Seeking justice: Baghdad Symposium addresses Feyli rights
The event was organized by the Ministry of Culture's Feyli Cultural Center in cooperation with the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights. Discussions centered on legal accountability, citizenship restoration, property claims, and the unresolved issue of mass graves containing the remains of thousands of missing Feyli Kurds.
Quais Hussein Ghayeb, director of the Commission's Minorities and Social Peace Division, said the Commission is prioritizing three key demands: reinstating citizenship for those stripped of it, compensating for seized assets, and locating and identifying mass grave sites.
'These issues are being followed up with relevant state institutions,' Ghayeb stated, noting ongoing complaints from Feyli citizens facing bureaucratic delays in recovering their nationality. He added that Baghdad's provincial council is actively supporting the citizenship file, and that the Council of Ministers has issued related recommendations.
Ghayeb also highlighted legal and logistical challenges in investigating mass graves, citing current laws that restrict excavation to specific government entities. 'There is a legislative effort underway to resolve the contradiction between legal provisions and investigative needs."
Feyli researcher Fereydoun Karim called the mass grave issue deeply complicated, alleging that some parties have obstructed efforts to uncover the fate of the disappeared. "Despite raising the matter with international actors, including the United Nations, there has been little tangible progress."
Meanwhile, Lamia Adnan al-Mandlawi, institutional development official at Iraq's Scientific Complex, emphasized the importance of sustained follow-up. 'The symposium brought legal clarity to the Feyli Kurds' demands and reinforced the need for implementation on citizenship, property rights, and mass grave investigations,' she told Shafaq News.
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