Bakhtyar Amin

Bakhtyar Amin, a Kurdish political activist and founder of the Iraqi Democracy Institute in the United States, was chosen as Iraq's Minister of Human Rights in the Iraqi Interim Government which assumed power June 30, 2004. Narmin Othman is now acting Minister of Human Rights in Amin's stead. He is married to Safia'a Al Suhail. 

Bakhtyar Amin served in the interim Iraqi cabinet from its creation September 1, 2003, which was dissolved June 1, 2004, and has served in the second cabinet since April 2005, with the creation of a transitional government. 

In February 2006 "it was announced today that Rahma Bourqia of Morocco, Bakhtiar Amin of Iraq, and Anwar Ibrahim of Malaysia will serve as the selection committee to appoint the board of directors for the Broader Middle East and North Africa Foundation for the Future." 

Profile
Bakhtyar Amin was born in Kirkuk, Iraq, and educated in Sweden and at the Sorbonne in Paris (PhD) in international affairs. He served as secretary-general for the Kurdish Institute in Paris and as director of the Human Rights Coalition in Washington, DC. He is married to Safiya' al-Suhayl (Safia Taleb al-Suhail), who was appointed as ambassador to Egypt July 19, 2004."

In 2003, Amin, then executive director of the International Alliance for Justice, "an organisation that has monitored human rights abuses in Iraq for many years," was described as a "Veteran Iraqi human rights campaigner." 

Note: No further information has been found regarding the Iraqi Democracy Institute or the Human Rights Coalition in Washington, DC.

However, in a February 11, 2002, press release, "Bakhtiar" Amin is contact for the International Alliance for Justice (IAJ) / The Coalition for Justice in Iraq (CJI), 2 Passage de la Fonderie, 75019 Paris, France. 


 * "The Coalition for Justice in Iraq (CJI) is composed of 275 international NGO from more than 120 countries calling for the establishment of an International Ad Hoc Tribunal for the Iraqi leadership's crimes against humanity, crimes of war and genocide."

On March 1, 2001, it was reported that "Amin Bakhtiar", Director of the Human Rights Alliance - Coalition for Justice in Iraq, had testified before the European Committee on Foreign Affairs, telling the committee in Brussels that he "condemned the Iraqi regime and specifically President Saddam Hussein, whom Bakhtiar blamed for Iraq's present situation, referring to Iraq as a 'land of sorrow and hopelessness.'," according to the U.S. Department of State news release. 

Interestingly, in his testimony, Bakhtyar addressed human rights concerns and specifically mentioned Saddam Hussein's "Weapons of Mass Destruction." These consisted of chemical and biological weapons and land mines directed at the Iraqi people. Bakhtyar specifically referred to "generations" of "genetic mutations suffered by the survivors of his chemical, biological and radiological attacks."

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * Abu Ghraib
 * Iraqi Constitution
 * New Iraq
 * Post-war Iraq