Supporters of a law on minority rights in Iraq are working to finalize a draft with the hope that the next parliament will act on it, following legislative elections scheduled for April 30. Given the narrow demographic space religious and ethnic minorities occupy, they are subject to marginalization and subsequently ignored within their societies. This is particularly true within societies, such as Iraq's, composed of large groups involved in sectarian conflict. The rights of minorities often are lost amid the clamor of the larger groups’ demands.
Iraqi society is tribal in nature and shaped by sectarian divisions. Some tribes are divided on the basis of sect, as is the case of the Shammar, Tayy, Banu Tamim, al-Jabbour, Zubaid, Khafaja and Khazraj. Since the first Iraqi military coup in 1958, the ruling regimes, aided by events, worked to strengthen this structure to use it politically to consolidate power. The current authorities are also trying to use this structure in the ongoing sectarian conflict by forming alliances with Shiite parties against other Shiite groups in Shiite areas and with Sunni groups against their rivals in Sunni areas.
