Country Profile Iraq 2013

Transcription

1 Country Profile Iraq 2013 Introduction Only one decade ago, Iraq was home to one of the largest Christian communities of the Middle East. Christians have lived here for two millennia but in the past years many Iraqi Christians fled to other countries in the region or to the West. Others, who were not able to or did not want to leave their country, fled to the north of Iraq; which was a safe haven until recently. In addition to the structural instability and conflict in Iraq, Christians as a vulnerable target, are being threatened, robbed, kidnapped, or killed. Since the attack of the Cathedral in Bagdad in 2010 followed by bloody attacks against Christians, fear amongst them is increasing continually. Iraq is listed at the fourth position on Open Doors World Watch List. 1 Keys to Understanding Iraq AN ETHNICALLY AND RELIGIOUSLY DIVERSE COUNTRY: Composed of per cent Arabs, per cent Kurds, and five per cent Turkmen, Assyrian or other, Iraq is an ethnically diverse nation. The Arabs are roughly split in Sunnis and Shiites and together with the Kurds who are mainly Sunni, they make up the country s three main communities. It was only after 1920 that these three groups are living together in a modern state system. The different leaders that came to power since have fuelled mistrust and conflict between the three groups by mismanagement, according to the divide and rule principle. The current sectarian violence in Iraq is rooted mostly in a competition for power and prominence in the new Iraq. ARAB AND KURDISH IRAQ: Iraq is divided in two parts, the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in the North, officially governed by the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) based in Erbil and the large remaining Arab part, controlled by the Iraqi Government in Baghdad. Kurds and Arabs have their own languages and culture. Most of Iraq s oil resources are found near Kirkuk and Mosul, the border areas between the Kurdish areas and Arab Iraq, and these are one of the most violent places of Iraq. Christians find themselves caught in the crossfire between two different battles: one for a Kurdish autonomous country and one by Islamic terrorist groups to religiously cleanse Iraq and make it purely Islamic. A DEFICIENT DEMOCRACY AND GROWING SECTARIAN CONFLICT: Many Arab observers believe that the Arab Spring and the popular call for more freedom and transparent governance in the Middle East is related somehow to the overthrow of Saddam Hussein s regime. However, it has until now not led to satisfying results in terms of an open and well-functioning democracy. Prime Minister al-maliki is striving for an increase in power to the extent that he is developing into an authoritarian leader. Sectarian conflicts are being fought in parliament as well as by political representatives in the streets and by militias. HIGH LEVELS OF CORRUPTION AND SOCIETAL DISCONTENT: Corruption is epidemic in all levels of the government and society. The weak and divided government only strengthens widespread impunity which leads to a vicious cycle that is hard to escape. There is major social dissatisfaction as a result of a chronic lack of social 1 Every year, Open Doors publishes the World Watch List, illustrating the 50 countries where Christians are most persecuted. It does not merely compare and rank the countries on the list, but lists the countries according to the scores derived from a set of questions. The questions cover various aspects of religious freedom, differentiating between the legal, official status of Christians and the actual situation of individual Christians. Attention is paid to the role of the Church in society and to factors that may obstruct the freedom of religion in a country. This WWL covers the period November 2011-november

