UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...

three Northern Governorates reportedly suffer discrimination and are given little assistance
by the Kurdish authorities due to security fears. 546
2. (Perceived) Members of Islamist Armed Groups
Radical Islamic elements, in particular offshoots from Ansar Al-Islam, 547 originally a
home-grown Kurdish Islamist Movement, which during the 2003 US-led invasion was
attacked by Coalition and Kurdish forces for reportedly providing a safe haven to Al-
Qa’eda and Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, 548 have regrouped and are held responsible for attacks
in the Kurdistan Region, mainly directed against senior PUK/KDP political and military
officials. 549 Actual or suspected members or supporters of these groups may be at risk of
ill-treatment and human rights violations at the hands of the Kurdish security forces.
Individuals suspected of “terrorist” links are often held incommunicado, as well as in
solitary confinement, typically during the initial weeks following arrest, by the Kurdish
parties’ security and intelligence services. Many are arrested under violent circumstances.
They are held without charge or trial for indefinite periods of time, in some cases several
years. Kurdish officials have said that they have no legal basis to prosecute them, but
consider them a security risk. 550 UNAMI HRO reported that there have been attempts by
senior KRG officials to request that those held in unofficial detention centres be taken
before a court. 551 According to HRW, about 2,500 people are being held by the security
services of the KDP and the PUK. The organization estimates that two-thirds of them are
accused of participating in the insurgency. 552 The use of torture and ill-treatment cannot be
excluded. 553 On 21 September 2006, 11 alleged terrorists were hanged in Erbil after they
had been convicted in March 2006 of leading a cell linked to the Islamist group Ansar Al-
Sunna. 554
546
UNAMI HRO, December 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 17-18 and 20, see above footnote 10. See also
“Internal Flight or Relocation Alternative”.
547
For information on Ansar Al-Islam and Ansar Al-Sunna, see UNHCR, 2005 Country of Origin
Information Iraq, p. 66-67, see above footnote 53.
548
BBC News, US targets Islamist group in Iraq, 22 March 2003, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/
middle_east/2875269.stm.
549
Azzaman, Kurds crack down on “Islamists”, 29 December 2006, http://www.iraqupdates.com/
p_articles.php?refid=WH-S-01-01-2007&article=12998; Kohlmann, see above footnote 84. See also “Kurds
and Other Segments of Iraqi Society”.
550
The New York Times, No terrorism law in Kurdistan Region-Iraq, 28 December 2006,
http://www.iraqupdates.com/p_articles.php/article/12987. See also: UNAMI HRO, December 2006 Human
Rights Report, p. 20, see above footnote 10; UNAMI HRO, October 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 19, see
above footnote 66. See also: RFE/RL, Iraq: Corruption Restricts Development In Iraqi Kurdistan, 29 April
2005, http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2005/4/DA9D366C-C2C2-486F-A4D7-2EEBC0BB507E.html;
Dr. Rebwar Fatah and Sheri Laizer, Fact Finding Mission to Iraqi Kurdistan, September – October 2004,
2004, p. 10-13, 50; IPS, Liberated Kurds Find Little Freedom, 5 June 2004, http://www.antiwar.com/glantz/
?articleid=2747; IRIN, Iraq: Focus on libel laws in north, 3 March 2004, http://www.irinnews.org/
report.aspx?reportid=23631.
551
UNAMI HRO, December 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 20, see above footnote 10.
552
The New York Times, No terrorism law in Kurdistan Region-Iraq, see above footnote 550.
553
See, for example, AI, Iraq: Incommunicado detention/fear of torture, Rebwar Arif, Urgent Action, 9 May
2005, http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE140102005?open&of=ENG-IRQ; Dr. Rebwar Fatah
and Sheri Laizer, Fact Finding Mission to Iraqi Kurdistan, September – October 2004, 2004, p. 32-36.
554
AI, Iraq: Amnesty International alarmed at rise in executions, 25 September 2006,
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE140332006?open&of=ENG-IRQ; KurdishMedia.com, Iraq’s
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