UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...
UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...
UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...
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E. Government Officials and Other Persons Associated With the Current<br />
Iraqi Government, Administration and Institutions<br />
A range of persons involved in the political process or (perceived as) supporting the<br />
democratization of the country have been targeted in an effort to disrupt both. This includes<br />
politicians, members/employees of the Iraqi Government at both the central and the local<br />
level and of state-owned companies, and known members of political parties. Many<br />
factions deem Iraqi officials “traitors” and “collaborators” who serve a Government formed<br />
by an occupying power. Others have been targeted on the basis of their sectarian identity. 541<br />
Insurgent groups have repeatedly threatened Sunnis who take part in the political<br />
process. 542 In September 2006, the outlawed Ba’ath Party distributed a “hit list” of<br />
prominent Iraqi political, military and judicial leaders, which it intended to target for<br />
assassination. The list included mainly prominent Shi’ite politicians such as SCIRI leader<br />
Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim and Muqtada Al-Sadr, but also former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi,<br />
Kurdish President Jalal Talabani, and Sunni Vice-President and Secretary General of the<br />
IIP, Tariq Al-Hashimi. The order also called for the assassination of the listed individuals’<br />
“first, second and third degree relatives.” 543<br />
While high-ranking politicians are generally well-guarded, their families are more<br />
vulnerable. For example, three siblings of Tariq Al-Hashimi were killed in separate<br />
incidents in April and October 2006. 544<br />
F. Actual or Perceived Opponents of the Ruling Parties in the Region of<br />
Kurdistan as well as in Areas Under the de facto Control of the KRG<br />
1. Arabs<br />
Arabs in the areas of Mosul and Kirkuk under de facto control of the KRG and the Region<br />
of Kurdistan have become victims of threats, harassment and arbitrary detention, often in<br />
facilities of the Kurdish security and intelligence services in the region, because of their<br />
perceived association with the insurgency and/or the former regime. 545 Arab IDPs in the<br />
541 See also “Shi’ites and Sunnis Civilians”.<br />
542 See, for example, John Ward Anderson, Iraqi Tribes Strike Back at Insurgents, The Washington Post,<br />
7 March 2006, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/06/AR2006030601596_pf.<br />
html.<br />
543 Lydia Khalil, Baath Party Distributes Hit List for Targeted Assassinations, Terrorism Focus, Volume III,<br />
Issue 42, The Jamestown Foundation, 31 October 2006, p. 2, http://jamestown.org/terrorism/news/uploads/<br />
tf_003_042.pdf.<br />
544 Sinan Salaheddin, Gunmen Assassinate Brother of Iraq VP, The Washington Post, 9 October 2006,<br />
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/09/AR2006100900289.html; BBC News,<br />
Top Iraq official’s sister killed, 27 April 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4949376.stm.<br />
545 UNAMI HRO, December 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 3-4, see above footnote 10. See also “Actual or<br />
Perceived Supporters of the Former Regime and/or the Insurgency”.<br />
107