Wayzata World Factbook 1996/The World Factbook - 1996 Edition - Wayzata Technology (3079) (1996).iso/pc/text/humanrts/iraq.txu

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TITLE: IRAQ HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE: FEBRUARY 1995




Based on forensic evidence and government documents seized by
the Kurds in 1991, Middle East Watch and Physicians for Human
Rights estimate that between 70,000 and 100,000 Kurds were
killed, and up to 4,000 villages destroyed, during the Anfal
Campaign.  The evidence suggests that government efforts to
eliminate Kurdish communities were widespread, systematically
planned, and ruthlessly implemented.

The most flagrant example of current discrimination against the
Kurds is the Government's ongoing internal embargo on the
north, which includes necessities such as food, medicine, and
other humanitarian supplies.  Since August 1993, the embargo
also has included massive electric power cut-offs in specific
areas, causing the spoilage of medicines, breakdowns in local
water-purification systems, and the loss of certain hospital
services.  A disaster was averted only by the prompt action of
the United Nations and donor governments, who imported and
installed temporary generators to alleviate the crisis.
Additional electricity cut-offs were imposed in August 1994.
The embargo of the north has impacted not only Kurds but
various other minorities such as Turcomans, who also live in
the area.

Operation Provide Comfort--the joint U.S., British, French, and
Turkish command--continued in 1994 to inhibit government aerial
attacks in the northern "no fly zone."  However, the military
forces continued intermittent, sometimes heavy shelling of
northern villages by long-range artillery.  On October 26,
opposition media reported that shelling of villages in the
Shawan region had resulted in several civilian casualties, one
fatal.

Attacks on humanitarian relief efforts in northern Iraq
continued throughout 1994.  Two persons were killed in an
execution-style shooting (see Section 1.a.).  Several other
international workers involved in the relief effort, including
six United Nations guards, were injured in bombing and shooting
attacks in March and April.  On March 27, Iraqi security forces
permitted a crowd in Mosul to attack and damage a U.N.
helicopter attempting to airlift wounded guards to safety.  Two
Swedish journalists were injured in Aqrah on March 14 when a
bomb exploded under their automobile.

Some terrorist incidents pointed to government involvement, but
there was insufficient information to determine the
responsibility for other attacks.

Innocent civilians were the victims of fighting between the
guerilla forces of the two main Kurdish political parties--the
Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK).  Heavy fighting between the two parties broke
out in May, in August, and again in December, producing several
hundred civilian casualties.

In 1994 civilians near the Turkish border were caught in raids
by Turkish military forces on suspected hideouts of the
extremist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).  On August 8, Turkish
planes bombed a camp near Zakho containing 10,000 Kurdish
refugees from Turkey.  Although the refugees suffered no
casualties, 10 Iraqi guards were reported killed and 7
wounded.  The Turkish Government claimed that PKK terrorists
were hiding in the camps.

On August 23, Turkish planes attacking a PKK camp in Zele
bombed the nearby village of Bidewan village, wounding 7 Iraqi
Kurdish civilians.  On September 8, Turkish planes again bombed
the large concentration of Turkish refugees near Zakho.  No
injuries were reported, but several tents were destroyed.

Kurdish villages along the Iranian border were subjected to
shelling by the Iranian military, as well as to sporadic
Iranian military incursions into Iraqi territory.  Opposition
media reported that Iranian artillery shelled civilian areas in
As-Suleymaniyah province the night of April 17-18.  Iranian
forces were also reportedly involved in fighting between the
two main Iraqi Kurdish parties in August and December.

The Iranian military conducted attacks on Iranian opposition
camps based in Iraq.  On November 6, it launched a SCUD missile
attack on a Mojahedin E-Khalq base located some 30 miles north
of Baghdad.  On November 9, Iranian jets bombed an Iranian
Kurdish Democratic Party base in the town of Koi-Sanjaq in
northern Iraq.

Land mines in northern Iraq continued to kill or maim
civilians.  Many of the mines were laid during the Iraq-Iraq
War, but the army has failed to clear them.  The mines appear
to have been haphazardly planted in civilian areas.  The
Special Rapporteur has repeatedly reminded the Government of
its obligations under the Land Mines Protocol, to which Iraq is
a party, to protect civilians from the effects of mines.

