Witnesses of Mercy for Peace and Reconciliation

35 His Highness Prince Breen Tahseen His Highness Prince Breen Tahseen is the official repre- sentative of his father, Prince Tahseen Said, the leader of the Yazidi community in Iraq. He has spoken on behalf of Yazidis in several conferences throughout Europe and the Middle East, addressing human rights concerns, gen- ocide, and the refugee crisis. Previously, Breen worked in the Iraqi consulate in Manchester, UK, and was a diplomat at the Iraqi Min- istry of Foreign Affairs. Breen received his BA from the University of Salahaddin, Erbil, in 2007, and graduated from the Diplomatic Institute, Baghdad, in 2009 and the Berlitz English language centre, Manchester, in 2012. Compassionate, the Merciful, reaffirmed this in many of His religious texts. Professor Mohammed Abu-Nimer said that, after having lectured about peace and mercy for 20 years he posed the question: “How is the message of peace and mercy turned into practice?” We have 6,413 Yazidi women, who suffered because of their religion. Today we have 3,659 women and children who are still in the hands of so-called Islamic State. For two years, I travelled to more than 30 countries meeting ministers, heads of state and religious personali- ties including those from our Muslim brothers and sisters. In 2003, after the fall of Sadam Hussein, we opened our houses to all Muslims and in 2014 we opened our houses to all of our Shia brothers and sisters. This, then, is the reality of how to implement mercy and I really wish that religious and political personalities would also implement mercy in the same way. There are scenarios within which, in the name of both religion and political parties, there is agreement but in the end things are not implemented. In this very critical situation in Iraq, the entire country knew what Yazidi people had to suffer from ISIS. This is the 74th genocide to strike Yazidi people. Many were displaced and many are still suffering from this serial ter- rorism. We still need to know the destiny of thousands of people who were displaced and who are still missing for the reason that they are Yazidis. They were forced to leave the country which changed the situation on the ground, but many of them stayed in Iraq to fight ISIS. But we need the whole international community to stand together. The Muftis and Eminences, may they be Christian or Muslim must ask the world to stand together and demand that the captured Yazidi women are freed. The international community needs to stand together because many of the personalities of these so-called Islamic State talks that are convened to free those cap- tured by ISIS, report that ISIS believes in a righteous Islam. But from other Muslim religious leaders we hear that this is not the righteous Islam. Now to the future of the region of Ninawa and the situation there. There are American, European Turkish and Kurdish scenarios implemented there and, of course, we are there on the ground too. We wish that you would help us to distribute mercy in order to make sure that this minority, our minority is allowed to stay in the villages because Iraq is our homeland. It’s the homeland of us all, not of one ethnic group or one religious confession. THE FOUNDAT IONS OF MERCY