These clippings (with Paragraph numbers) are taken from the bimonthly reports available at http://www.uniraq.org/aboutus/HR.asp
10. Minorities also continued to be targeted, with threats and attacks against Christians still on the rise. Armed groups or militias have continued to threaten and forcibly evict Palestinians from their homes and have repeatedly attacked them with mortars and armed fire.
110. Killings, threats, intimidations, and kidnappings are becoming the norm for Palestinians in Iraq. Many of these actions are reportedly carried out by the militias wearing police or special forces uniform. Most of the victims are found dead or simply disappear. Sixteen Palestinians were kidnapped and 9 killed during the reporting period. HRO received unconfirmed reports that many victims were interrogated and killed in illegal detention centres run by militias. Many residents have reported receiving threatening letters demanding they evacuate their houses and many of the abandoned houses were later occupied allegedly by members of militias or their affiliates.
111. On 2 November, two individuals were killed in front of their parents by the Iraqi National Guard in Al Fadil area in Baghdad. On 27 November, the body of 72-year-old Tawfiq Abdul Khaliq was found bearing signs of torture. On 13 November, unidentified gunmen killed a female Palestinian in Al Mashtel area in Baghdad. Her house was occupied by militias and when she asked MNF-I for help, the militia torched her house before departing. Other Palestinians were targeted and kidnapped for ransom and then released or killed. On 30 November, a taxi driver, was kidnapped at the Al Habibia area and then released. A shopkeeper was taken from his shop in Al Mashtel area on 2 December. The kidnappers came in one police and three civilian cars. His body was found on 7 December at the Baghdad morgue.
112. Attacks on the Palestinian compound in Baladiyat in Baghdad for instance are frequent in order to compel Palestinians to leave their dwellings and their belongings. Baladiyat is located in the midst of a Shiite area and threats are usually followed by small arms fire and mortar attacks. In the past two months, at least six incidents of organized attacks on the Palestinian compound have been recorded, such as on 26 November, when a group of gunmen stormed the quarter and demanded Palestinians leave or be shot. On 9 December, three mortar shells landed in Al Baladiyat wounding ten. On 13 December, mortar attacks continued to rain on the compound for three hours, killing up to 11 and injuring more. There were reports that the area was cordoned off by police, according to some accounts, and by militias according to others, thus preventing injured Palestinians to reach hospitals.
113. HRO and UNHCR maintain regular contacts and continue to monitor the situation of Palestinians. On at least two occasions in December, UNAMI had to call upon MNF-I to intervene while the Palestinian compound was being attacked. The police and MNF-I were reported to have arrived after the attacks had ended, and briefly patrolled the area. UNHCR reported that 350 Palestinians from Iraq (who recently left Baghdad) remain near the Al Tanf border crossing between Iraq and Syria in a makeshift refugee camp located in the no man's land between both borders. They have been denied entry by the Syrian government and they refused to return to Iraq. As a result, they have been living in increasingly desperate circumstances for the past six months. There are 131 Palestinians still within Iraq near Al Tanf border. Similarly, at the border with Jordan, 7 Palestinians remain between the Jordanian and the Iraqi border.
60. The Palestinian refugees in Baghdad have continued to be harassed and targeted by militias using light weapons and mortars to force them out of their homes in Baghdad, particularly the Al-Baladiyat and Al-Hurriya neighbourhoods. The Palestinian Embassy in Baghdad reported that Palestinians have received constant verbal threats and abuses. Further, the Embassy has reported incidents of random shooting at their buildings from moving vehicles, which the Palestinians have described as a daily occurrence. Several have been killed of injured in these incidents. As a result, many families living in Al- Hurriya and a majority of the 2,200 Palestinian families residing in Al Baladiyat have reportedly left their homes, which they had rented or bought after having been forcibly evicted from other neighbourhoods in Baghdad. For many Palestinians, leaving Iraq is not an option, as the only documents they have are either Iraqi Travel Documents or Palestinian passports. Neither document is accepted by neighbouring countries.
61. Following threats delivered through leaflets at the end of September, militias reportedly raided Palestinian neighbourhood of Al-Hurriya on 7 October at 22:00 hours and ordered the residents to vacate their houses by 10:00 the following day or they would be killed. UNHCR, MNF-I and the US Embassy were alerted and it appears that the Iraqi Army visited the area. During the same militia raid of 7 October, at least one individual and his family were forcibly evicted from their home. The militias confiscated the keys to their home, and up to 20 families have relocated from the area out of fear.
62. On 20 October, 6 mortars were fired at the Baladiyat complex, used as a sewing training centre and currently occupied by about 20 Palestinian families evicted from their homes in 2003. The complex is situated close to a mosque and a residential area. Three Palestinian men were killed and 21 sustained light or critical injuries. According to witnesses along the main road to Baladiyat, the attackers were dressed in black outfits. The witnesses, who were shop owners, were asked to get inside their shops during the attack.
63. The situation of Palestinians in Iraq continues to be of serious concern. Some 34,000 Palestinians have been living in Iraq for years but are currently victims to various types of human rights violations because they are perceived as supporters of the previous regime or the insurgency. After serious attacks against the Palestinian community following the destruction of Al-Askari Shrine in Samarra on 22 February 2006, their security situation has varied.
