism. Under colonialism, colonial authorities

handed out not only positions of authority, but access to resources. Different states

experienced different paths to independence. Ignored minority groups often times,

9 “Catalogue of Evil,” Economist; 12/20/2003, Vol. 369 Issue 8355, p59-59, 1/6p 10 “Ibid 11 Ibid

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played major roles in revolutionary movements. For example, in Algeria, various ethnic

groups united, through religion, to fight against the French colonial authority. After

independence, many revolutionary governments alienated all remnants of the former

regimes, including empowered minorities. In Egypt, the revolutionary Nasser alienated

all members of the former monarchy, including the Coptic minority population. The

effects of colonialism still impact the policies of today through institutional and social

racism.

Actors and Interests Economically and Politically Dominant Minorities Economically and Politically Dominant Minorities hold a disproportionate amount

of power as compared to other populations in the region. Economically, they often

control large amounts of land and resources, like oil and water. Politically, these

minorities either hold a disproportionate amount of power due to laws that prevent

competition, or because the government in power actively suppresses the opposition,

usually the majority population. Due to their status, these minorities are in a vulnerable

position. If they anger the majority population, the minority population will often times

lose power, especially in a democratic system. To avoid this fate, some groups will use

oppressive measures, which only incite more anger. Other groups will hold on to their

tentative power through more peaceful means.

Before the United States occupation of Iraq in 2003, the Sunni minority group held

power, under the leadership of Saddam Hussein. Saddam Hussein empowered his

Ba’athist Party, members of which included all principal ethnic groups, albeit Sunni

dominated. To achieve any social mobility or relative success, one needed to belong to

the Ba’athist Party or otherwise face discriminatory treatment. The Ba’athist Party

employed abusive tactics to maintain their power and dominance in the Iraqi political

system. Non-party members faced discrimination in access to social services, university

admission, and hiring practices. The use of secret police to suppress any political dissent

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led to the imprisonment, torture and disappearance and countless political opponents and

their families. Membership within the party could not however, protect anyone deemed

by President Saddam Hussein to be a threat to his hegemony. As leader of the military,

President Saddam Hussein used its power to suppress anyone or group he deemed as a

potential threat. This power often targeted minorities and the Shi’a majority, who

opposed President Saddam Hussein, especially during and after the Iran-Iraq War and the

First Gulf War. After the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Coalition Provincial Authority

(CPA) purged the Ba’athists from all government institutions, and prominent positions,

and disbanded the military. This led to a wave of sectarian violence that continues today.

Suppressed Minorities The most common form of minorities, in the Middle East, is a suppressed

minority. These minorities, for varying reasons, face racism and bigotry that prevents

access to resources, education, and job opportunities. Whether the racism and bigotry is

institutionalized or merely a social construct, suppressed minorities often compose

components of opposition movements. Regimes in power either ignore these minorities

by avoiding distributing resources, like social welfare programs, or actively suppress

opposition elements within these groups. The social inequality faced by these groups

severely limits their social mobility. In other words, their limited access to resources,

like education, impedes their ability to move up economically in society.

Scholars consider the Kurds as the largest nation without a state. An ethno-

linguistic minority, the Kurds inhabits Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria and their treatment

varies from state to state. However, universally, they do not have the same political or

social rights as other groups. Under the authority of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the

Iraqi military launched a campaign to brutally suppress the Kurds, accusing them of

threatening the solidarity of the state. In 1988, President Hussein unleashed the Al-Anfal

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Campaign, led by his cousin Ali Hasan al-Majid , or “Chemical Ali.”12 The campaign

aimed to eliminate all Kurdish “resistance” and possible “resistance” to Ba’athist rule,

including the systematic elimination all males ranging in age from 15 to 70.13 The most

graphic attack during the campaign happened in 1988 at Halabja, where the Iraqi military

released chemical agents like nerve and mustard gas, bombed, and shelled a town of

40,000-50,000 inhabitants for three days. Over 14,000 people died during the attack,

5,000 alone from the initial chemical attacks.14 During the campaign, over 180,000

people disappeared and were presumed dead and over 1,200 villages destroyed. The Al-

Anfal campaign represented a larger trend of the systematic intimidation, persecution

violence against the Kurdish minorities. Since the Ba’athists came to power in 1963

through the end of Saddam Hussein’s regime estimates approximate that over 300,000

Kurds died and 4,000 villages were destroyed.15

Enfranchised Minorities Enfranchised minorities in the Middle East are not as common as elsewhere in the

world. Many groups, especially Christian groups, however fall into this category. An

enfranchised minority has access to government institutions, education, and a variety of

resources. Though they might face social discrimination, legally these minorities have

the same rights as other citizens, or specifically protected rights. Enfranchised minorities

have some social mobility, and can often times overlap with economically and politically

dominant minorities. However, typically enfranchised minorities groups fall into all

categories of socioeconomic status, as opposed to a disproportionate amount of wealthy

individuals. These groups are most often found in more democratic governments with

diverse populations. These conditions allow for the creation of political alliances and

voting blocs in parliamentary legislatures.

