Minorities In Iraq Face 'Catastrophe', Human Rights Watch Warns

November 10, 2009

By Nishant Dahiya

Iraq's minorities -- including Yazidis, Shabaks, Turkoman and Assyrian Christians -- face a "full-blown human rights catastrophe" as the long-festering territorial dispute between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the central government in Baghdad "threatens to erupt again," Human Rights Watch reports.

The group warns that the minorities are being targeted by both insurgents and by the KRG as it aims to increase its hold on the disputed areas just south of their semi-autonomous region.

Though these minorities live in disputed land that stretches from Sinjar near the Syrian border to Khanaqin near the Iranian border, the HRW report concentrates on the northern province of Nineveh, Iraq's second most-populous. There, according to HRW, the minorities have been targeted by Sunni insurgents who regard them as "crusaders" and "infidels." Bombings in Nineveh have killed hundreds of minorities since 2007. In late 2008, "a systematic and orchestrated campaign of targeted killings and violence by insurgents left 40 Chaldo-Assyrians dead and more than 12,000 displaced from their homes in Mosul (the capital of Nineveh and regarded as the last urban strong-hold of al-Qaida in Iraq)."
The violence against the minorities is continuing. Since the June 2009 withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq's cities, "attacks in Nineveh, particularly against minority groups, increased dramatically, and... show no sign of abating," HRW says. In six weeks after the withdrawal of U.S. forces, according to HRW, attacks "in four different locations killed more than 137 and injured almost 500 from the Yazidi, Shabak and Turkmen communities."

The territories where the minorities reside are at the heart of the dispute between the Arabs and Kurds. During previous Iraqi governments, thousands of Kurds were removed and Arabs settled there in a process of "Arabization." Since 2003, the Kurds, in control of the region, re-settled Kurds there, and displaced many Arabs. The Kurds assert that all the disputed land has historically belonged to them, and claim it. Iraq's Arabs appear equally determined not to let that happen.
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The Kurds, in order to further their aims, "have offered minorities inducements while simultaneously wielding repression in order to keep them in tow," HRW says. Kurdish forces, according to HRW, "have mostly relied on intimidation, threats, arbitrary arrests, and detentions to coerce the support of minority communities." According to HRW, "in some extreme cases, they resorted to violence, including torture." The KRG denies all such allegations.

As the Kurds and Arabs struggle over the territories, they are being squeezed from both sides. As NPR's Quil Lawrence recently reported, Iraq's minorities "have survived over the years mostly by leaning toward the winning side. But there is no clear favorite at the moment, and a huge risk of being labeled a traitor if the wrong side prevails." And as NPR's Peter Kenyon has reported, Iraq's Christians have begun forming their own militias amidst increasing insecurity.

Human Rights Watch is recommending that the Kurdish Regional Government carry out investigations "of individuals, including Kurdish security forces" who may have been involved in the alleged "killings, beatings and torture against minorities." Among other recommendations, it also urging the KRG to "cease funding private militias;" "allow municipalities to hire police officers from their own communities;" and "invite the U.N." to "provide an impartial assessment of the situation." The report also calls on the Iraqi government to "protect minorities," and carry out its own investigations into the killings of the 40 Chaldo-Assyrian Christians in 2008.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/11/iraq_human_rights_watch_minori.html


Update at 11 a.m., Nov. 11. The Kurdistan Regional Government has released a statement that says, in part:
The KRG is ready and willing to look into each and every allegation, and we are ready to work on these issues under the legal framework of both the Kurdistan Region and the Republic of Iraq, with the help of HRW and other reputable human rights organisations. The KRG will investigate each specific claim outlined in the report carefully and thoroughly. There may be instances of maltreatment and neglect; the KRG does not claim to be flawless.
But the report reveals a systematic misperception of the circumstances in Ninevah and a worrying ignorance of Iraqi history. HRW therefore produces an inaccurate portrayal of the situation. Furthermore, due to the methodology employed to produce this report, it cannot be the basis for legitimate judgements or assertions.
The main thrust of this report could be grossly misleading and the KRG affirms its strong disagreement in this regard. The KRG has done more for the protection of minorities than any other entity in Iraq, and continues to insist on tolerance and peaceful coexistence in the Region and throughout Iraq.
(NPR's Nishant Dahiya is on assignment in Baghdad.)