UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...

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According to officials at the Human Rights Ministry, the Government of Iraq requires more time to respond to human rights abuses of homosexual Iraqis due to the highly sensitive nature of the issue. 695 The Ministry of Human Rights reports that “honour killings” are common when family members are believed to be gay, and a Baghdad-based lawyers’ association reported fifteen cases of “honour killings” of homosexuals in Baghdad over the previous two years alone. 696 Ibrahim Daud, a family lawyer in Baghdad who has been involved in nearly 65 cases of honour killings involving gay men, said, “killing for honour has been a common practice for years, and a short prison sentence for the killer is common.” 697 The fear of ostracism, “honour killings” and militia targeting is also forcing many young Iraqi gays into the sex trade, as organized gangs use the threat of exposure to coerce Iraqi gays into working for them. 698 In addition, economic pressures in Iraq, where 48% of youth are unemployed, have led to a sharp increase in male commercial sex workers, despite the high risk of death at the hands of their families or armed groups. The Iraqi Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has made efforts to address the commercial sex trade, but remains under-resourced to address the issue. 699 Targeted violence against Iraq’s LGBT community goes largely unpunished, along with status-based and honour killing, kidnapping and forcible coercion into prostitution. 700 Police are unlikely to provide protection and gay Iraqis report frequent abuse, harassment and misconduct by police, including “blackmail, torture, sexual abuse and theft.” 701 Torture and mistreatment of civilians and detainees by Iraqi police is common, including sodomy and sexual brutality as a means of torture. 702 Further, while sodomy is not a criminal offence in Iraq, UNAMI’s Human Rights Office has received reports of Iraqis held without charge for extended periods in criminal detention facilities for allegedly engaging in acts of sodomy, including a minor child. 703 3. Persons Accused of “Un-Islamic” Behaviour As part of the ongoing stricter interpretation and implementation of Islamic values and traditions in Iraq, persons that appear not to dress or behave in accordance with Islamic rules have been subjected to discrimination, threats, kidnappings, mutilation and killings. 695 IRIN, Iraq: Male homosexuality still a taboo, 5 February 2006, http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx? ReportId=26110. 696 Ibid. 697 Ibid. 698 Ibidem, Iraq: Focus on boys trapped in commercial sex trade, 8 August 2005, http://www.irinnews.org/ Report.aspx?ReportId=25350. UNAMI HRO reported that two minors, eleven-year-old Ameer and fourteenyear-old Ahmed, who had reportedly been forced into child prostitution, were killed for their sexual orientation; see UNAMI HRO, December 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 26, see above footnote 10. 699 Ibid. 700 Jennifer Copeland, Persecution of Iraq’s Gay Community, More4News.com, 8 August 2006, http://www.channel4.com/more4/news/news-opinion-feature.jsp?id=347. 701 IWPR, Baghdad Gays Fear for Their Lives, see above footnote 689. 702 HRW, The New Iraq? Torture and ill-treatment of detainees in Iraqi custody, January 2005 Vol. 17, No. 1(D), http://www.hrw.org/reports/2005/iraq0105/index.htm. 703 Information received from UNAMI HRO in February 2007. 128
Both sexes have become victims of such attacks, as have liberal Muslims and members of religious minorities. Perpetrators of such acts are militant Islamists, both Sunni and Shi’a. There have been reports from several cities, such as Baghdad, Basrah and Fallujah, of religious edicts being made public banning a range of activities. 704 Persons not abiding by strict Islamic dress codes are easily identifiable targets. Women, including non-Muslims, 705 have been assaulted, including with acid, for not covering their hair or wearing the abaya, the black, all-encompassing veil, 706 and men have been attacked for wearing short trousers, shaving their beards or having long hair. Reportedly, in areas under the control of religious groups or militias, women have been beaten for showing too much naked skin by not wearing socks or not covering their hair. 707 Others have been targeted for engaging in activities considered “immoral” or “un-Islamic”, such as women driving cars, working outside the house or playing sports. Basketball player Samira Kubaissy was killed in January 2006 after she had been accused by extremists of un-Islamic behaviour. 708 Men and women are called upon to segregate in public. On 15 March 2005, members of the Mehdi Army attacked picnicking Basrah University students, claiming they were violating the principles of Islam with their western-style clothing, and by singing, dancing and mingling with the other sex. The Sadrists fired guns at the students and beat them with sticks. Police were also present during the incident but did not intervene. University officials reported that at least 15 students were hospitalized. 709 On 8 March 2005, three women were killed in the Shi’ite neighbourhood of Al-Sadr. They 704 For example, flyers distributed in Baghdad’s neighbourhood of Tobji in October 2006 banned “vices” such as music and singing, celebratory gunfire at weddings, the selling of alcohol and drugs, wearing improper Western clothes and cutting hair and warned that those that who violate these bans would be “held accountable”. This religious edict was reportedly issued by the Committee for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which is linked to the local office of Muqtada Al-Sadr; see: Sudarsan Raghavan, Another Freedom Cut Short, The Washington Post, 6 October 2006, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2006/10/05/AR2006100501825.html. See also on religious fatwas issued in Basrah, The Independent, For the women of Iraq, the war is just beginning, 8 June 2006, http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article717570.ece. 705 For further information on non-Muslim women forced to cover their hair, see p. 122. 706 IRIN, Iraq: Women attacked for removing headscarves, NGO says, 7 March 2006, http://www.irinnews. org/report.aspx?reportid=26174; ibidem, Iraq: Acid attacks on “immodest” women on the rise, 4 July 2005, http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=25229. 