UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...

Yazidis are furthermore organized in tribes, with a chief (Agha) at the head of each. Yazidis
are usually monogamous, but chiefs may have more than one wife.
ii) Situation of Yazidis in Central Iraq
The situation of Yazidis in the Ninewa Governorate and other areas under the
administration of the Central Government has deteriorated since the fall of the former
regime, due to high levels of insurgent activities and ethnic/religious tensions. Targeted
attacks against Yazidis include threats, assassinations and public defamation campaigns. As
they are considered “infidels” (or even apostates) and of Kurdish ethnicity, 370 Yazidis have
been targeted by Sunni extremists present in Baghdad and towns like Sinjar, Mosul and Tel
Afar. 371 Most attacks against Yazidis are not reported in the international and national
media or are portrayed as incidents involving Kurds. 372 UNAMI reported that in late
December 2006, a Yazidi was murdered in Mosul; according to the police simply on the
basis of his religious affiliation. 373 Mir Tahsin Saied Beg survived a bombing in Al-Qosh
on 17 December 2004. Reportedly, the Mir and other prominent figures avoid public
appearances for security reasons. 374
Insurgent groups have also targeted Yazidis for their (perceived) support for the US-led
invasion and the presence of the MNF, considering them collaborators. 375 For example,
Marwan Khalil Murad, who worked as a project director for international aid organizations,
was reportedly shot and wounded after he had hosted 20 Americans in his home in
Sinjar. 376 Others have been targeted for their political activities and support for the political
process. 377 For example, the Mayor of Sinjar, a Yazidi, has been subjected to attacks in
2004 and 2005. In July 2005, a bodyguard of Dr. Mamou Othman, then Minister of State
for Civil Society in Iraq and the only Yazidi cabinet member, was targeted and killed. 378
Other prominent persons of the community have also been threatened. For example, Yazidi
doctor Abd Al-Aziz Suleiman Siwu, the head of the branch office for the Lalish cultural
centre in Bashika and Bahzani received a threat letter in January 2004 signed by Ansar Al-
Islam. It accused him of collaborating with the Americans, Zionists and the Patriotic Union
370
See also “Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen428F, Ethnic-Based Christian Groups (Assyrians, Chaldeans,
Armenians)429F, Yazidis430F and Shabak431F in Ethnically Mixed Areas” and “Kurds and Other Segments
of Iraqi Society”.
371
See: AP, Beleaguered Yazidi find peace high in Iraq’s northern mountains, 14 October 2006,
http://www.todayonline.com/articles/148550.asp. See also: Savelsberg and Hajo, p. 3 and 6, see above
footnote 354.
372
Savelsberg and Hajo, p. 2, see above footnote 354.
373
UNAMI HRO, December 2006 Human Rights Report, p. 14, see above footnote 10. Other incidents cited
by Savelsberg and Hajo, see above footnote 354.
374
Savelsberg and Hajo, p. 4, see above footnote 354.
375
See Laurence F.Kaplan, Devil’s Advocates, The New Republic, 6 November 2006, http://www.tnr.com/
doc.mhtml?i=20061106&s=diarist110606. See also “Actual or Perceived Sympathizers of the US-Led
Invasion and/or the Multi-National Force in Iraq”.
376
AP, see above footnote 371.
377
See also “Government Officials and Other Persons Associated With the Current Iraqi Government,
Administration and Institutions”.
378
Dulz, Hajo and Savelsberg, p. 4, see above footnote 359.
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