Lalish, Ezidikhan (Iraq) 14 May 2023. The Ezidikhan government’s Justice Minister, Nallein Sowilo, has announced that the Armenian government will collaborate with Ezidikhan to promote the Nations’ International Criminal Tribunal Charter (NICT) and its adoption by countries and indigenous nations. The NICT Charter was developed by CWIS in cooperation with its initial sponsor, the Ezidikhan government, to establish a legal code and tribunal mechanism to hold accountable individuals and entities charged with the crimes of culturicide, genocide, and crimes against humanity committed against indigenous peoples.
The Center for World Indigenous Studies (CWIS) has been leading the development of the Ezidikhan’s NICT Charter since 2018. At the request of the Ezidikhan government, CWIS established an international Charter Panel of experts in December 2022 led by an international human rights attorney, Mohamed Aboelazm, to draft the Tribunal document over five months. Members of the Charter Panel included:
The Charter creates new international law and expands on the International Genocide Convention to include protection of indigenous peoples. When the United Nations adopted the International Genocide Convention of 1948, it intentionally failed to include protections for indigenous peoples by removing from the draft Convention references to cultural crimes. Drafters of the U.N. Convention feared many states would not ratify the 1948 law if it provided protections that could result in leaders of states’ governments or other officials being charged with crimes against indigenous peoples inside their territories. The NICT provides remedies to hold accountable crimes against indigenous peoples.
Justice Minister Sowilo and Ezidikhan Prime Minister Barjis Soho Khalif have been negotiating with Armenian officials since March 2022 to seek Armenia’s support for the Tribunal. Armenia has pledged to work with the Ezidikhan government and other governments to promote the NICT and its adoption.
The NICT Charter aims to establish the Nations’ International Criminal Tribunal, which will have the power to exercise its jurisdiction over persons, organizations, and governments for the gravest offenses of concern to all peoples. The crimes prosecutable under the Charter include colonization, aggression, genocide, war crimes, crimes against nature, ecocide and culturecide, terrorism, gender-based violence and femicide, forced removal of children, apartheid, and military occupation.
Ezidikhan’s diplomats, led by Supreme Spiritual Council Baba Salem, are working to encourage nations like Navajo, Maori, Ainu, Cree, and Q’anjub’al in the US, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, and Guatemala to become Charter signing governments. With Armenian support, the diplomats will reach out to the governments of Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Australia, Sweden, Bolivia, and others to build support for ratification of the Charter.
This announcement comes after more than 160 alleged crimes of genocide resulting in over 12 million people killed have been committed against indigenous peoples from 1945 to 2022. Justice Minister Sowilo emphasized that this collaboration with Armenia is a significant step forward in addressing the ongoing crimes against indigenous peoples and promoting accountability for those responsible.
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