Based on interviews with victims and eyewitnesses, the U.S.
Government has concluded that the Iraqi regime engaged in war
crimes--willful killing, torture, rape, pillage,
hostage-taking, unlawful deportation, and related
acts--directly related to the Gulf War.  The U.S. Government
urged the U.N. Security Council to create an international
commission to study evidence of a broader range of war crimes,
as well as crimes against humanity, and possible genocide.

At the end of 1994, Middle East Watch was preparing a charge of
genocide that it hopes governments will bring against the
Government of Iraq before the International Court of Justice in
the Hague.  Middle East Watch reported that its case was based
on a thorough review of evidence obtained from mass graves,
government documents, and interviews with eyewitnesses.

Section 2  Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

     a.  Freedom of Speech and Press

Freedom of speech and of the press do not exist in areas under
the Government's control, and political dissent is not
tolerated in those areas.  The Government and the Ba'ath Party
own all print and broadcast media and operate them as
propaganda outlets.  They do not report opposition views.

The Special Rapporteur noted in his February report the extent
to which the Government has criminalized most forms of personal
expression.  A 1986 decree stipulates the death penalty for
anyone insulting the President or other high government
officials.  Section 214 of the Penal Code prohibits "singing a
song likely to cause civil strife."  Press Act 206 (1968)
prohibits the writing of articles on 12 specific subjects,
including those detrimental to the President.

The Government periodically jams news broadcasts, including
those of opposition groups, from outside Iraq.

Various Ba'ath Party and presidential decrees define political
dissent as encompassing a wide range of activities.  Persons
suspected of engaging in dissent are routinely imprisoned
without charge or trial or after trials that do not meet
minimum standards of fairness.

In northern Iraq, which is protected by international forces
and is administered by a local de facto government, several
newspapers have appeared over the past 3 years, as have
opposition radio and television broadcasts.

     b.  Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

Except in northern areas under the protection of international
forces, the citizens may not legally assemble or organize for
any political purpose other than to express support for the
regime.  By law, the Government controls the formation of
parties, regulates their internal affairs and closely monitors
their activies.  Several parties are specifically outlawed, and
membership in them is a capital offense.  A 1974 law prescribes
the death penalty for anyone "infiltrating" the Ba'ath Party.

     c.  Freedom of Religion

The Government severely limits this freedom.  The Provisional
Constitution of 1968 states that "Islam is the religion of the
State."  The Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs
monitors places of worship, appoints the clergy, and approves
the publication of religious literature.

Although Shi'a Muslim Arabs, who are between 60 and 65 percent
of the population, are the largest ethnoreligious group, Sunni
Arabs, who comprise only about 12 to 15 percent of the
population, have traditionally dominated economic and political
life.  Despite legal guarantees of sectarian equality, the
Government has in recent years repressed the Shi'a clergy and
followers of the Shi'a faith.  Security forces have wantonly
desecrated Shi'a mosques and holy sites, particularly in the
aftermath of the 1991 civil uprisings.

The following government restrictions on religious rights
remained in effect throughout 1994:  a ban on the Muslim call
to prayer in certain cities; a ban on the broadcast of Shi'a
programs on government radio or television; a ban on the
publication of Shi'a books, including prayer books; a ban on
funeral processions; and the prohibition of certain processions
and public meetings commemorating Shi'a holy days.  Moreover,
the Government also continued to insist that its own appointee
replace the late Grand Ayatollah Abul Qasim Al-Khoei, formerly
the highest ranking Shi'a clergyman, who died in Government
custody in 1992 (see Section 1.b.).  The Shi'a religious
establishment refuses to accept the Government's choice.

The Government also continued to harass and threaten members of
the late Ayatollah Al-Khoei's family.  Circumstantial evidence
pointed to the regime's involvement in the July deaths of
several members of the Al-Khoei family (see Sections 1.a. and
1.b.).