707 For example, in Baghdad’s mainly Shi’ite suburb of Za’afaraniya, members of the Mehdi Army reportedly slap schoolgirls not wearing the hijab and in Amiriyah, a Sunni stronghold in Baghdad, militants shave the heads of three women for not being dressed decently and lash young men for wearing shorts; see: Nancy Trejos, Women Lose Ground in the New Iraq, The Washington Post, 16 December 2006, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/15/AR2006121501744.html; Beaumont, see above footnote 174; IRIN, Iraq: Athletes targeted for sectarian, religious reasons, see above footnote 648. In May 2006, three athletes were killed in Baghdad’s Sunni neighbourhood of Al-Saidiya after leaflets were distributed warning people not to wear shorts, as it “violates the principles of Islamic religion when showing forbidden parts of the body”; see BBC News, Iraqis shot “for wearing shorts”, 26 May 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5020804.stm; The Associated Press, Iraqi Athletes Killed for Wearing Shorts, 27 May 2006, http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2012915. 708 Trejos, ibid.; Beaumont, see above footnote 174; IRIN, Iraq: Athletes targeted for sectarian, religious reasons, see above footnote 648; The Independent, For the women of Iraq, the war is just beginning, 8 June 2006, http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article717570.ece. 709 Catherine Philp, Death at “immoral” picnic in the park, Times Online, 23 March 2005, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1537512,00.html. 129
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UNHCR’s ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FO
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iii) Current Situation ............
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a) Overall Situation ..............
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IOM International Organization for
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A. Current Situat
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and gatherings, Shi’ite religious
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Government Officials and Other Pers
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Iraqi Asylum-Seekers From Central a
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considered to be well-founded. To t
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affiliated with criminal groups. In
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expand on the legal and policy guid
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The general chaos following the inv
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countries. While a good part of the
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evenues. 41 An understanding of var
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Article 140 of the Constitution cal
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the Middle East in terms of women
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epealed the CPA’s decision to sus
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The Iraqi judiciary continues to be
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Several groups, including the Mujah
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Al-Sunna. In addition, members of t
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dominated Special Police Commando u
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military commander in Iraq, General
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IV. PARTICULAR GROUPS AT RISK A. Re
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to Osama Bin Laden, the Shi’ites
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Shi’ite militias on the other han
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underscored how explosive the confl
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of the latest security crack-down i
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Ninewa Plains in particular have be
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The overall climate results in non-
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efuge in the three Northern Governo
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an international court. 261 Several
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The alleged main perpetrators of at
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In the current climate of religious
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prohibition to kill, lie, commit ad
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Mandaeans as belonging to the “Pe
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have found refuge with the Sabaean-
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distributed to homes in Baghdad gav
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Page 93 and 94: 2. Roma (Kawliyah) 461 a) Introduct
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Page 131 and 132: V. ELIGIBILITY FOR INTERNATIONAL PR
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• On 2 July 2003, an armed assaul
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• 18 September 2006: Gunmen kille
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• 17 December 2003: An angry mob
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Annex IV: Attacks on Government Off
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• 2 May 2006: A suicide car bombe
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• 5 December 2006: Dr. Mohammed H
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Annex VI: Attacks on Doctors and Ot
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• 1 July - 31 August 2006: Accord
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Annex VIII: Attacks on Athletes and
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Annex IX: Attacks on Palestinian Re
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Palestinian family fled the hospita
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Annex X: Selected Bibliography Note
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IWPR, Baghdad Gays Fear for Their L
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Senanayake, Sumedha, Iraq: Ethnic T
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W Wilson, Scott, Iraqis Killing For
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