64. In the morning of 26 June the apartment building complex where many Palestinians reside in Baghdad, in Al-Baladiyat neighbourhood, was attacked by armed individuals identified as militias. Some accounts indicated that among the aggressors there were allegedly members of the Special Forces of the Ministry of Interior. At least 4 Palestinians died and many others were wounded when the militias reportedly opened fire in a local market. Among the attackers, 7 were reportedly killed in the ensuing clashes. After the initial assault, the armed men entered several apartments and detained at least 12 young men. The situation was brought under control after the intervention of the MNF-I but Palestinians remain fearful and requested that the MNF-I continue frequent patrols to dissuade further attacks.
65. The Human Rights Office received several reports that, following the attack in Al- Baladiyat, family members of one Palestinian killed during the clashes was also murdered outside the Medico-Legal Institute in Baghdad, when they tried to recover the body of their relative. UNAMI HRO also received reports that two Palestinians wounded during the 26 June clashes were kidnapped from Al-Kindy and Habibiya hospitals by unidentified armed men.
66. The approximately 175 Palestinian refugees who are stranded in no-man’s land, on the border to Syria, recently reported that, on 18 June, Iraqi Security Forces arrived in several vehicles in front of the camp and told a man standing there that the Palestinians were terrorists and threatened to take him back to Iraq with them. The man started shouting and calling a Syrian security officer who happened to be in the camp. The officer called for a Syrian Patrol to assist, but the Iraqi Security Forces left in their vehicles towards Iraq.
Recent displacement and situation of Palestinians in Iraq
As a result of the pervasive violence, Iraqis continue to leave their areas of residence, either voluntarily or as a result of violence or threats by insurgents, militias and other armed groups. According to figures from the International Organization of Migration (IOM), the number of displaced persons since 22 February 2006 reached 14,307 families, or 85,842 persons. The IOM further reported that most of the Shi’a families are leaving central areas of Iraq (Baghdad, Anbar and Salah al Din) towards southern Governorates (Najaf, Qadissya, Wassit and Kerbala). Sunni families are leaving southern areas and moving towards the Governorates of Baghdad, Diyala and Anbar.
HRO received reports illustrating the dynamics of displacement. Approximately 80 families are now living in tents inside Kut stadium - out of a total of 1,300 displaced families living in Kut originally from Abu Ghraib area in Baghdad. Reportedly, 400 Shi’a families have been displaced from the same area after they received threats through mobile phone calls, letters, written notes left at their homes and direct threats by armed individuals.
Similar methods have been used in most parts of the country intimidating Shi’a and Sunni neighbours into leaving their homes. Over 370 Sunni families left since February this year to Fallujah, Ramadi, and other places in Anbar, as well as Salah al Governorate. The Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration has recorded the arrival of over 500 Shi'a families from Al Anbar, Baghdad and other provinces to Basra in the past few months. Internal displacement is accompanied by increasing displacement of Iraqis seeking refuge outside the country.
UNAMI HRO has been in contact with Palestinian representatives over the past months. Some 34,000 Palestinians have been living in Iraq for years but are currently victims to various types of human rights violations because they are perceived supporters of the insurgency. In this sense, they are victims of the same discrimination, labelling, stigmatization and profiling affecting other communities of foreign residents of Arab extraction in Iraq (e.g. Syrian Arabs, Sudanese, Yemenis, Egyptians, Somalis). On 22 February 2006, following the events in Samarra, militias attacked Palestinians living in the neighbourhood of Baladiyat in Baghdad with mortars and indiscriminate fire. Up to 10 Palestinians have been reported killed since 22 February; others have been illegally detained and tortured or have disappeared.
Since 19 March 2006, approximately 240 members of the Palestinian community, who have lived in Iraq for many years, have left Baghdad in fear for their safety and were stranded near the border with Jordan as of 30 April. UNAMI finds encouragement in a religious Fatwa by Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani recently issued by calling for the respect of Palestinians, and by the commitment of the Government to continue granting protection to the Palestinians in Iraq.
Situation of minorities
18. UNAMI continues to receive disturbing reports that minorities, including Palestinians living in Iraq, are victims of human rights violations because of their perceived association with the insurgency. Palestinian refugees, a community estimated at 34,000 individuals who arrived in Iraq over the past three decades, suffer the same discrimination, labeling, stigmatization and profiling affecting other communities of foreign Arabs residing in Iraq (e.g. Syrians and Sudanese). Following the destruction of Al-Askari Shrine in Samarra, militias attacked Palestinians living in the neighbourhood of Baladiyat in Baghdad with mortars and indiscriminate fire on several occasions. The intervention of the MNF-I, assisted in stopping further violence. Since then, other attacks have taken place. Up to 10 Palestinians have been reported killed; others have been illegally detained and tortured or have disappeared.
19. Foreign long-term Arab residents and members of the Sunni community complained to the Human Rights Office about profiling and victimization by security forces. Furthermore, a recent decision by the Iraqi authorities requiring that foreigners must renew their residency status every two months is reported to cause unnecessary suffering. Representatives of the Palestinian community met with the HRO in Baghdad to complain about harassment by the authorities.