FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 01 August 2019

Contact: Press Bureau, bar.chambers@edu.igo-gov.org

Yazidi Mass Protests Reject Kurdish Appointed “Emir” Tahsin
Yazidis & Kurds Overwhelmingly Reject Barzani-backed “Emir”

Press Release:
Yazidis and supporting Kurds have stood up in outrage and mass
protests against the illegal attempt of the Barzani leadership of the Kurdistan
government to unilaterally appoint and declare a claimed “Emir” (Chief Prince) of the
independent Yazidis, considered part of Kurdish hijacking of Yazidi ethnic identity in
violation of indigenous rights under international law.

The Barzani appointed self-proclaimed “Emir”, Hazem Tahsin Bek, son of the late Emir
of the Tahsin family, was actually a member of the Kurdish Parliament, and was
“named” as the Yazidi “leader” only by five members of his own “High Spiritual
Council” led by the previous Baba Sheikh.

It has been widely known that the Tahsin family and their appointed Baba Sheikh have
been controlled under coercion and threats by the Barzani faction of Kurdistan since
2014, even forcing the Baba Sheikh to publicly deny Yazidi indigenous ethnic identity
and to renounce plans to reassert Yazidi sovereignty.

The attempted usurpation of Yazidi sovereignty by the Barzani-backed Tahsin was
rejected and condemned by the Yazidi Movement for Reform and Progress (Arabic),
the Ezidkhan Protection Force with the Yazidi Democratic Party (Arabic), groups
of Yazidi Professionals (Arabic), and by many other Yazidi leadership groups (Arabic).

A lawyer resigned (Arabic) from the “Spiritual Council” of the Barzani-led Tashin
family, citing external interference by “some non-Yazidi people”, protesting that the
council “did not play any role” in “selection of the Prince”.

A Member of Iraqi Parliament (Arabic) also resigned from the “Spiritual Council”,
protesting that the appointment “excluded many Sheikhs and Tribal Leaders” of the
Yazidi People, ignoring “their gathering more than three months ago and the demands
then submitted” by Yazidi leaders, as a result of pre-arranged “agreed agendas… under
external guidance”.

Even a younger Prince of the Tahsin family (Arabic) condemned how this was
“imposed on the Yazidis… for personal interests… disrespecting the will of the Yazidi
People”, and called to “stand up against those who want to deprive of our rights”.

One Iraqi Member of Parliament (Arabic) officially condemned the event as an
“attempt to impose will upon this ancient people”, and a power-grab by “one side at
the expense of another”, which “will undermine the Yazidi identity”.

Even the Leader of the Peshmerga forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government,
Qasim Shasho, issued a video statement rejecting the Barzani-backed appointment of
the claimed Yazidi “Emir” Tahsin.

Shockingly, even the claimed “Coronation” ceremony of Tahsin itself was not free from
protests: A video of the event shows a young Prince from Tahsin’s own family taking
the microphone, and rejecting and condemning it as “wrong”.

Hazim Tahsin discredited himself in all Yazidi communities by his own speech at the
self-proclaimed “Coronation” event, by thanking only three officials of the Kurdish
Regional Government (KRG), its former president Masoud Barzani, current president
Nechervan Barzani, and prime minister Masrour Barzani. No Yazidi tribal leaders were
thanked, as all were excluded.

Hazim Tahsin especially outraged Yazidis worldwide by his statements in a television
interview announcing his supposed “Coronation”: He opposed the beloved Yazidi
Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Morad for her exposing the Kurdistan hijacking of
Yazidi identity for theft of Yazidi ancestral lands. He also denied the ancient Yazidi
indigenous ethnic identity, declaring the false Barzani propaganda that “Yazidis are
religiously distinct but Kurdish by nationality”.

The inter-governmental law firm Magna Carta Bar Chambers already published
a Barristers Opinion on Yazidi Royal Succession in January 2019, which proved that
ancient Yazidi law of the “Rule of Succession” and “Rule of Coronation”, confirmed by
the “Proclamation of Sharaf ad-Din”, strictly disqualify any candidate “associated with
political parties” – specifically Kurdish political leaders. (Encyclopaedia Iranica, 2004:
Yazidis: Social and Religious Groups.)

The Barrister’s Opinion also proved that the ancient Yazidi law on Royal Succession
constitutes “rules of customary international law” which are binding upon all countries
(UN Law of Treaties, Articles 3, 38), such that no government can claim to recognize a
Kurdish-appointed Yazidi Emir in violation of indigenous Yazidi law.

The Yazidi People have been officially recognized as a sovereign indigenous nation
separate from the Kurds, by the League of Nations in 1925, the United Nations
Refugee Agency in 2007, Human Rights Watch in 2009, and the United Nations Human
Rights Council in 2016.

Years of propaganda by the Barzani faction of Kurdistan denying these facts is
considered an illegal hijacking of the ancient Yazidi indigenous ethnic identity,
contributing to their genocide.

Related Article:
Yazidis Unifying in New Leadership Towards Sovereignty

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