UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...

discriminated against by their Muslim neighbours. For example, in schools, Muslim
children refuse to sit together with Sabaean-Mandaean children. 332
Considered “infidels” by segments of the Muslim society, at times enforced by religious
fatwas, there have been numerous reports of the forced conversions of Sabaean-Mandaeans.
For example, on 15 February 2005, armed men demanded Wafsi Majid Kashkul at his
Baghdad jewellery store to convert to Islam. When Kashkul refused, the men shot him and
left without stealing anything from the shop. In another documented incident, three Sabaean
brothers, Anweer, Shaukai and Amer Juhily, were reportedly kidnapped from their Basrah
home on 14 March 2005. When they refused to convert to Islam, they were shot and killed.
The Mandaean Human Rights Group reported the forced conversion of 35 families in
Fallujah. 333
UNHCR received reports of Sabaean-Mandaeans being killed or otherwise assaulted for
“practicing magic”.
Along with the deterioration of the situation for Iraqi women in general due to the strict
embracing of Islamic values and traditions as well as the high rate of criminality, Sabaean-
Mandaean women are forced to comply with strict Islamic dress codes, 334 and fear of
kidnapping and rape restrict their freedom of movement. 335 There are numerous reports of
Sabaean-Mandaean women becoming the victims of rape, often with a sectarian motive
such as “cleansing” the infidel. For example, Hadeel Samir Aodaa was abducted and
repeatedly raped on 2 July 2005, suffering traumatic injury. She had already been
threatened several times before the incident took place. 336 The Society for Threatened
People reported that there has been a significant increase in rape in the last few months. 337
Women kidnapped and forced to marry a Muslim man (requiring them to also convert to
Islam) are usually stigmatized and considered as no longer belonging to the Sabaean-
Mandaean community.
In Baghdad and Basrah, Sabaean-Mandaeans reportedly received threat letters to leave the
area, in particular since sectarian violence escalated after the February 2006 Samarra
bombing. The British Broadcasting Company (BBC) reported that one of the leaflets
332 Ibid.
333 Society for Threatened People, Mandaeans in Iraq, p. 5, see above footnote 312; USDOS, Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, 2005 Country Report on Human Rights Practices – Iraq, 8 March
2006, http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61689.htm. Other incidents of forced conversion have been
listed by the Mandaean Human Rights Group, Appendix 1, see above footnote 288.
334 The Society for Threatened People reported that on 4 March 2005, Salwa Samir Aziz was killed in
Baghdad after refusing to wear the Islamic headscarf; see Society for Threatened People, Mandäer im Iraq,
p. 17, see above footnote 309.
335 UNAMI HRO, August 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 10, see above footnote 26. See also: Society for
Threatened People, The Mandaeans, see above footnote 314; BBC News, Iraq chaos threatens ancient faith,
see above footnote 268.
336 A medical certificate from the hospital in Baghdad and a police report were made available by the
Australian Mandaean Association to the Society for Threatened People. See: Society for Threatened People,
Mandaeans in Iraq, p. 4, see above footnote 312. Other incidents of rape and assault are described by:
Mandaean Human Rights Group, Appendix 1, see above footnote 288.
337 Society for Threatened People, Mandäer im Iraq, p. 6, see above footnote 309.
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