Irak

To the international community, human rights organizations, and United Nations Member States On this August 3, 2025, the Zagros Human Rights Center solemnly commemorates the eleventh anniversary of the genocide committed against the Yazidi community in the (Shengal) Sinjar region of Iraq. This tragedy remains one of the darkest chapters …

Report – 26th Meeting of the 59th Session of the Human Rights Council The 26th meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council, dedicated to the adoption of Iraq’s final UPR report, was held on 2 July 2025 in Geneva. The session allowed representatives from the Iraqi government, UN member …

December 17, 2024 The Centre Zagros pour les Droits de l’Homme (Zagros Human Rights Center) welcomes the courageous decision of the Swiss National Council to recognize the Yazidi genocide committed by the Islamic State in 2014. This recognition marks an essential step towards justice for the victims and sends a …

Introduction The side event held on November 29, 2024, during the Minorities Forum focused on the theme of representation and self-representation of minorities in Iran, Iraq, and Syria in public spaces and discourses. This event, organized by the Zagros Human Rights Center (Centre Zagros pour les Droits de l’Homme) in …

On September 25, 2017, the Kurdish people of Iraqi Kurdistan overwhelmingly voiced their legitimate desire for freedom and sovereignty through the independence referendum. This historic event remains a powerful symbol of the Kurds’ relentless pursuit of self-determination after decades of struggle for their fundamental rights and dignity. Despite the challenging …

September 7, 2024 We, the undersigned organizations of this statement, express our deep concern about the alarming and dangerous situation of political refugees, members of Kurdish Iranian political parties, and their families residing in the Iraqi Kurdistan region. These individuals have recently been forcibly and under pressure relocated from their …

Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) Joint Statement on the Evaluation of Iraq Geneva, August 2024, 113th session   Maloca Internationale and Centre Zagros pour les Droits de l’Homme are two NGOs with ECOSOC status active in the field of minority law, with annual conferences on the Middle …

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Yazidi genocide perpetrated by the Islamic State (IS), the Zagros Center for Human Rights joins the international community in honoring the victims and expressing our solidarity with the survivors. In August 2014, the brutal attacks against the Yazidi community not only …

Iraq is a Multinational, multilingual and multi-religious country. The national and ethnic communities of Iraq are Arabs (70 to 75%), Kurds (15 to 20%), Turkmen, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Armenians, Chechens and Circassians. Ethnic minorities make up up to 5% of the population. Islam is the official religion of Iraq. According to …

55th session of the Human Rights Council (February 26 to April 5, 2024) Oral statement from the Zagros Center for Human Rights Item 3: General debate on the promotion and protection of all human, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development March 14, 2024 Ladies …

Today marks the somber anniversary of the massacre of Halabja, an unimaginable act of barbarity perpetrated against the civilian population of the Kurdish town of Halabja, in the province of As-Sulaymaniya, Iraqi Kurdistan, from March 16th to 19th, 1988. Nearly 5,000 Kurds were cruelly killed in chemical attacks ordered by …

Human Rights Council Fifty-fifth session 26 February–5 April 2024 Agenda item 8 Follow-up and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action   Written statement* submitted by Centre Zagros pour les Droits de l’Homme, a non-governmental organization in special consultative status The Treaty of Lausanne(1), signed on July 24, …