A/HRC/34/53/Add.1 I. Introduction 1. In accordance with the mandate under Human Rights Council resolution 25/5, the Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Rita Izsák-Ndiaye, visited Iraq from 27 February to 7 March 2016 at the invitation of the Government. During her visit, the Special Rapporteur travelled to Baghdad, Erbil and Dohuk governorates. 2. The Special Rapporteur sought to assess the situation of ethnic, religious and linguistic communities. She consulted widely with government representatives, including the Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ibraheem al Jafaari, the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani, the Minister for Foreign Relations of the Kurdistan Region, Falah Mustafa, and other government leaders and senior politicians. She met with representatives of all religious departments at the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs in the Kurdistan Region and the Chair of the Independent Board for Human Rights. She thanks the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government for their cooperation and willingness to engage constructively at the highest level. 3. The Special Rapporteur sincerely thanks the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the United Nations agencies and entities, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), that supported her visit. She thanks the numerous national and international non-governmental organizations that provided information and met with her. She placed a high priority on speaking directly to ethnic and religious community leaders and representatives, including those of internally displaced persons, to hear their views and concerns, and she thanks them for their considerable contribution to her visit. 4. The term “minority” is not favoured by the Government or many community leaders and civil society organizations, since it is perceived as having negative connotations for their status in Iraqi society and equal standing vis-à-vis other groups. Many prefer to be identified as “ethnic and religious communities” or “components” of Iraqi society. The Special Rapporteur acknowledges and respects these preferences, while noting that all the provisions of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities apply to those belonging to such groups in Iraq. 5. The Special Rapporteur’s objective was to understand the historical, current and ongoing challenges facing diverse national, ethnic, religious and linguistic groups. She sought to understand current legal, policy and programme measures as well as to identify what measures should be taken by the Government and other national and international stakeholders to ensure their protection and to guarantee minority rights as contained in the Declaration. II. Context of ethnic and religious minority communities 6. Referred to as the “cradle of civilization”, Iraq has been a country of great diversity and a unique and rich mosaic of ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic communities since ancient times. While the three largest populations are Shia and Sunni Arabs and Kurds, smaller communities include the Armenians, Baha’is, Chaldo-Assyrians, Circassians, Faili 4