12 Carole A. O’Leary, “The Kurds of Iraq: Recent History and the Future Prospects,” Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 6: Issue 4, December 2002 13 Ibid 14 Ibid 15 Ibid

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Lebanon offers a perfect example of enfranchised minorities. Minorities can

access government institutions, form political parties, publish newspapers, and face

relatively low discrimination as opposed to minorities in other states. These freedoms

came at heavy cost however; the Lebanese Civil War saw many ethnic and religious

minorities forming militias and alliances to target other minorities for power. The

Lebanese peace process sought to reconcile these groups and include them all in the

political system, instead of alienating groups further. The situation is not perfect though,

the Palestinian exiled minority faces continued discrimination and alienation, and

political rights do not necessarily equal social acceptance. Still, Lebanon offers the best

example in the Middle East of enfranchised minorities.

Projections and Implications If action is not taken to enfranchise minority populations, democracy will never

take root in Middle East. Minorities need to be included in the political system.

However, it must also be taken into account that minorities should not dominate the

political systems at the determent of other groups. If the international community does

not address the situation, violence is inevitable. Currently seen in Iran, political

oppression of any group, leads to violence, either by the group repressed, or by the

government. While immediate change is impossible, it is necessary to eliminate the

institutional barriers that bolster inequality within the Middle East.

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Conclusion Historic inequalities, originating from colonialism, in the Middle East continue

today through the treatment of minority communities within social and political systems.

While some groups dominate the political spectrum, most minority groups suffer the

repression of the government. Oppression and competition for power between minority

groups leads to violence. By working to promote peace and breaking down barriers, the

international community can prevent potential violence, instead of working to resolve

conflict after it starts. In addition, the inclusion of minorities within the political system

will encourage the development of democracy.

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Discussion Questions • What reforms can ensure the inclusion of minorities on the local level? • How can the international community support the political equality of minorities? • How do individual state’s histories influence their support or opposition of the

issue? • How does the treatment of minorities within a state reflect its legitimacy? • How does the development of democracy impact the issue? • How has historic inequity perpetuate the situation of minorities with states? • How has previous international intervention impacted the treatment of minorities?

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Bibliography For Further Reading

“Arab States” United Nations Development Programme, http://arabstates.undp.org/

This site provides statistical information about the economic and social development of the Middle East, including substantial information on minorities, and links to the full length annual Arab Development Reports as well as information about current events.

“United Nations Guide for Minorities” Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/minorities/guide.htm

This website provides a great resource for information regarding the United Nations current and previous policies referring to the treatment and right of minorities. The site provides links to original documents, as well as statistical information.

Weiss, T. G. (2007). The United Nations in a Changing World . Westview Press.

This book offers a perspective on the development of the role in the United Nations in reference to specific international issues with which it has not previously addressed. For example, does the policy the “Right to Protect” (R2P) give the United Nations the right to intervene in domestic affairs? This book also offers a historic context to previous interventions.

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Works Cited “Catalogue of Evil,” Economist; 12/20/2003, Vol. 369 Issue 8355, p59-59, 1/6p Cleveland, William L. and Martin Bunton, “A History of the Modern Middle East,” Westview Press, 2009. O’Leary, Carole A., “The Kurds of Iraq: Recent History and the Future Prospects,” Middle East Review of International Affairs, Vol. 6: Issue 4, December 2002 Mackey, Sandra, “Mirror of the Arab World: Lebanon in Conflict,” W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York 2008. William L. Cleveland and Martin Bunton, “A History of the Modern Middle East,”

Westview Press, 2009.

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Works Referenced “The Lebanese Constitution,” WashLaw, Washburn University of Law

http://www.washlaw.edu/forint/asia/lebanon.html, 21 November 2009. Smith, Charles D. “Palestine and the Arab Israeli Conflict: A History with Documents,” Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 2007. Weiss, T. G. (2008). The Oxford Handbook on the United Nations . New York: Oxford

University Press . Weiss, T. G. (2007). The United Nations in a Changing World . Westview Press.