Short Film Festival on Minorities and Human Rights in Kut, the centre of Wasit Governorate

Kut, Wasit Governorate, 3 July 2019 - UN Human Rights conducted a short film festival on minorities and human rights in Iraq with 50 participants (three being women)

including representatives of the Faili Kurdish and African descent minorities, human rights defenders, NGOs, journalists and media, a Sunni Imam, youth volunteers, the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (Wasit branch), police, provincial council, the Prime Ministers reconciliation and peaceful coexistence Committee, two local female civil society members, and Zubatia district council.

Panelists discussed human rights concerns raised in the short films as well as other human rights issues affecting them. Human rights issues highlighted in the films included enforced disappearances, forced marriage, identity and displacement, access to education, and the impact of corruption on rights including the right to life. The was the 32nd screening of the films, as UN Human Rights Iraq continues to show the best short films on minorities and human rights from the 3By3 Film Festival to audiences across Iraq.