Corporate report

Iraq - Country of Concern: latest updates, 30 June 2014

Updated 21 January 2015

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

The overall human rights situation deteriorated between April and June 2014 following a sharp increase in terrorist violence in parts of northern and western Iraq.

On 10 June, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), who remain in control of parts of the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi in Anbar province, working with other groups, took control of Iraq’s second biggest city of Mosul. With support from some local tribes and other insurgent groups, ISIL pushed south towards Baghdad and subsequently seized control of other towns in western and northern Iraq, including Tikrit. The conflict has resulted in around 500,000 people being displaced in Ninevah province, with around 40,000 displaced in Salah-ad-Din and Diyala, adding to over 400,000 people already displaced from the violence in Anbar province.

A Department for International Development team arrived in the north of Iraq on 12 June to assess the humanitarian situation. On 14 June, the Secretary of State for International Development announced that Britain would provide an initial £3million of emergency humanitarian assistance. On 18 June, the Prime Minister announced an additional £2million to bring the UK’s contribution up to £5million in humanitarian assistance. On 20 June the EU committed €5million in humanitarian assistance to support internally displaced persons fleeing the violence.

We have repeatedly called on the Iraqi government to address political grievances, and for Iraq’s leaders to put aside their differences and act together against the threat posed by ISIL and other extremist groups, including through the formation of a new and inclusive government following April’s elections. The Foreign Secretary reinforced these messages when he visited Baghdad and Erbil on 26-27 June, including during a meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki. The Foreign Secretary has also engaged actively with international leaders on how to respond to the current crisis. This has included discussions with US Secretary of State John Kerry, the Iraqi, Turkish and Iranian Foreign Ministers, and the Israeli Minister for National Security. Minister for the Middle East, Hugh Robertson, also discussed the situation in Iraq with the Iraqi Foreign Minister when they met at the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in London on 12 June.

Since assuming control of Mosul and other cities, ISIL, along with other armed groups, have reportedly carried out a number of human rights abuses, including rape, kidnap, forced marriage and restrictions on women’s movement and expression, including through the forced wearing of Islamic dress. There were reports of the subsequent suicide of a number of rape victims. There are also reports of executions by ISIL, including the mass execution of members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) in Tikrit, shortly after ISIL had taken control of the city.

Owners of shops serving alcohol, usually Christians, have been forced to leave and had their stores of alcohol destroyed, and there have been reports that ISIL ordered the demolition of a number of places of worship in Mosul. Several photos of burning religious buildings have been circulated on social media. Our Embassy in Baghdad discussed these incidents with Iraq’s Independent Commission for Human Rights, which is investigating the reports. The abuses are representative of ISIL practice in Syria, and are designed to strike fear and promote sectarian division. Mr Robertson discussed these issues with the Iraqi Minister for Human Rights when they met on 26 June. We called on the government to investigate reports of human rights abuses, including when the UK Ambassador to Iraq met the Senior Deputy Minister for the Interior on 17 June. We also called for the ISF to protect civilians and to avoid human rights abuses.

Levels of terrorist violence elsewhere in Iraq remained high during the reporting period, with extremist groups continuing to seek to cause sectarian divide. Attacks included suicide bomb attacks on the village of Bartella in Ninevah province on 6 June which left several people dead, and an attack on an election campaign rally on 25 April which left more than 30 people dead. There were also attacks on polling centres on 30 April when, despite the threat from extremists, millions of Iraqis nevertheless voted in parliamentary elections. On 24 June Munir Kafili, the chairman of Kirkuk City Council and executive council member of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, was assassinated by an unidentified gunman. The UN reported that at least 3,900 people were killed over the last three months, with at least 2,400 deaths occurring in June.

We were also concerned by widespread reports that the ISF used barrel bombs as part of their response to the situation in Anbar, and that residential areas of Fallujah and Fallujah General Hospital had been damaged during ISF attacks.

Iraq continued to apply for the death penalty during the reporting period with two people executed, meaning that at least 52 people have been executed this year. The unofficial moratorium imposed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in 2008 on the use of the death penalty in the region remains in place.

In an interview with Al-Hurra TV to mark World Press Freedom Day, the UK Ambassador to Iraq set out the importance of a free press to a pluralistic and democratic society. Iraq is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists to operate, and media professionals are frequently faced with violence and intimation. We welcome the lifting of the ban on al-Iraqiya TV staff from entering the Council of Representatives. The Foreign Secretary raised the murder of journalist Kawa Garmyani when he met the KRG Prime Minister on 20 May. He also discussed the situation for women in the Kurdistan Region.

To support the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict, our Chargé d’Affaires hosted a small roundtable event attended by government officials from the Ministry of Human Rights and Ministry of Women’s Affairs, two of Iraq’s Independent Human Rights Commissioners, representatives of civil society and women’s rights NGOs, and the UN mission’s gender expert. This is a key issue in Iraq, with the deteriorating security situation affecting women’s access to their rights, which were already at a low base following years of armed conflict, political instability and terrorism. The ISIL surge across northern Iraq and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of families has put many more at risk of sexual violence, deepening the humanitarian crisis. Attitudes to sexual violence remain a serious obstacle to tackling the issue in Iraq, with victims often stigmatised, and perpetrators going unpunished.