Iraqi Activist Shares Story: Safia Taleb Al Suhail speaks at IRI Luncheon

The International Republican Institute hosted Safia Taleb Al Suhail during her trip to the United States.  While she was here, Suhail spoke at a luncheon “The Iraqi Election: A Personal Story,” hosted by IRI.  Suhail traveled to the United State to attend the State of the Union, where she was a guest of President and Mrs. Bush.  During her remarks, Suhail shared some of her family’s personal story and the future of Iraq.  To view the event, click on the link below.

Born in Iraq in 1965, Suhail’s family fled the country when the Ba’ath Party came to power in 1968.  In 1994, Suhail’s father, a vocal opponent of Saddam Hussein and leader of the Bani Tamim Tribe one of the largest in Central Iraq, Sheikh Taleb Al Suhail was murdered by Saddam Hussein’s regime in Beirut, Lebanon.  

Suhail followed in her father’s foot steps becoming a vocal opponent of Saddam and attending most of the Iraqi opposition conferences in the 1990.  After the liberation of Iraq, Suhail returned to Baghdad to help build a democratic Iraq.  Upon her return to Iraq she attended conferences in Nasiriya and Baghdad and was a senior member of the steering committee for the preparation of the Transitional National Assembly.  She also served on the Tribal and Civil Society Committees.     

A leading voice for human and women’s rights in Iraq, Suhail has met with numerous foreign leaders and dignitaries to advocate for Iraq and Iraqi women.  She, along with her husband, started the Alliance for International Justice, a network of 275 international non-governmental organizations from more than 120 countries working to hold Saddam and the Iraqi leadership accountable for their crimes against humanity, crimes of war and genocide.  

She is married to Bakhtiar Amin, a Kurd, who is Iraq’s Minister of Human Rights.

The Norwood family, who were also guests of President and Mrs. Bush’s also attended IRI’s luncheon.

IRI, founded in 1983, is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing democracy, freedom, self-government and the rule of law worldwide