2 services (water, electricity) and massive unemployment. Corruption is one of the major factors that are stagnating the country s progress and the process of democracy. COLLECTIVE TRAUMA: Virtually each individual in Iraq is traumatised after years of Saddam Hussein s cruelty, the Iran-Iraq War, Gulf Wars, sanctions, the US-led invasion and the succeeding sectarian violence. The impact of this on the population and especially on the children is disastrous: many children have learning disorders and are in a critical state of fear. The question is how this will work out for Iraq s future. Several analysts have established that trauma is one of the factors of radicalisation. This does not bode well for Iraq s large youth bulb. THE GROWING ROLE OF ISLAM IN SOCIETY: Prohibited under Saddam, Islamist political parties - Shiite and Sunni - have made their entry to Iraqi politics and even constitute the majority in parliament. Several Shiite parties have warm relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran and consequently Iran s influence in Iraq is increasing. As a result, the latter is turning more Islamic and is even putting pressure on the Kurdish government to act likewise. Christians, in particular Christians with a Muslim background, are already reporting they are being monitored by Iranian secret services. In general, Iraqi society seems to become more Islamic. Alcohol is restricted and sometimes banned. Alcohol shops are regular targets of bombings, and several owners have been killed during the beginning of During Ramadan, all alcohol shops in Iraq are forced to close down. There is an increase in social control on women, the wearing of the headscarf and the observance of Ramadan. Even Christian women in Baghdad and Mosul are forced to veil themselves in order to move safely outside of their homes. VIOLENCE AGAINST CHRISTIANS AND MASSIVE MIGRATION: Anti-Christian violence by Islamic extremists and increased Islamisation of society has led to an enormous drain for the Christian Church in Iraq: more than half of the Christian population has left the country since the 1990s and a large number is displaced within the country. As a small minority, Christians are a weak player in the political realm and are virtually excluded from decision making processes. They are discriminated by authorities and do not receive sufficient protection from the Iraqi or the Kurdish governments. A GROWING NUMBER OF CHRISTIANS FROM A MUSLIM BACKGROUND: Open Doors notes the emergence of an Iraqi Arab and a Kurdish Evangelical Church, reflecting a rising number of Christian converts. Facts about the Church in Iraq Traditional churches make up 95 per cent of all churches in Iraq. One third of these are Orthodox or the Assyrian Church of the East. Two thirds are either Chaldean Catholic or Syrian Catholic. There is also an Armenian church in Iraq. The first evangelical church in the Middle East was established more than 100 years ago in Mosul (the old Nineveh) and there have been many different evangelical churches in Baghdad and in Basra. Like all churches in the centre and south, these churches also suffer great losses in members and have been greatly reduced in numbers. Since 2003, several evangelical churches and denominations in the north see an increase in numbers due to the constant arrival of new Internally Displaced People (IDP). The Kurdish Church was officially recognized by the Kurdish Regional Authority in There are several small groups and home fellowships among Kurdish Christian converts in the North. In the south where pressures on Arab Muslim converts to Christianity are very high, their numbers are estimated to be a few hundred. The pressure on traditional Christians is high as well in the south; several hundreds of Christian girls for instance have been forced into marriages with Muslims. The total number of Christians in Iraq is a delicate topic because of its political implications it determines the number of seats for Christians in the National Assembly (five if there are 500,000 Christians). Recent estimates 2

3 vary from 250,000 to roughly 500,000; Open Doors estimates that a number of 330,000 to 350,000 Christians still live in Iraq, a number which was also confirmed by several religious leaders in Iraq. Different Dynamics behind the discrimination and persecution of Christians in Iraq There is a long tradition of Christians living in Iraqi cities like Baghdad and Mosul. Only one decade ago, Iraq was home to one of the largest Christian communities of the Middle East. Christians have lived here for two millennia but are currently on the verge of extinction. During the regime of Saddam Hussein, religious freedom for Christians was restricted but they were more or less tolerated. There were no threats and open attacks on Christians as there are today. The Minister of Foreign Affairs was a Christian, just as four other ministers, while today the Christian community feels that they do not have a voice in Iraqi politics. As a consequence, many leaders of the Assyrian church of the East and the Chaldean church (with the exception of the Armenian leaders) are promoting the idea of having their own semi-autonomous region in the Nineveh plain. Its establishment is a very delicate and divisive issue that can also lead to problems with local authorities. Since the US led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the situation has clearly deteriorated, with anti-western (and as such anti-christian) sentiments mounting together with considerable levels of violence by Islamist militants and insurgent groups. The main engines behind persecution of Christians are Islamic Extremism (violent attacks), Cultural Islamisation (threats) and Totalitarian Insecurity (overall impunity). According to Hammurabi Organisation for Human Rights (HOHR) more than 900 Christians were killed and 200 kidnapped in the period between 2003 and May According to Iraq s Federal Constitution, each individual has freedom of thought, conscience and belief. However, Sharia is the primary source of law, which forbids apostasy, the conversion of a Muslim to any other religion. Christian converts from Islam are legally not allowed to change the religious designation in their identity documents. Children in Iraq automatically receive the religion of their father. As a consequence, they will be marked Muslims even if their father is a Christian with a Muslim background. At present, only an estimated 330, ,000 Christians are left, out of more than 1.2 million at the beginning of the 1990s. Large numbers have either fled abroad (Jordan, Lebanon and Syria) or to the northern Kurdish region as a result of the severe anti-christian violence; e.g. church attacks, kidnappings, killings, robberies, rapes and threats. Those who fled to Kurdistan are now considered refugees inside Iraq; they face high unemployment and inadequate housing, plus difficulty in finding schooling (especially university) for their children. They also lack adequate medical care and monthly food rations due to registration problems and discrimination by Kurdish officials. Because many of the Iraqi Christians who fled Mosul or Baghdad speak Arabic, they often find themselves without access to a Christian community that worships in their language, as most of the traditional churches in the Kurdish Regional Government s controlled Nineveh area speak the original languages such as Chaldean or Assyrian. A bad omen is that even in the relatively freer semi-autonomous Kurdish region, the security situation of Christians is deteriorating due to rising Islamic extremism. From 2-5 December 2011, Islamic rioters attacked Christian-owned businesses in some mainly Christian villages. Analysts think that one of the reasons for the growing Islamic extremism is Iraq s drift into Iran s orbit while the United States influence is diminishing in the country. And in the spring of 2013 a Christian village was attacked by Kurds, which seems to be in line with the vision of Islamisation of Christian areas. Although this attack was one of many, only this attack reached publicity. 3

