(AINA) -- The Assyrian Universal Alliance issued the following statement yesterday on the lockout of Assyrian voters in north Iraq.

The Assyrian Universal Alliance on behalf of its officers, Executive Board and Affiliates throughout the world has taken a very strong position condemning the denial of Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriac and other minorities of the right to vote in the Iraqi General Election where 275 members are to be elected to the National Parliament and election of Officers to the district councils in the 18 provinces of Iraq.

The Secretary General of the AUA Sen. John J. Nimrod called attention to the fact that the people in the Haamsaniya and Shaikham districts in the Nineveh Province were denied the right to vote. No ballot boxes were received until late in the afternoon on Election Day. The persons delivering the ballot boxes by helicopter could not give any information as to why they were not delivered in a timely manner. The ballots were of no use since there were no election personnel at the polling places to man the polls. No one had been there all day long.

Some 250,000 Assyrians, Turkman, Yazidis and Shabaks heavily populate these districts. Each of these four groups represents about twenty five percent of the population. There is also a small group of Mandeans.

The AUA Secretary General contacted Iraq on Sunday, January 30 2005 election night where he learned about these gross election abuses denying Assyrian Iraq citizens and others the right to vote. The next morning the State Department and United Nations were called and a letter was sent to the Pentagon about these violations of human rights. They were asked to extend the voting by one day so those denied the right to vote could participate in the democratic process of electing their representatives to the National Parliament and to the District Province Offices.

In addition letters on behalf of the AUA appeal were sent to United States President George W. Bush, Iraq Prime Minister Ayad Alawi and Fared Awar, Chairman of the Iraq Election Commission. Personal telephone call was also made to Iraq to learn what the local representatives were doing about the situation. No stone has been left unturned in attempting to rectify this gross election abuse against our Assyrian brothers and sisters.

The thousands of Assyrians, Chldeans and Syriac who fled from Baghdad to the Dohuk area because of the recent Church bombings have also been denied the right to vote. In the North the ballot boxes were under the control of the Iraqi National Guard who consist mainly of Kurdish forces. It was reported that in some of the northern election centers a number of Assyrians, because of fear for the safety of their families they signed a referendum requesting the separation of Kurdistan from Iraq. This Kurdish attempt to divide and control the Assyrians, Chaldeans, Syriac and Yazidis and other minorities of the region is a serious problem and needs to be addressed.

The AUA Chapter Secretaries in the four regions of Americas, Australia, Asia and Europe have also filed their objections to these election abuse violations. We will continue to cooperate and work with our people in Iraq to bring justice to our people and others who were denied their right to vote as citizens of Iraq.