UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...

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the Middle East in terms of women’s rights. 54 Where, however, the Personal Status Law does not make explicit provision for a situation, Shari’a law is applicable. It may then be applied differently to members of the two communities as they follow different schools of jurisprudence. On 29 December 2003, the former Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) issued Resolution 137 that would have cancelled the 1959 Personal Status Law and placed issues of family law under religious rather than civil jurisdiction. Former CPA administrator Paul Bremer did not endorse the decision after domestic and international human rights groups protested the resolution on the grounds that the imposition of Islamic law would erode Iraqi women’s rights. The IGC finally repealed Decision 137 by a vote of 15 to 10. 55 The role of Islam and Shari’a law vis-à-vis the more secular 1959 Personal Status Law was a major issue in the drafting of the Constitution and continues to be highly contentious because enabling legislation is required for Article 41 of the Constitution (requiring that Iraqis be free in matters of personal status according to their religions, sects, beliefs or choices). It remains unclear whether the Personal Status Law will be modified or cancelled altogether, leaving different sects to apply their own sets of laws and interpretation as was done before 1959. Certainly, any such decision will strongly affect the lives of Iraqis as it regulates relationships within families. 56 Particular concerns are thereby expressed with regard to women, LGBT and minority rights. 57 4. Criminal Sanctions The two main sources of criminal law are the Law on Criminal Proceedings (Law No. 23 of 1971) 58 – which details the procedures to be followed for the investigation of offences, the collection of evidence, trials and appeals – and the Penal Code (Law No. 111 of 1969), 59 which lists offences and applicable sentences. In addition, a number of laws and orders of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) 60 also exist. The Penal laws of the 54 Isobel Coleman, Women, Islam, and the New Iraq, Foreign Affairs, January/February 2006, http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20060101faessay85104-p10/isobel-coleman/women-islam-and-the-newiraq.html; Edward Wong, Draft Iraqi charter backs Islamic law, The New York Times, 20 July 2005, http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/07/19/news/charter.php. 55 Coleman, ibid.; The New Standard, Chris Shumway, Rise of Extremism, Islamic Law Threaten Iraqi Women, 30 March 2005, http://newstandardnews.net/content/?items=1600; IRIN, Iraq: New family law on hold, 4 February 2004, http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=23381. 56 Coleman, Women, Islam, and the New Iraq, see above footnote 54; Nathan J. Brown, Debating Islam in Post-Baathist Iraq, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, p. 6-7, March 2005, http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/PO13.Brown.FINAL2.pdf. 57 See also above “Freedom of Religion”. 58 Law No. 23 of 1971, Law on Criminal Proceedings, 4 February 1971, available in UNHCR’s Refworld at: http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain?docid=468a674a2. See also Case Western Reserve University / School of Law, Summary of Iraqi Criminal Procedure Law, http://law.case.edu/ saddamtrial/documents/Iraqi_Crim_Procedure_Code_Summary.pdf. 59 The unofficial English translation, as prepared by the US Armed Forces Judge Advocate General, is available in UNHCR’s Refworld at http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain?docid= 452514424. For further information on Iraq’s Penal Law, see UNHCR, 2005 Country of Origin Information Iraq, p. 116-117, see above footnote 53. 60 The RCC was established after the military coup in 1968 and was the ultimate decision making body in Iraq until the fall of the former regime. It exercised executive and legislative authority in Iraq, whereas the 32
former Iraqi regime remain in effect, though they exist in slightly different versions in the three Northern Governorates which introduced a number of changes to the Iraqi Penal Code and the Law on Criminal Proceedings after obtaining de facto autonomy in 1991. The CPA undertook a review of the Penal Code and the Law on Criminal Proceedings in order to assess their compatibility with international human rights standards. CPA Memorandum No. 3 amended the Law on Criminal Proceedings, introducing new procedural rights such as the right to be silent, the right to legal counsel, the right against self-incrimination, the right to be informed of these rights and the exclusion of evidence obtained by torture. 61 By Order No. 7, the CPA amended the Iraqi Penal Code, repealing a number of provisions introduced by the Ba’athist regime that listed acts detrimental to the political goals of the state as crimes, and suspended the death penalty. 62 However, Order No. 3 of 2004 of the Interim Iraqi Government (IIG), passed on 8 August 2004, reintroduced the death penalty and provides for capital punishment for certain crimes affecting internal state security, public safety, attacks on means of transportation, premeditated murder, drug trafficking, and abduction. 63 The first executions under the amended law were carried out on 1 September 2005, when three people were put to death. Since then, the death penalty has been pronounced on a regular basis by Iraqi Courts, in particular the Central Criminal Court of Iraq (CCCI). Concerns have been raised by the UN and human rights organizations about the high number of death sentences and actual executions. 64 In addition, following a trial by the Iraqi High Tribunal, set up to try the most senior members of the former regime, former President Saddam Hussein and other exsenior officials were executed. 65 On 2 September 2006, the Kurdistan National Assembly National Assembly could only enact laws approved by the RCC. As of 1979, Saddam Hussein was the Chairman of the RCC; all members of the RCC were high-ranking members of the Ba’ath Party. See, for example, FAS Intelligence Resource Program, Introduction, http://www.fas.org/irp/world/iraq/intro.htm [last updated 15 December 1997]. See also: Iraq Interim Constitution of 1990, Articles 37-45, available in UNHCR’s Refworld at http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain?docid=3ae6b4ec44. 61 Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) Memorandum No. 3 (revised), Criminal Procedures, 27 June 2004, available in UNHCR’s Refworld at http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain? docid=469cd1b32. The complete Refworld collection of national legislation from Iraq is available at: http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain?page=type&skip=0&coi=IRQ&type= LEGISLATION. 62 CPA Order No. 7, Penal Code, Section 2 para. 1, 10 June 2003, available in UNHCR’s Refworld at http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain?docid=452524304. 63 See UNHCR, 2005 Country of Origin Information Iraq, p. 142, see above footnote 53. 64 Officially, since August 2004, more than 150 individuals have received death sentences, 51 of whom have already been executed. The UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, called for a moratorium on death sentences, urging the Iraqi Government “to commute all sentences of capital punishment and to base its quest for justice on the protection and promotion of the right to life”; see United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Report of the Secretary-General pursuant to paragraph 30 of resolution 1546 (2004), 5 December 2006, p. 9-10, http://www.uniraq.org/FileLib/misc/SG_Report_ S_2006_945_EN.pdf. See also: UNAMI, The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Iraq Ashraf Qazi expresses concern over capital punishment in Iraq, 23 September 2006, http://www.uniraq.org/ newsroom/articles.asp?pagename=pressreleases&category=P. See also: IPS, Srabani Roy, Increase in Executions Condemned, 13 October 2006, http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35096. 65 See “Members and Associates of the Ba’ath Party and the Former Regime”. 33
Page 1 and 2: UNHCR’s ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FO
Page 3 and 4: iii) Current Situation ............
