UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...

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