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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Shi’ite militias on the other hand are mainly operating in the form of death squads, but have<br />
also launched a series of mortar attacks on (homogenous) Sunni neighbourhoods. 170 For<br />
example, after the devastating attack in Sadr City on 23 November 2006, Shi’ites<br />
responded almost immediately with reprisals, firing ten mortar rounds at the Sunni Abu<br />
Hanifa mosque in Adhamiya, the holiest Sunni shrine in Baghdad, killing one person and<br />
wounding seven. The morning of 24 November 2006, AP reported that Shi’ite militiamen<br />
retaliated for the previous day’s attacks, dousing six Sunni Arabs in kerosene and burning<br />
them alive. The Iraqi Army could not confirm the reports of Sunnis being burned alive, and<br />
found only one mosque that had suffered fire damage. However, the AP stood by its story<br />
after reconfirming its details with their sources. 171<br />
Both Sunni and Shi’ite armed groups are held responsible for running death squads that<br />
conduct kidnappings and execution-style killings in Baghdad and other parts of the country.<br />
Bodies are routinely found dumped in the streets, rivers and mass graves. Most bear signs<br />
of torture, including bound hands and feet and beheadings. 172 It has also been reported that<br />
armed groups and militias try individuals in extra-judicial courts before executing them. 173<br />
The Observer reported that rape is being used to exact revenge and humiliate the other<br />
community. 174<br />
Kidnappings and extra-judicial killings reportedly often take place on the basis of the<br />
victim’s name. As a result, Iraqis are resorting to changing their names, holding forged ID<br />
cards and learning religious history and customs in order to avoid being identified as<br />
belonging to either community. 175 Even selling or reading the “wrong” newspaper could<br />
170<br />
According to the ICG, “(t)erritorial polarization also makes possible a transformation in the nature of<br />
warfare: from individual killings to mortar attacks, labour-intensive operations, and other highly<br />
indiscriminate forms of violence”; see: ICG, After Baker-Hamilton, p. 8, see above footnote 111.<br />
171<br />
AP, AP Defies Military, Bloggers on Story of 6 Iraqis Set on Fire, 29 November 2006,<br />
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003439706; AP, Iraqi<br />
militias take fiery revenge for slaughter, 25 November 2006, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15873863/; AP,<br />
Shi’ites burn six Sunni worshippers alive, 25 November 2006, http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/<br />
world/16089847.htm; Robin Wright, U.S. Says Violence Is Meant To Topple Iraqi Government, The<br />
Washington Post, 25 November 2006, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/24/<br />
AR2006112400203.html; Multinational Force – Iraq, One Mosque Burned in Hurriya, 25 November 2006,<br />
http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7540&Itemid=21.<br />
172<br />
UNAMI HRO, December 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 8, see above footnote 10. See also: US<br />
Department of Defense, p. 19, see above footnote 73.<br />
173<br />
UNAMI HRO, April 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 5, see above footnote 74. See also “Sexual<br />
Orientation”.<br />
174<br />
Peter Beaumont, Hidden victims of a brutal conflict: Iraq’s women, The Observer, 8 October 2006,<br />
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1890260,00.html.<br />
175<br />
Times Online, Inside Iraq – The invisible man, 11 December 2006, http://timesonline.typepad.com/<br />
inside_iraq_weblog/2006/12/the_invisible_m.html; Ahmad Ali, Oliver Poole, Sunnis learn Shia customs to<br />
bluff Baghdad death squads, The Telegraph, 10 October 2006, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/<br />
main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/10/09/wiraq109.xml; Al-Khalidi and Tanner, p. 14, see above footnote 161;<br />
James Hider and Ali al-Hamdani, Faking faith to fool death squads, The Times, 15 August 2006,<br />
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article609188.ece; Patrick Cockburn, Dozens Die as<br />
Sectarian Attacks Escalate in Iraq, The Independent, 10 July 2006, http://www.truthout.org/cgibin/artman/exec/view.cgi/62/21024;<br />
Nancy A. Youssef, Iraqis faking their IDs to hide religious affiliations,<br />
Knight Ridder Newspaper, 26 April 2006, http://www.wwrn.org/article.php?idd=21315&sec=46&con=34;<br />
Sabrina Tavernise, Sectarian Hatred Pulls Apart Iraq’s Mixed Towns, The New York Times, 20 November<br />
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