UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...

checkpoint in Yousifiya area. He was released later upon the request of the MNF who
found that there were no charges against him. He was reportedly badly beaten while in
detention. Reportedly, his family was extorted for US $6,000 by the ISF to secure his
release. Even after his release, the ISF reportedly threatened the family to re-arrest him
in order to obtain the money. On 25 February 2007, the family reportedly paid US
$3,500 to an official of the Ministry of Interior and members of the Mehdi Army. In an
unrelated incident, another Palestinian man, from Yousifiya was reportedly detained by
the ISF.
• 31 January 2007: Two Palestinian males, a man and his nephew, were kidnapped from
Al-Doura / Al-Mahdiya District. They were released the same day after claiming they
had been beaten by Sunni insurgents. In a separate incident, a Palestinian youth was
kidnapped along with an Iraqi Sunni friend. A local Shi’a cleric intervened and was able
to free the Palestinian youth, but only after he was forced to watch the execution of his
friend.
• 30 January 2007: A Palestinian woman and two Palestinian men from Al-Doura were
attacked by four armed gunmen in a vehicle. The three reportedly survived the attack
and were taken to hospital.
• 25 January 2007: Two Palestinian brothers from Al-Mansouriya were reportedly killed
by militia.
• 24 January 2007: Seventy-three Palestinians reportedly fled to Al-Walid on the Iraqi-
Syria border, many of whom had just been released from detention the previous day.
• 23 January 2007: Seventeen Palestinians were rounded up at approximately 5:00 am by
ISF in Hay Al-Nidhal neighbourhood in Baghdad. Reportedly, the ISF broke down the
doors and windows of the homes in order to gain entrance, taking away the males and
leaving the women and children behind. There were reports that some of the women
were beaten during this process. Additional reports claim that the building was attacked
by gunfire the previous afternoon from unknown gunmen and that the previous night,
four persons in civilian dress and driving an unmarked vehicle, presumed by residents to
be militia, came to the building to request that the residents sign a document which
stated that they would not attack ISF or MNF and that they would not support terrorism.
The 17 men were released later in the day and there were allegations that they had been
severely beaten in detention. There were reports that another 13 men were briefly
detained later that day in Hay Al-Amin area near Baladiyat, but reports were unclear as
to whether they were militia or ISF (one source suggested they were militia with group
members dressed as police).
• 19 January 2007: A Palestinian woman and her two sons were killed by Sunni militia in
Hay Al-Adel. In a separate incident, there was a report of a Shi’ite militia attack in
Baghdad Al-Jadida. Residents of Baghdad Al-Jadida received verbal death threats to
evacuate the compound and leave Iraq.
• 18 January 2007: The body of a Palestinian man was found in Al-Bataween. In
a separate incident, a Palestinian was kidnapped by armed persons and released on
23 January after his family paid a ransom of US $10,000.
• 14 January 2007: One Palestinian man was killed and another injured in a militia attack
on the Palestinian compound in Baghdad Al-Jadida. When the family tried to retrieve
victim’s body from the Ibn Al-Nafis Hospital after paying a ransom of US $500, the
militia attacked and killed an Iraqi family they mistook for the Palestinians. The
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