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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3,250 professors had fled Iraq since the escalation of sectarian violence following the<br />
bombing of a major Shi’ite shrine in Samarra. 565<br />
On 18 January 2007, Koïchiro Matsuura, the Director-General of UNESCO, called for the<br />
protection of academics and intellectuals from violence. 566<br />
Academics are targeted for mixed reasons. According to UNAMI HRO,<br />
“Academics have apparently been singled out for their relatively respected public status,<br />
vulnerability and views on controversial issues in a climate of deepening Islamic<br />
extremism.” 567<br />
Armed groups also appear to be driving a campaign of emptying the country of its<br />
intellectual elite with the goal of destroying prospects for establishing a functioning<br />
democratic society and bring the country and its institutions to a collapse. 568 Some<br />
intellectuals may become victims of sectarian violence 569 or religiously-motivated attacks<br />
when considered too liberal, “Westernized” or critical. 570 Others have been singled out for<br />
their previous membership in the Ba’ath Party. 571 In addition, their perceived wealth may<br />
also be a motive. 572 It has also been reported that due to the general lawlessness, students<br />
angered over poor grades have killed some professors. 573<br />
In addition, schools and other educational institutes have become regular targets of attacks.<br />
For example, at least 70 people, including students and teachers, were killed and more than<br />
170 others injured when a suicide car bomb exploded at the entrance of Al-Mustansiriya<br />
University in east Baghdad in January 2007. 574<br />
565<br />
Aparisim Ghosh, Baghdad Bulletin: Death Stalks the Campus, Time Magazine, 2 November 2006,<br />
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1553793,00.html.<br />
566<br />
UNESCO, UNESCO Director-General condemns killing of Iraqi students and deplores the violence<br />
against academics and intellectuals, Press Release N°2007-04, 18 January 2007, http://portal.unesco.org/<br />
en/ev.php-URL_ID=36484&URL_DO=DO_PRINTPAGE&URL_SECTION=201.html.<br />
567<br />
UNAMI HRO, December 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 16, see above footnote 10.<br />
568<br />
See also “Government Officials and Other Persons Associated With the Current Iraqi Government,<br />
Administration and Institutions”.<br />
569<br />
UNAMI HRO reported that “HRO has received numerous reports that sectarian divisions have engulfed<br />
universities”. Reportedly, thousands of students have requested to be transferred to other universities since the<br />
escalation in sectarian violence after the Samarra bombing; see UNAMI HRO, April 2006 Human Rights<br />
Report, p. 9-10, see above footnote 74.<br />
570<br />
See also “Persons Accused of “Un-Islamic” Behaviour”.<br />
571<br />
See also “Members and Associates of the Ba’ath Party and the Former Regime”.<br />
572<br />
Sumedha Senanayake, Iraq: Brain Drain Poses Threat To Future, RFE/RL, 16 November 2006,<br />
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/11/D0C40243-4975-49F8-9FE4-536F108B95A9.html.<br />
573<br />
Sinan Salaheddin, Sunni activist professor killed in Iraq, AP, 30 October 2006, http://www.thestate.com/<br />
mld/mercurynews/news/world/15883645.htm; IRIN, Iraq: Threatened teachers fleeing the country,<br />
24 August 2006, http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55261.<br />
574<br />
BBC News, Bombers rock Baghdad university, 17 January 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/<br />
middle_east/6266707.stm. On addition, on 11 December 2006, a car bomb exploded in a car park of Al-<br />
Ma’amoon College in Al-Iskan District in Baghdad, killing one person and injuring four. On the same day,<br />
one student was killed and another six injured in a roadside bomb explosion in front of the Al-Mustansiriya<br />
University; UNAMI HRO, December 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 16, see above footnote 10. One of the<br />
most spectacular incidents was the mass kidnapping of an estimated 150 employees from the Ministry of<br />
Higher Education and Scientific Research by perpetrators in police uniform in central Baghdad on<br />
14 November 2006. The mass kidnapping led to the temporary shutdown of most universities; The Guardian,<br />
111