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KEY IRAQI WITNESSES ADDRESS U.S. COMMISSION TO SPEAK OUT ON RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC PERSECUTION OF NON-MUSLIM COMMUNITIES

WHAT: United States Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing

Iraq's communities of antiquity—including Chaldo-Assyrian Christians, Sabaean Mandaeans, Yazidis and others—face grave violence and targeted persecution that threatens their continued existence on the territory they have inhabited for millennia. Amid the current debate over U.S. policy, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is convening a hearing to gather expert testimony from representatives of those ancient communities.

WHO:

· Ms. Pascale Warda, President Iraqi Women's Center for Development.

Despite imminent danger, the former Iraqi Minister of Migration and Displacement bravely comes to D.C. to call attention to the dangers currently faced by Christians and non-Muslim groups in Iraq. Warda, who still resides in an undisclosed location in Iraq, has been the target of threats and faces constant peril.

· Dr. Donny George, Professor State University
of New York, Stony Brook

He was there when the danger and looting of the Iraqi National Museum began, and now he is going to testify on The Hill. George, the former Chairman of the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage and former General of the Iraqi National Museum. He and his family were forced to flee Iraq last year after receiving an envelope containing a bullet allegedly sent to his 17-year-old son, who was accused of blasphemy against Islam and is currently based in New York, NY.

Mr. Michael Youash: Project Director of the Washington-based Iraq Sustainable Democracy Project , which is dedicated to examining the situation of Iraq's most vulnerable minorities. The organization provides research and policy analysis for U.S. decision makers in various arms of government, and shares its work in other forums with other policy institutes. Mr. Youash's expertise extends to governance, post-conflict/democracy-building, institutional design and human rights.

WHEN: Hearing: Wednesday, July 25, 2007: 9 – 11:30 a.m

WHERE: Hearing Location: Russell Senate Office Building, Room 485 Washington, DC 20510

MEDIA CONTACTS: Larry Jones, Kristin Priest or Zachary Walsh at: (248) 855-6777.

One-on-one interviews available upon request.

The Chaldean Assyrian Syriac Council of America (CASCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to matters of public policy and political purpose for the common benefit of the society of Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac peoples in Diaspora and those in the indigenous lands of Bet-Nahrain and Mesopotamia.