11.03.2008 - Source: US Department of State

Issuance of identity cards for Baha'is ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2007") [ID 23789]

"After the MOI [Ministry of Interior] cancelled in April its regulation prohibiting issuance of a national identity card to those claiming the Baha'i Faith, four Baha'is were issued identity cards in May. Without this official citizenship card, the approximately 1,000 Baha'is experienced difficulty registering their children in school, receiving passports to travel out of the country, and proving their citizenship. Despite the cancellation, Baha'is whose identity records were changed to "Muslim" after Regulation 358 was instituted in 1975 still could not change their identity cards to indicate their faith.

Constitutional provisions on religious freedoms countermand the Revolutionary Command Council Resolution 201 of 2001, which mandated the death penalty for adherents of the Salafist branch of Islam (Wahhabism) and Law No. 105 of 1970, which prohibits the Baha'i Faith. There was selective enforcement against Baha'is, but no been formal repeal."

Document(s): Open document

08.2007 - Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Current Situation ("UNHCR's Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Iraqi Asylum-seekers") [ID 23142]

"Law No. 105 of 1970 prohibits the Baha’i faith in Iraq, although this runs counter to constitutional guarantees relating to the freedom of religion. Based on this law and other regulations, the Government of Iraq continues with discriminatory practices against the Baha’i. In 1975, the Directorate of Civil Affairs issued Decision No. 358 providing that civil status records, which contain all information relevant to the civil status of Iraqi persons such as birth, marriage, divorce, etc., can no longer indicate “Baha’i” as religion. Instead, one of the three Abrahamic religions, i.e. Islam, Christianity or Judaism, had to be indicated. Those persons who could not prove that they belong to one of these recognized religions, e.g. through their parents’ civil status records or a court order, or were not willing to do so, will have their civil records frozen, meaning that requests for birth, death or marriage certificates, civil status identification documents or passports will not be processed. Recent requests from the Baha’i to change this policy have reportedly been met with sympathy, but the Ministry of Interior’s Nationality and Travel Directorate Offices continue to implement this regulation. This policy puts adherents of the Baha’i faith in the untenable position of either having to make a false statement about their religious beliefs or to be left without documentation necessary to access most rights of citizenship, including education, ownership of property, medical care or food rations."

Document(s): Open document