RFI’s Jeremy Barker was recently featured in an article in Juicy Ecumenism, the blog of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, for his contributions to a panel on religious freedom in Iraq at this year’s International Religious Freedom Summit. The article describes the “precarious” religious freedom situation in Iraq as explained by the experts and advocates on the panel, highlighting the tenuous survival of religious minority communities since the chaos following Saddam Hussein’s overthrow in 2003.

Moderating the panel, Barker explained that legislation is being proposed in the Iraqi Council of Representatives which aims to protect all religions and ensure the “long-term survival” of religious minority communities in Iraq. The panelists – advocates for the Yazidi, Kurd, Bahai and Assyrian Christian minorities in Iraq – emphasized the necessity of both Constitutional recognition for minority faiths and the acceptance of the proposed religious freedom legislation.

Barker, in agreement with the panelists, remarked that the legislation is needed to “provide a basis for action,” and argued that “religious freedom for one community [in Iraq] is best protected by a law that protects religious freedom for every community.”

Read the full article: “Addressing the Precarious Religious Freedom in Iraq.”