The Special Rapporteur reports that the Government has engaged
in various abuses against the Christian Assyrian community,
which numbers about 350,000.  Most Assyrians have traditionally
lived in the north, and the Government often has suspected them
of "collaborating" with Kurds.  Military forces destroyed many
Assyrian churches during the Anfal Campaign, and reportedly
tortured and executed many Assyrians (see Section 4).

     d.  Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
         Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

The Government controls movement within the country of citizens
and foreigners.  Persons who enter sensitive border areas and
numerous designated security zones are subject to arrest (see
Section 1.d.).  Police checkpoints are common on major roads
and highways.

The Government requires citizens to obtain expensive exit visas
for foreign travel.  Citizens may not make more than two trips
abroad annually.  The Goverment reportedly prohibits some
citizens from all international travel.  Before traveling
abroad, citizens are required to post collateral with the
Government which is refundable only upon their return to Iraq.
There are restrictions on the amount of currency that may be
taken out of the country.  Women are not permitted to travel
outside Iraq alone; male relatives must escort them.

The Government continued to pursue its discriminatory
resettlement policies, including demolition of villages and
forced relocations of Kurds, Turcomans, and other minorities.
Middle East Watch reported that the Government was continuing
to force Kurdish residents of Mosul to move to
Kurdish-controlled areas in the north.  However, the Government
directed most of its resettlement efforts in 1994 at residents
of the southern marshes.  According to the Special Rapporteur,
security forces relocate marsh inhabitants detained during the
course of military operations to the main southern cities.
They were later transferred to detention centers and prisons in
central Iraq, primarily in Baghdad.

Opposition sources reported in September that the Government
had relocated more than 300 families from the marshes to a
detention area in Diwaniya province.  The authorities
reportedly returned other families who had taken refuge in
Baghdad to the province of Amara.

Large numbers of Shi'a refugees from southern Iraq fled to
Iran, particularly after the escalation in military activity in
March.  It was difficult to estimate the number of persons
displaced by these operations, due to the lack of international
monitors in the area.  However, in late 1994 the U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that more than
10,000 refugees from the marshes were in camps in Iran.  Amar
Appeal, a charitable organization operating several of the
camps, placed the number at more than 35,000.  U.S. Government
analysts estimated in September that more than 200,000 of the
250,000 former inhabitants of the marshes had been driven from
the area since 1991 (see also Section 1.a.).

In February 1994, the Special Rapporteur noted that the
Government in 1993 had expelled several "Faili," or Shi'a,
Kurdish families.  Faili Kurds, who have traditionally lived in
the mountainous region bordering Iran, were the victims of mass
deportations in the 1970's and 1980's.

The Special Rapporteur reported that in recent years the
Government may have expelled a total of more than 1 million
persons suspected of being "Persian sympathizers."  According
to the Special Rapporteur, about 500,000 of these displaced
persons are believed to live in Iran.

According to the UNHCR, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees
remained abroad--mainly in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria,
Turkey, Pakistan, and Jordan.  Apart from those suspected of
sympathizing with Iran, most fled after the Government's
suppression of the civil uprising of 1991; others are Kurds who
fled the Anfal Campaign of 1988.  The UNHCR assists many
refugees, notably in Kuwait, Syria, and Turkey.

Of the 1.5 million refugees who fled following the 1991
uprising, the great majority, particularly Kurds, have
repatriated themselves to northern Iraq, in areas where the
allies have prohibited overflights by Iraqi aircraft.  Several
hundred thousand Kurds remain unsettled in northern Iraq
because political circumstances do not permit them to return to
their former homes in Government-controlled territory.

Moreover, northern Iraq is host to about 10,000 recently
arrived Turkish Kurds, who have fled civil strife in
southeastern Turkey (see the report on Turkey), in response to
the Turkish government's counterinsurgency campaign against the
PKK.  The UNHCR is treating these displaced persons as refugees
until it reaches an official determination on their status.  In
late 1994, the UNHCR relocated the Turkish Kurds to protect
them from periodic raids by Turkish military aircraft (see
Section 1.g.).

Students abroad who refuse to return are required to reimburse
any expenses paid by the Government.  Each student wishing to
travel abroad must provide a guarantor.  The guarantor and the
student's parents may be liable if the student fails to return.

