UNHCR's ELIGIBILITY GUIDELINES FOR ASSESSING THE ...

apostasy and a threat to public order. 400 Bernard Lewis, one of the most widely read
scholars of the Middle East, stated that the very existence of a post-Islamic monotheistic
religion such as the Baha’i faith challenges the Islamic doctrine of the perfection and
finality of Mohammed’s revelation, the Qur’an. 401
Law No. 105 of 1970 prohibits the Baha’i faith in Iraq, although this runs counter to
constitutional guarantees relating to the freedom of religion. 402 Based on this law and other
regulations, the Government of Iraq continues with discriminatory practices against the
Baha’i. In 1975, the Directorate of Civil Affairs issued Decision No. 358 providing that
civil status records, which contain all information relevant to the civil status of Iraqi
persons such as birth, marriage, divorce, etc., can no longer indicate “Baha’i” as religion.
Instead, one of the three Abrahamic religions, i.e. Islam, Christianity or Judaism, had to be
indicated. 403 Those persons who could not prove that they belong to one of these
recognized religions, e.g. through their parents’ civil status records or a court order, or were
not willing to do so, will have their civil records frozen, meaning that requests for birth,
death or marriage certificates, civil status identification documents or passports will not be
processed. 404 Recent requests from the Baha’i to change this policy have reportedly been
met with sympathy, but the Ministry of Interior’s Nationality and Travel Directorate
Offices continue to implement this regulation. 405 This policy puts adherents of the Baha’i
faith in the untenable position of either having to make a false statement about their
religious beliefs or to be left without documentation necessary to access most rights of
citizenship, including education, ownership of property, medical care or food rations.
e) Kaka’i / Ahl i-Haq / Yarsan 406
The Kaka’i are a distinct religious group that mainly reside in the areas of Kirkuk (mainly
Tareeq Baghdad, Garranata, Wahid Athar, Hay Al-Wasitty, Eskan and Shorja as well as in
the District of Daqooq), Mosul (Kalaki Yasin Agha area) and Khanaqin (mainly Mirkhas
and Kandizard areas) in the Governorate of Diyala, 407 but also in villages in the Kurdistan
Region close to the Iranian border. Kaka’i can also be found in major cities such as
Baghdad, Sulaymaniyah and Erbil. There is little information about this group as it favours
400 The Washington Times, Court denies Bahai couple document IDs, 17 December 2006,
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20061217-122113-6320r.htm. The Supreme Administrative Court Ruling
can be found at: http://info.bahai.org/pdf/EGYPTSAC_16DEC06_ENGLISH.pdf.
401 Bernard Lewis, The Jews of Islam, 1984, Princeton: Princeton University Press, p. 21.
402 See “Non-Muslim Religious Groups”.
403 While this practice also affected other religious minority groups in the past, only the Baha’i continue to
be affected by it.
404 Amendment to Article 17 (3) of the amended Civil Status Law No. 65 (1972).
405 Information received by UNHCR in January 2007.
406 According to some sources, Yarsanism, Alevism and Yazidism are three branches of an ancient religion
called Yardanism or “Cult of Angels”, an indigenous Kurdish faith; see Dr. Mehrdad R. Izady, The Kurds,
A Concise Handbook, Department of Near Easter Languages and Civilization, Harvard University, 1992,
http://yarsan.web.surftown.se/English/Yarsanism.htm; another, but derogatory name used for the Kaka’i is Ali
Illahi, given the widespread belief that the Kaka’i deify Imam Ali bin Abi Talib, Prophet Mohammed’s
cousin and son-in law; see Encyclopaedia of the Orient, Ahl-e Haqq, http://lexicorient.com/e.o/ahl-e_
haqq.htm [accessed January 2007].
407 USDOS, International Religious Freedom Report 2006 – Iraq, see above footnote 28.
83