UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...

are therefore at risk of kidnapping for ransom, 346 extortion, killing, and their shops are
subject to looting and destruction. For example, on 9 October 2006, Raad Mutar Falih,
a jeweller, was killed in his house in Al-Suwaira. 347 Many of them have closed their shops
or work under the protection of bodyguards. 348 Furthermore, Sabaean-Mandaeans are
generally well-educated 349 and may, therefore, be harassed and attacked by fundamentalist
Islamic groups which, since 2003, have led a campaign against academics, professionals,
journalists, artists, doctors and medical personnel. 350
A number of Sabaean-Mandaeans worked for the MNF in Iraq in trusted positions given
that they are usually well educated and not Muslims, and were, therefore, perceived to be
more trustworthy in serving the foreign forces. 351 These individuals are at risk of being
targeted on the basis of supporting the presence of the MNF in Iraq. 352
c) Yazidis 353
i) General
The Yazidi people can be classified as a distinct religious group. The Yazidi religion is
monotheistic and syncretistic, encompassing elements from Zoroastrianism, Manichaeism,
Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Gnostic beliefs and traditions.
It is disputed, even among the community itself as well as among Kurds, whether they are
ethnically Kurds or form a distinct ethnic group. 354 Most Yazidis speak Kurmanji,
a Kurdish dialect. 355
346 It has been reported that criminal groups make it a business to “sell” victims of abduction to armed
groups (insurgents or militias), who then use the victim for their own interest, e.g. asking for ransom or
political demands or killing.
347 UNAMI HRO, October 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 14, see above footnote 66. The Society for
Threatened People documented 21 killings of goldsmiths since 2003; see Society for Threatened People,
Mandäer im Iraq, p. 16-17, see above footnote 309.
348 IWPR, Ancient Sect Targeted, see above footnote 297.
349 See, for example, Society for Threatened People, Mandaeans in Iraq, p. 12, see above footnote 312.
350 See also “Certain Professions”.
351 ABC Radio National, see above footnote 344.
352 See also “Actual or Perceived Sympathizers of the US-Led Invasion and/or the Multi-National Force in
Iraq”.
353 Other spellings are Azidi, Izdi, Ezidi, Yezidi or Zedi. Sometimes they are also called Dasin, though this is
strictly speaking a tribal name. There are various theories trying to explain the origin of the term “Yazidi”.
One says that it comes from the Persian word “īzed”, meaning “angel”. Another links it to the 6 th Umayyad
caliph, Yazid bin Muawiyya, whose armies killed Imam Hussein, son of Ali, in the 7 th century and who is
therefore highly disliked by Shi’ite Muslims. See: Encyclopaedia of the Orient, Yazidism,
http://lexicorient.com/e.o/uyazidism.htm [accessed January 2007]; IWPR, “Devil-worshippers” Fear
Renewed Persecution, Iraqi Crisis Report No. 59, 15 April 2004, http://iwpr.net/?p=icr&s=f&o=
167983&apc_state=heniicr2004.
354 Not all Kurds agree that the Yazidis are members of their ethnic group, considering them as “unclean”;
see Middle East Online, Iraq’s “devil-worshippers” seek constitutional rights, 23 May 2005,
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=13567. For mainly political reasons, the Kurdish parties, in
particular the KDP, have been stressing that the Yazidis are ethnic Kurds; see Eva Savelsberg and Siamend
Hajo, Gutachten zur Situation der Jeziden im Irak [in German language], Europäisches Zentrum für
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