Foreign spouses of citizens who have resided in Iraq for 5
years are required to apply for nationality.  The requirement
is 1 year of residence for the spouses of Iraqi citizens
employed in government offices.  Many foreigners thus have been
obliged to accept citizenship and are subject to official
travel restrictions.  The penalties for noncompliance include
loss of job, a substantial financial penalty, and repayment for
any governmental educational expenses.

The Government prevents many citizens who also hold citizenship
in another country--especially the children of Iraqi fathers
and foreign-born mothers--from visiting the country of their
other nationality.

Section 3  Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of Citizens
           to Change Their Government

Citizens do not have the right to change their government.  The
only free and open local elections have been held in
Kurdish-controlled areas in northern Iraq.  Full political
participation at the national level is confined to members of
the Ba'ath Party, estimated at about 8 percent of the
population.  The National Assembly is completely subordinate to
the executive branch.

Saddam Hussein wields decisive power over all instruments of
government.  Almost all powerful officials are either members
of the President's family or longtime family allies from his
home town of Tikrit.

Opposition political organizations are illegal and severely
suppressed.  Membership in certain political parties is
punishable by death (see Section 2.b.).  In 1991 the RCC
adopted a law that theoretically authorized the creation of
political parties other than the Ba'ath, but in practice, the
law reinforced the preeminent position of the Ba'ath Party by
prohibiting parties that do not support Saddam Hussein and the
present Government.  New parties must be based in Baghdad and
are forbidden to have any ethnic or religious character.

The Government does not recognize the various political
groupings and parties that have been formed by Shi'a Muslims,
as well as the Kurdish, Assyrian, and Turcoman communities.
These political groups continued to attract support
notwithstanding their illegal status.

In northern Iraq, all central government functions have been
performed by local administrators--mainly Kurds--since the
Government withdrew its forces from the area after the 1991
uprising.  In May 1992, political parties in the north
participated in elections to choose representatives to a
regional parliament.  The elections also produced de facto
local government administrators, who manage the affairs of the
security zone--which is protected by allied military
forces--and adjacent areas.

Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

The Government does not permit the establishment of independent
human rights organizations.  It operates an official human
rights group which routinely denies allegations of abuses.
Citizens have established several human rights groups abroad
and in northern areas not under government control.

As in 1993, the Government did not allow the Special Rapporteur
to visit Iraq.  It failed to respond to his requests for
information on particular human rights cases and condemned his
recommendation that human rights monitors be stationed
throughout Iraq.  For the third consecutive year, the UNHRC
called on the U.N. Secretary General to send human rights
monitors to "help in the independent verification of reports on
the human rights situation in Iraq."  The U.N. Subcommission on
Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities
adopted a resolution reiterating the UNHRC request for the
deployment of monitors.  In December the U.N. General Assembly
once again endorsed the request of the Human Rights Commission
for monitors for Iraq.

The Special Rapporteur dispatched members of his staff--in late
December 1993 to Turkey and in August 1994 to Iran--to
interview victims of Iraqi human rights abuses.  The U.N. Human
Rights Centre hired another part-time employee in 1994 to
assist the Special Rapporteur who nevertheless asserted that he
needs further resources to carry out his mandate.

Several major human rights organizations, including Middle East
Watch and AI, released new reports on Iraq during the year.
The Amar Appeal, a London-based charitable organization which
assists Iraqi refugees from the southern marshes, issued a
study detailing the ecological destruction of the marshes and
its consequences for the marsh inhabitants.  The U.S.
Government also issued a report on that subject.

The Iraqi Government continued to defy various calls from
United Nations bodies to allow the Special Rapporteur to visit
the marshes and interview refugees.  In 1994 the U.N. Human
Rights Commission, the U.N. Subcommission on Prevention of
Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, and the U.N.
General Assembly all adopted resolutions condemning the
Government's human rights violations.

The Government failed to comply with the provision of UNSCR
688, which insists that the Government afford immediate,
unrestricted access by humanitarian workers to all those in
need of assistance in all parts of Iraq.  Throughout 1994, the
Government threatened, harassed, and assaulted employees of the
United Nations and nongovernmental organizations (see Section
1.g.).

