UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...

Annex II: Attacks on Sabaean-Mandaean Representatives
The following incidents were reported since 2003 (not comprehensive):
• On 3 December 2006, militiamen broke into the house of Taleb Salman Uraibi,
assistant to one of the Mandaean religious Sheikhs, in Hay Ur neighbourhood and
abducted him. His body was found later that day with evidence of torture. 861
Reportedly, his family was prevented from holding a funeral service for him by
extremists who threatened to blow up their house. 862
• On 11 October 2006, Sheikh Raad Mutar Saleh was shot dead by gunmen after they
broke into his house in Al-Suwaira in the Governorate of Wassit. 863
• On 5 July 2006, there was an attack on the life of Ganzebra 864 Sattar Jabbar Helou, the
most senior Mandaean cleric and his brother, Tarmida Karim Jabbar Helou, also a
cleric. Under the eyes of the ISF, the Sheikh was dragged out of his car and abducted in
Baghdad. Thanks to the intervention of a senior Iraqi official, Sheikh Sattar was
released. 865 The Society for Threatened People further reported a failed attempt to
kidnap Sheikh Sattar’s 17-years old son. 866
• On 23 March 2005, an armed assault took place on the house of Adel Dishar Zamil, the
head of the Sabaean-Mandaean community in Wassit Governorate. A threat calling him
an infidel was written on his door. 867
• On 16 January 2005, Riyadh Radhi Habib, President of the Mandaean Supreme
Spiritual Council in Basrah, died after being shot more than 90 times by three gunmen
reportedly demanding that he convert to Islam. 868
• On 10 January 2005, an armed assault took place on the house of Salem Turfi Aziz, the
community’s head in Kirkuk. 869
• On 30 November 2004, Tarmida Saleem Ghada was ambushed at the Mandaean place
of prayer on the Diyala River. The clergyman was leading prayers when he was shot
seven times in the legs, severely wounding him. 870
861 UNAMI HRO, December 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 14, see above footnote 10.
862 Nina Shea, Testimony before The US Congressional Committee On International Relations,
Subcommittee On Africa, Global Human Rights, And International Operations, Center For Religious
Freedom, 21 December 2006, http://www.christiansofiraq.com/ninasheatestifiesdec216.html.
863 Keith Roderick, The Unholy Month of Ramadan, National Review Online, 18 October 2006,
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NGZhNmUwNjdmMDcwODhkNDMyMTQ2Y2UzYTFkMDQxNmY.
864 The Sabaean-Mandaean priestly hierarchy is divided into three ranks: ordinary priests or Tarmida
(disciples), Ganzebra (bishops or “treasurers”) and Rishama, (the head of the people). The only Rishama is
Sheikh Abdullah Najem, who has been living in London for many years. The highest religious figure in Iraq
is Ganzebra Sheikh Sattar Jabbar Helou; see Mandaean Society in America, A Brief Note on the Mandaeans:
Their History, Religion and Mythology, http://mandaeanunion.org/History/EN_History_007.htm.
865 The Sunday Telegraph, Persecution of a sect, 22 October 2006, http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/
story/0,22049,20614857-5001031,00.html.
866 Society for Threatened People, Mandäer im Iraq, p. 5, see above footnote 309.
867 Ibidem, p. 20.
868 USDOS, 2005 Country Report on Human Rights Practices – Iraq, see above footnote 333.
869 Society for Threatened People, Mandäer im Iraq, p. 20, see above footnote 309.
870 Information from the Sabian Mandaean Association of Australia; see Bolender, see above footnote 304.
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