On 10 June 2019, the IHCHR member Dr. Ali al-Bayati met with Sheikh Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalai, the legal patron of the holy shrine (al-Attaba al-Huseiniya), to discuss the humanitarian situation in Iraq and some of the human rights files the Commission works on.

Sheikh Al-Karbalai welcomed the visiting delegation and expressed the necessity of defending the Iraqi citizens’ rights, standing with by all institutions and adopting professionalism and humanity in all fields of work within these institutions.

Dr. Al-Bayati talked about the most important files on which the Commission is working and the challenges facing it as a result of the massive accumulation of human rights violations in Iraq that have exhausted the Iraqi citizens.

The IHCHR member praised the great role played by al-Husseiniya and al-Abbasiya Shrines in supporting humanitarian projects targeting vulnerable and poor groups that need financial and humanitarian assistances and the decent life basics, stressing the need for the State to facilitate the work of such institutions and provide a smooth environment for the implementation of projects on the ground. He has also assured that all countries that have developed and advanced did not just count on government efforts, but that civil society organizations and civil or non-governmental institutions play an effective role that is what Iraq needs.