4 Since the US troops have started to withdraw from the country, Iraq has suffered from structural uncertainty, conflict and instability under a government incapable of enforcing the rule of law and providing a minimum of security. Corruption levels are soaring and sectarian violence does not seem to stop. According to Iraqi Christians the current government fails to give them security. During 2010, there was a marked increase of killings of Christians and attacks on churches. One the deadliest attacks against Christians since 2003 was the bomb attack on the Syrian Catholic church of Baghdad at the end of October 2010, in which 58 Christians were killed and at least 60 injured. It was this attack that has considerably increased fear among Iraqi Christians and caused thousands to flee. Violence was and still is part of the Iraqi society in 2011 and 2012, although there were fewer reports of casualties than in In 2011, there were bomb attacks on several churches in Mosul (January), Baghdad (April) and Kirkuk (August). Open Doors noted an apparent increase in individual attacks and threats against Christians during the first half of As a minority, Christians are an easy target for kidnappers. They are not part of a tribe that can protect them, nor are they likely to react violently. According to Iraqi Christians, along with financial profit religion is also a major part of the motivation. Though many Christians are not hiding their Christian identity, the church seems to succumb under the violent aggression: marriages are in trouble, children are being abused by parents who are using alcohol and drugs to cope with the suffering. The clergy is not only overburdened by all the needs, but is often specifically targeted by extremists. Many of them have either fled or have been killed. Consequently, the church lacks capable leaders. Sadly the deep ethnic, political and religious divisions are also felt in the diverse denominations and churces, which lead to increasing tensions among Christians. The establishment of an Assyrian state on the Nineveh plain is an example of such a divisive issue that can also lead to problems with local authorities. In its forecast of , the Economist Intelligence Unit expects the political situation in Iraq to remain unstable. Following the withdrawal of US forces there will be intermittent spikes in violence. The weakness of the national unity government, together with the prime minister's increasing authoritarianism, will continue to exacerbate on-going divisions between Iraq's various communities. This weakness of the state is expected to benefit insurgent groups who are expanding their power base, making the situation of Christians even more difficult. The exodus of Christians means a loss of pluralism in Iraqi society and also a loss of tolerance of dissenting groups. An increase of intolerance combined with a more and more divided Iraqi society is not very promising for the future of (religious) minorities in Iraq. What is happening? DIEDLIEST SECTARIAN VIOLENCE IN FIVE YEARS: Bombings and suicide attacks mainly targeting Shiites and security forces continued during the first six months of 2013, in what is called the worst violence in five years. Al-Qaeda-in-Iraq and other terrorist groups attacks kill about 200 to 300 people per month. This security problem is further worsening the on-going political crisis and vice versa in a country where several politicians have close ties with terrorists. The trigger of the latest violence were the deadly clashes between protesters and government troops after a crackdown on a Sunni protest camp close to the northern town of Hawija on 23 April More than 40 people died. A considerable decrease of violence is not expected within the coming years as the political impasse is hard to solve. This situation is further complicated by the heavy handedness of security forces, the power of Al Qaeda in Mosul and the civil war in Syria. ELECTIONS RESULTS CONFIRM FURTHER POLARIZATION: There is widespread political and sectarian disunity in Iraqi society. A just division of power between Sunni, Shia and Kurdish parties appears to be a major stumbling block, just like the fight between decentralisers and recentralisers of Baghdad s power. PM Maliki s autocratic 4

