Assyrian Democratic Organization ADO
Following are highlights of the declaration, which was disclosed after a four-day meeting in the British capital.
– Iraq will have a democratic, federal, parliamentary and pluralist system that does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex or ideology. A constitution will acknowledge the composition of the Iraqi people and comply with the principle of the rule of law.
– Islam is the state religion. Islam is one of the pillars of the Iraqi State and Islamic law is a main source of jurisprudence. The conference affirms the need to use Islam as a guide while respecting all other religions and beliefs.
– There is no room for chaos and revenge in Iraq, regardless of motive. Justice and law must rule, including over crimes of war, genocide and ethnic cleansing.
– The conference decided on the need to include all the Iraqi people — Arab, Kurd, Turkmen, Assyrian, Shi’ite Sunni, Christian and followers of all other creeds — in making political decisions.
– The conference calls upon the international community to support the Iraqi people to remove the present dictatorship, and rejects any form of occupation, foreign or domestic military rule, outside mandate and regional interference. The conference affirms the need to respect Iraq’s sovereignty.
– The Shi’ites of Iraq, like the other groups, have been subject to repression. The conference sees an urgent need to end all policies based on sectarianism, and respect for the rights of the Shi’ite population.
– The conference condemns the discrimination, genocide and population transfer carried out by Saddam’s racist regime against the Kurds. The fate of the victims must be revealed, their memory honored and their relatives compensated.
– The administrative procedures aimed at changing the demography of Iraqi Kurdistan must be canceled. The displaced must return to their homes and be compensated.
– A federal system is a basis that must be adopted for solving the Kurdish problem within the Iraqi constitution. The conference affirms the need to meet the legitimate and just aspirations of the people of Kurdistan.
– Weapons of mass destruction will be abandoned. The army will stop being an instrument of internal repression and external aggression.
– Iraq must be permitted to export as much oil as its capacity permits. The conference asks the new government to examine all commercial, economic and oil agreements that Iraq has signed since August 1990, identify their legality and the interest of Iraq in concluding them.
– The conference especially asks the new government to cooperate with Kuwait and Iran to free prisoners of war held by all sides.
– The conference regards it necessary to maintain the oil for food program and to solve its negative aspects until the U.N. resolutions regarding Iraq are reconsidered.
