(IsraelNN.com) Two experts on minority issues in Iraq have said that the current treatment of minorities in the country is no better than it was under Saddam Hussein.

Former Advisor to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Dr. Mirza Hassan Dinnayi, highlighted the difficulties facing minorities in Iraq at a talk this week at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on 'Minorities in Iraq: The Current Situation and Perspectives of Acceptance'.

Exposing details of extensive discrimination of Iraq's minority groups, such as the Yazidi, he and guest speaker Adv. Said Pirmurat discussed the implementation of Articles 58 and 140 in the Iraqi interim constitution which were meant to ensure that land and property- estimated at US$1 billion - confiscated from minorities during the Saddam era is returned to their rightful owners.

The Yazidi is a Kurdish religious minority in Iraq that numbers around 250,000 individuals. Yazidis are primarily Kurdish speaking, and most live in the Mosul region of northern Iraq.

Lawyer Pirmurat said, "Political players nowadays are no better than Saddam Hussein – mentally and politically – in implementing the law."

He called Article 140 an "amateur track" that is vague and reflects the contradictions of the political players involved and those of their backers – including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, as well as Western powers.

While he expressed hope that change would occur, he noted that a year after the deadline to implement the new laws, 78% of lands confiscated from minorities are still in Arab hands.