Kurds honor human-rights achievements

ERBIL, Iraq, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Iraqi Kurdistan serves as a model for tolerance and respect for diversity, regional officials said, marking the 60th anniversary of a human-rights declaration.

Kurdish Premier Nechirvan Barzani and his human-rights minister, Yousif Aziz, addressed a delegation of officials promoting awareness of human rights, the Kurdistan Regional Government said in a news release Tuesday.

Barzani called on the Kurdish people to learn from the atrocities committed against the community in the past and move forward to embrace the ideals of freedom and basic human rights.

An Iraqi court Tuesday sentenced "Chemical Ali" Hassan al-Majid to death for crimes committed during a 1991 Shiite uprising in the south. He was convicted earlier this year for his role in the death of thousands of Kurds in the 1980s.

"It is true that our community is not an ideal one," said the Kurdish prime minister. "But I can say with confidence that we are a model in terms of respect for other religions and ethnicities, and we are a model for the culture of tolerance and peaceful coexistence."

His statements came during a ceremony marking the anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Dec. 10, 1948.