5 features VP Al-Hashemi was again convicted to death in November 2012 for alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate an interior ministry official. The VP remains in exile in Turkey. In April 2013, the first provincial elections were held since the US troops left the country. The results imply a waning influence of PM Maliki s party and a further polarization in which no single block was able to win the majority in neither of the provinces. According to some analysts, this is an indication that the influence of moderates is decreasing and sectarian lines are hardening. Sectarian tensions and divisions are fed by internal and external factors: the failing internal policy and the sectarian character of the civil war in Syria, more precisely the Iraqi government s stand in this conflict. As the Iraqi government fears the consequences of a possible future majority Sunni government in Syria, the influence of Iran on the Iraqi is increasing. The latter combined with the further sectarian hardening is bad news for the Iraqi Christian minority. CHRISTIANS CONTINUE TO SUFFER FROM VIOLENCE: The security situation of Christians in northern and central Iraq continues to deteriorate. In Baghdad, Christians but also others are even forced to stay inside as it is too dangerous in the streets. Several killings of Christians took place during the first six months of 2013: in Mosul a Christian teacher had her throat slit in January A Christian minister s convey of cars of was targeted in February His bodyguard, also a Christian, got injured in the bomb attack. More recent attacks and incidents of violence include attacks on Assyrian owned businesses and a church in Baghdad in June In June, the Christian town of Jami Rabatki in Dohuk province, Kurdistan was attacked. For years a demographic reversal process has been ongoing in many majority Christian areas in Kurdistan, in which mosques, Kurdish cultural centers are being built. Also, houses are being built and trees planted on land that originally belonged to Christians. On a more positive note, Christians celebrated a largely peaceful Easter that is - under heavy security in cities like Mosul and Baghdad. EMIGRATION AND RETURN OF CHRISTIAN IDP s: Out of the 330, ,000 Christians estimated to be living in Iraq presently, at least 186,000 have fled their homes and businesses because of warfare, unrest and religious cleansing and are considered refugees inside Iraq. Since last year the rate of Christian emigration surpassed the number of new IDP s. The worsening security situation for Christians in Kurdistan and the integration problems (lack of jobs and public services, financial problems) seem to play a role here. Most of them emigrate to Turkey, Jordan and until lately to Syria. However, Christians are currently returning from Syria and Kurdistan to Arab Iraq because of the civil war and the relatively improved security situation in, for example, Baghdad. This is, nevertheless, not true for Mosul, where Christians continue to flee the violence. WORSENING SITUATION IN KURDISTAN: After the killing of an American teacher in Sulaymaniyah in March 2012, the KRG parliament discussed whether to curb Christian activities and the employment of English teachers from abroad. Some were marking all Western workers as missionaries, a serious accusation affecting all expats. In several predominantly Christian areas and towns where only Christians were allowed to buy land or houses, the government is currently ordering land to be sold to Yezidis or Muslims. In one city, the Ministry of Construction has ordered the building of six flats for Shiites from the surrounding villages. In perspective of the overall treatment of Christians in the region, this seems to reflect the policy of Arabisation or Islamisation, as previously enforced by Sadam in places such as Kirkuk. If Christian areas are being forced to house large numbers of Muslim residents, these areas will gradually become Islamic. 5

6 A selection of recent incidents 2 On 8 July 2013, a Christian truck driver, Salem Dawood Coca, was found dead after his truck was rigged by explosives. Earlier, Salem was kidnapped by a group from outside the Nineveh region. The kidnappers contacted his family, telling them Salem was a Christian infidel but did not demand a ransom. The police suspects that Salem was killed because he refused to perform a suicide bombing. This serious incident is one of many incidents that increased the fear of Iraqi Christians. Open Doors believes that this indicates a policy to intimidate and threaten Christians in the Nineveh region to move away. On 22 September 2013, a suicide bomber blew up a car near the house of Christian politician Emad Youhanna in Rafidayn, Kirkuk. Nineteen people were injured, of whom four serious, and the house was severely damaged. Early September, Kurdish policeman entered the Christian village Deshtakh. Reportedly, the policemen threatened to shoot while telling them that they should not be in Iraq as it is a Muslim territory. In the Central-south of Iraq and the Nineveh-Plains violence is also continuing. Although there does not seems to be a specific campaign against Christians, church leaders in Bagdad say that there are attacks against Christians every two or three days. In June Gunmen opened fire at the St. May Assyrian Church, wounding two security guards. Reportedly, the gunmen were driving in a civilian car while firing bullets at the church, which is located in the Armeen Thania neighbourhood in eastern Bagdad. These incidents increase the fear amongst Iraqi Christians, and their family members who already moved to the West encourage them to leave Iraq as well. 2 This section is by no means an exhaustive list of incidents. 6