Throughout 1994 the Government refused to implement UNSCR
Resolutions 706 and 712, which would allow it to sell oil and
purchase humanitarian goods, the equitable distribution of
which the United Nations would monitor.  The Special Rapporteur
noted in his February report that the Government failed to
provide for the basic humanitarian needs of its civilian
population and that it is obligated to do so as a signatory to
the United Nations Charter.  The Special Rapporteur reported
that in September the Government cut food subsidies by
one-third.  He once again called on the Government to implement
UNSC Resolutions 706 and 712.

Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

     Women

The Government claims that it is committed to equality for
women, who make up about 20 percent of the work force.  It has
enacted laws to protect women from exploitation in the
workplace and from sexual harassment; to permit women to join
the regular army, Popular Army, and police forces; to require
education for female children; and to equalize women's rights
in divorce, land ownership, taxation, suffrage, and election to
the National Assembly.  It is difficult to determine to what
extent these protections are afforded in practice.  Reports
indicate, however, that the application of these laws has
declined as Iraq's political and economic crisis persists.

Familial violence against women, such as wife beating and rape,
is known to occur, but little is known about its extent.  Such
abuse is customarily addressed within the tightly knit family
structure.  There is no public discussion of the subject, and
the Government issues no statistics.  Spousal violence
constitutes grounds for divorce and criminal charges, but suits
brought on these charges are believed to be rare.

The Special Rapporteur has commented on the high incidence of
rape committed by the armed forces and security services (see
Section 1.b.).  He noted that an unusually high percentage of
the northern population is female, due to the disappearances of
tens of thousands of Kurdish men in the Anfal Campaign.  The
Special Rapporteur has reported that the widows, daughters, and
mothers of Anfal victims are economically dependent on their
relatives or villages because they may not inherit the property
or assets of their missing family members.  Other reports
suggest that economic destitution has forced many women into
prostitution.

Evidence concerning the Anfal Campaign of 1988 indicates that
the Government killed many women and children, including
infants, by firing squads and in chemical attacks.

     Children

No information is available on whether the Government has
enacted specific legislation to promote the welfare of
children.  However, the Special Rapporteur and several human
rights groups have collected a substantial body of evidence
pointing to the Government's continuing disregard for the
rights and welfare of children.

The Government failure to comply with relevant U.N. Security
Council resolutions has led to a continuation of economic
sanctions.  As a result, general economic and health conditions
throughout Iraq have deteriorated dramatically.  Children have
been particularly susceptible to the decline in the standard of
living.  Increases in child mortality and disease rates have
been reported.

The Special Rapporteur has observed that, under these
circumstances, the Government has special obligations to ensure
that the most vulnerable groups in the population have adequate
food and health care.  The Special Rapporteur stated in his
February report that Iraq's refusal to implement U.N. Security
Council Resolutions 706 and 712, which would permit a one-time
sale of oil in order to finance the import of humanitarian
goods, has had an adverse effect on vulnerable populations,
including children.

In October the Special Rapporteur reported that "the obvious
imbalance between military expenditure and resources allocated
to the fields of health care and education clearly illustrates
the priorities of the Government."  The Special Rapporteur has
repeatedly observed that the ongoing bombardment of civilian
settlements in the southern marshes has resulted in the deaths
of many innocent persons, including women, children, and the
elderly.

     National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

The cultural, religious, and linguistic diversity of society is
not reflected in the country's political and economic
structure.  Sunni Arabs, a small minority of the population,
have effectively controlled Iraq since independence in 1932.
Shi'a Arabs, the overwhelming majority of the population, have
long been economically, politically, and socially
disadvantaged.  Like the Sunni Kurds of the north, the Shi'a
Arabs of the south have been targeted for particular
discrimination and abuse, ostensibly because of their
opposition to the Government.

The security forces in 1994 reportedly were still encamped in
the shrine to Imam Ali at Al-Najaf, one of Shi'a Islam's
holiest sites, using it as an interrogation center.  The former
Shi'a theological school in Al-Najaf, which the Government
closed following the 1991 uprising, was used as a public market
in 1994.  Security forces continued to expel foreign Muslim
clerics from Al-Najaf, under the pretext that the clerics'
visas had expired.  Other aspects of government repression of
the Shi'a are discussed in Section 2.c. and various parts of