UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...

focused on Islamic artifacts. 255 The predominantly Christian area of Camp Sara in central
Baghdad has repeatedly come under attack, including by mortar fire and car bombs,
causing a number of casualties. 256
The situation further worsened with the onset of controversy regarding cartoons of the
Prophet Mohammed 257 and the speech made by Pope Benedict XVI on 12 September 2006
that included the quotation of a 14 th Century Byzantine emperor that outraged segments of
the Muslim community worldwide and triggered protests and even attacks on churches in
several Muslim countries. 258 In February 2006, Iraqi Christian students at Mosul University
were attacked by other students who described the Christian students as atheists and US
traitors. The attacks may have been motivated by fatwas and militia statements calling on
Iraqis to expel Christians and atheists from schools, institutions and the streets of Iraq
because they offended the Prophet. Following these attacks, one Christian female student at
Mosul University was reportedly killed while awaiting transportation. 259 Christian students
in Mosul face a climate of extreme insecurity, and UNHCR has received reports that
Christian students have sharply curtailed their class attendance and strictly avoid moving
alone. IRIN reported that Christian parents have stopped their children from attending
schools and universities, after many fellow students made verbal threats against them. 260
Hundreds of angry demonstrators burned an effigy of the Pope in the southern city of
Basrah, angered that the Pope’s speech had insulted Islam, and called for him to be tried by
255
BBC News, Leading Iraq archaeologist flees, 26 August 2006, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/
5289046.stm.
256
For example, on 14 February 2007, a car bomb near a hospital killed four people and wounded 10 others;
see: Reuters Alertnet, Factbox – Security developments in Iraq, Feb 14, 14 February 2007,
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL14532109. On 4 October 2006, a car bomb and two roadside
bombs killed 16 persons and injured at least 72; see: AP, String of bomb blasts in Baghdad kills 13, 4 October
2006, http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-10-04-baghdad-blasts_x.htm.
257
According to reports in Iraqi and international media, numerous Christian institutions in Iraq were
targeted in reprisal attacks during the “cartoon controversy”. Iraqi sources linked the bombings of seven
churches in Kirkuk, Baghdad and Mosul on 29 January 2006 to the protest campaigns. These attacks led to an
increase in flight to Jordan and Syria; see IRIN, Iraq: Sectarian tensions on the rise, 30 January 2006,
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=26094; Elaph News (in Arabic), Bombing of Iraqi Churches
Linked to Danish Cartoons, 29 January 2006, http://www.elaph.com/ElaphWeb/Politics/2006/1/124132.htm.
258
The “cartoons controversy” began after editorial cartoons depicting the Muslim Prophet Mohammed,
were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005. The newspaper announced
that this publication was an attempt to contribute to the debate regarding criticism of Islam and selfcensorship.
The controversy deepened when further examples of the cartoons were reprinted in newspapers in
more than fifty other countries. This led to numerous protests, including violent rioting particularly in the
Muslim world. See, for example, The Washington Post, The Mohammed Cartoon Controversy,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2006/02/07/LI2006020701366.html [last updated
7 January 2007]. The Pope Benedict XVI controversy arose from a lecture delivered on 12 September 2006
by Pope Benedict XVI at the University of Regensburg in Germany. He explored the historical and
philosophical differences between Islam and Christianity and the relationship between violence and faith. His
quote from Emperor Manuel II Paleologos of the Orthodox Christian Byzantine Empire, who said the Prophet
Mohammed had brought the world only “evil and inhuman” things, stood at the centre of the controversy.
See, for example, Reuters / The New York Times, Pope apologizes after fury over Islam remarks,
17 September 2006, http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/09/17/news/apology.php.
259
Information received by UNHCR.
260
IRIN, Iraq: Christians live in fear of death squads, see above footnote 228.
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