KHRP at House of Commons Lecture on Syria |
KHRP Deputy Director Rachel Bernu will speak at an event at the House of Commons on 21 October 2008 entitled, ‘Human Rights and the Kurds in Syria: Discrimination and Repression.’ Syrian Kurds, who make up the country’s largest non-Arab ethnic minority, remain subject to systematic discrimination. The state has denied citizenship to at least 140,000 Syrian-born Kurds, who are thus denied equal access to socioeconomic rights. Kurdish identity has also been systematically assailed, with the suppression of Kurdish language in schools, the refusal to register children with Kurdish names, the prohibition of Kurdish language material, the replacement of Kurdish place names with Arabic names, and a ban on businesses with non-Arabic names. Freedom of expression and association also remain tightly controlled in Syria, and Kurdish activists are particularly vulnerable to arbitrary arrest and detention.
The event, which is hosted by John Austin MP and co-organised by the Peace in Kurdistan campaign and the Kurdish Federation UK, will also feature Mustafa Abdelsalam, a member of the Democratic Union Party Leadership Council, and Dr Rebwah Fatah, Director of the UK-based organisation Kurdish Media. KHRP publications will be on sale at the meeting.
‘Human Rights and the Kurds in Syria’ will take place from 7pm until 9pm in the Grand Committee Room, House of Commons, Westminster, SW1 (Entry via St Stephens and allow 30 minutes to get through the Cromwell Green search, as there can be queues). |