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eveal a person’s identity and put him/her at risk of sectarian killings. 176 For example, on<br />
9 July 2006, gunmen, believed to belong to the Mehdi Army, set up checkpoints in<br />
Baghdad’s Al-Jihad neighbourhood, inspected ID cards and killed 42 unarmed Iraqis as<br />
soon as they identified them as Sunnis. 177 On 17 October 2006, in an area inhabited by<br />
Turkmen on the highway between Toz Khurmato and Tikrit, unknown gunmen arrested<br />
17 Turkmen officials working in Tikrit at an illegal checkpoint and questioned them about<br />
their ethnicity. Those of Sunni identity were released while 15 Shi’ites were arrested and<br />
their whereabouts are unknown. 178 On 22 February 2006, ten Sunni Arab detainees accused<br />
of terrorism, both Iraqis and foreigners, were extra-judicially executed by gunmen in<br />
a detention facility inside Basrah’s port. 179<br />
A more recent phenomenon is mass kidnappings of members of either sect. For example,<br />
on 14 November 2006, gunmen wearing police uniforms kidnapped up to 150 employees<br />
and visitors from the Ministry of Higher Education in Baghdad. Nine persons, all Shi’ites,<br />
were released shortly, while the others were reportedly brought to Sadr City. Seventy were<br />
released bearing signs of torture, while the whereabouts of another 70 persons, mostly<br />
Sunnis, are unknown to date. 180 In another incident, on 14 December 2006, gunmen in<br />
police uniforms kidnapped some 50 merchants, workers and customers from the Sinak<br />
wholesale market, near the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense. Some 29 were<br />
subsequently released, all of Shi’ite origin. 181<br />
In October 2006, open warfare between Shi’ite militias and armed Sunni groups broke out<br />
in Tigris river towns north of Baghdad in the Governorate of Salah Al-Din. The sectarian<br />
killings exploded after suspected Sunni insurgents kidnapped and beheaded 17 Shi’ite<br />
labourers from the predominantly Sunni area of Duluiyah, across the river from Shi’adominated<br />
Balad. In retaliation, Shi’ite militias forced out Sunni families, set their houses<br />
on fire and reportedly killed up to 90 Sunni men from Duluiyah and neighbouring Sunni<br />
towns. According to a physician at Balad’s hospital, almost all had been shot and some had<br />
been tortured with electric drills. Sunni families fleeing Balad described Shi’ite militias<br />
going door-to-door, giving people two hours to leave. 182 Reportedly, two Iraqi police<br />
officers were detained for collaborating in the killings with the militias. 183 The incident<br />
2005, http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/sectarian/2005/1120towns.htm; Tavernise, see above<br />
footnote 157.<br />
176<br />
Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), Hussein Ali, Baghdad Paper Sellers Risk Wrath of<br />
Militants, Iraqi Crisis Report No. 190, 17 August 2006, http://iwpr.net/?p=icr&s=f&o=323109&apc_state=<br />
heniicr200608.<br />
177<br />
Phillip Robertson, City of vengeance, Salon, 12 July 2006, http://www.salon.com/news/feature/<br />
2006/07/12/baghdad/; BBC News, Dozens Killed in Baghdad Attacks, 9 July 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/<br />
middle_east/5162510.stm.<br />
178<br />
UNAMI HRO, October 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 8, see above footnote 66.<br />
179<br />
UNAMI HRO, February 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 2, see above footnote 165.<br />
180<br />
Ibidem, December 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 10, see above footnote 10.<br />
181<br />
Ibid.<br />
182<br />
IRIN, Iraq: No end to violence in Saddam’s home province, 24 January 2007, http://www.irinnews.org/<br />
report.aspx?reportid=64549; Ellen Knickmeyer and Muhanned Saif Aldin, Families Flee Iraqi River Towns<br />
On 4th Day of Sectarian Warfare, The Washington Post, 16 October 2006, http://www.washingtonpost.com/<br />
wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/16/AR2006101600485.html.<br />
183<br />
UNAMI HRO, October 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 8, see above footnote 66.<br />
52