Page 5 and 6: a) Overall Situation ..............
Page 7 and 8: IOM International Organization for
Page 9 and 10: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A. Current Situat
Page 11 and 12: and gatherings, Shi’ite religious
Page 13 and 14: Government Officials and Other Pers
Page 15 and 16: Iraqi Asylum-Seekers From Central a
Page 17 and 18: considered to be well-founded. To t
Page 19: affiliated with criminal groups. In
Page 22 and 23: expand on the legal and policy guid
Page 24 and 25: The general chaos following the inv
Page 26 and 27: countries. While a good part of the
Page 28 and 29: evenues. 41 An understanding of var
Page 30 and 31: Article 140 of the Constitution cal
Page 34 and 35: epealed the CPA’s decision to sus
Page 36 and 37: The Iraqi judiciary continues to be
Page 38 and 39: Several groups, including the Mujah
Page 40 and 41: Al-Sunna. In addition, members of t
Page 42 and 43: dominated Special Police Commando u
Page 44 and 45: military commander in Iraq, General
Page 47 and 48: IV. PARTICULAR GROUPS AT RISK A. Re
Page 49 and 50: to Osama Bin Laden, the Shi’ites
Page 51 and 52: Shi’ite militias on the other han
Page 53 and 54: underscored how explosive the confl
Page 55 and 56: of the latest security crack-down i
Page 57 and 58: Ninewa Plains in particular have be
Page 59 and 60: The overall climate results in non-
Page 61 and 62: efuge in the three Northern Governo
Page 63 and 64: an international court. 261 Several
Page 65 and 66: The alleged main perpetrators of at
Page 67 and 68: In the current climate of religious
Page 69 and 70: prohibition to kill, lie, commit ad
Page 71 and 72: Mandaeans as belonging to the “Pe
Page 73 and 74: have found refuge with the Sabaean-
Page 75 and 76: distributed to homes in Baghdad gav
Page 77 and 78: Estimates of the number of Yazidis
Page 79 and 80: Yazidis are furthermore organized i
Page 81 and 82: AP reported in October 2006 that
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apostasy and a threat to public ord
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KRG. Mr. Falak Al-Deen Kakai, senio
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“those Iraqis who had lost their
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government offices, 441 and changin
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security, of transferring hundreds
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2. Roma (Kawliyah) 461 a) Introduct
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Ghraib and was known for its strong
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Sunnis willing to denounce violence
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CPA began to allow some vetted ex-B
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It has been documented that attacks
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een killed in Iraq and another 491
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Acts committed against employees or
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E. Government Officials and Other P
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3. Persons Opposing the Ruling Part
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3,250 professors had fled Iraq sinc
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There are a number of possible moti
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inside the media compound, refrain
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3. Artists Iraqi artists, actors an
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groups for not giving priority to t
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population at large and bring the c
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after their release. 660 UNAMI HRO
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International Covenant on Civil and
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evidence that over forty people had
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Both sexes have become victims of s
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V. ELIGIBILITY FOR INTERNATIONAL PR
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those countries, even only on a tem
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violence on a daily basis. Ordinary
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cause. 733 More than one Convention
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C. Exclusion From International Ref
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a) Before the Fall of the Former Re
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) War Crimes War crimes are serious
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in mind when assessing crimes commi
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groups (pre-2003) or insurgency or
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A plausible explanation regarding t
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D. Internal Flight or Relocation Al
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Travel by Road Road travel in Iraq,
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with armed conflict between the MNF
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egulations regarding entry and resi
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It has been reported that new IDPs,
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Interior and Finance. While the Min
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and generally describe the three No
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In order to access the three Northe
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Governorate of Sulaymaniyah Persons
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v. Risk of Persecution or Other Ser
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In addition, non-Kurdish persons, p
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Conclusion Availability of an inter
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to flee Iraq have done so illegally
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explosives blew up. Two people were
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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
Page 207 and 208:
W Wilson, Scott, Iraqis Killing For
Page 209:
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