difficult conditions, in a society that practice harassment and discrimination, and the
difficulty of getting jobs, especially for women, where there are many women who
have higher degrees, but they did not get a suitable job.
As for the Roma, despite the Iraqi Constitution guarantees of the equality principle in
article 14 and the promulgation of General Authority for Guaranteeing the Rights of
Regions and Governorates that are not Organized in a Region No. 26, however the
Commission noted that the approximate statistics of the Roma in Diwaniya
Governorate are (399) person, distributed: men (134), women (152) and children
(113). Despite the lifting of the restriction on obtaining the identity papers as well as
the ratification of marriage contracts; but it is still indirect discrimination is practiced
against them such as insulting and inferiority that they are exposed to in society.
The Commission also observed al-Zuhour village of in the Diwaniyah province, which
is inhabited by the Roma. The Commission noted the inferiority of the local
government, which refuses to help them despite the appeals made by the civil society
organizations and the village's mayor. The Commission is concerned about the
difficulty of their enjoying the economic, social and cultural rights where the
environment suffers from a large number of waste and a cause of spreading diseases,
there is no drinking water network, but there is a car (water tanks) provides water to
the village from time to time6.
The Commission also noted that there are some difficulties facing the Roma citizens
in obtaining the unified card. The Ministry of Interior and its concerned departments
were approached to deal with this matter and facilitate the granting of official Iraqi
documents. The Civil Status Law No. 65 of 1972 did not address the Roma segment of
society, and despite the amendment of the law (the Nationality Amendment Law No.
26 of 2006), but did not indicate any positive step concerning them. The Commission
has approached the Iraqi House of Representatives\ legal department in early 2018 in
this regard because of the fact that the Roma did not receive the unified card
Recommendations:
1. Prompt the Government to take all necessary measures to combat
discrimination against black people (or people of African descent) and Roma
communities in a comprehensive manner that ensures the addressing of the
radical causes of discrimination in the enjoyment of economic, social and
cultural rights.
2. Prompt the Government to ensure that black and Roma minorities enjoy all
their economic, social and cultural rights, including employment, poverty
alleviation, access to education at all levels and appropriate and decent
housing, as well as the provision of basic health services.
3. Prompt the federal government to prepare sex-disaggregated data and
statistics to assess progress in the living conditions of black people (Afrodescendent) and Roma communities.
6)
the Commission got this information from a civil activist who lunched a campaign entitled (the
Gypsy are humans) in Diwaniya.
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