HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
Forum on Minority Issues
Geneva, 15 – 16 December 2008
YA§A e.V.
Kurdish Centre for
Legal Studies &
Consultancy
Kurdisches Zentrum
für juristische Studien
und Beratungen
Navenda kurdî
ji bo lêkolîn û
rawêjkarîya yasayî
تاساردلل يدركلا زكرملا
ةينوناقلا تاراشتسالاو
YASA e.V.
Postfach 7624
53076 Bonn
Germany
www.yasa-online.org
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for giving me the floor. My name is Jian Badrakhan from YASA, the Kurdish Centre
for Legal Studies & Consultancy. Our Organization advocates the rights of Kurdish People in Syria, which are
estimated to be about 3 million.
The Syrian constitution has a special capital about education and cultural principals, starting with Article 21 which
states:
“The education and cultural system aims to build an Arabic national socialistic generation..”.
Article 21 clarifies the aim of the educational system in Syria, and as the Kurds are a national minority, the Syrian
government has with this, over decades excluded and systematically violated the rights of the Kurds to a proper
education.
The first of such barriers can be seen in the following examples: