Information on the assault or rape of non-Kurdish Iraqi women by Iraqi military and security personnel, including statistics on the number of assaults and whether there are avenues of redress for such victims in Iraq [IRQ17810.E]

Sources currently available to the DIRB do not provide statistics on the assault or rape of non-Kurdish Iraqi women by Iraqi miliary personnel and whether there are avenues of redress for such victims. However, without excluding any ethnic or religious group, the following sources refer to the rape of Iraqi women by Iraqi security forces.

Referring to Iraqi women victims of rape, the attached Washington Post article refers to a Middle East scholar who states
the Iraqi secret police, the M[o]khabarat, regularly "tasked" the intelligence officers to rape women as a form of torture (8 Dec. 1991).
According to an Associated Press report,
Jassem Mouklas, an influential Tikriti lawyer in his 70s, and other Tikritis were brutally interrogated and threatened with having their wives and daughters raped in front of them if they did not confess (9 Oct. 1993).
Please note that Tikrit is a Sunni-populated region of Iraq from which come many influential Sunni Iraqis, including Saddam Hussein.

Referring to the torture of prisoners by Iraqi security forces, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1993 states that torture includes rape and "threats to rape or otherwise harm relatives" of prisoners (1994, 1186).

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

The Associated Press (AP). 9 October 1993. PM Cycle. "Prominent Sunnis Held in Saddam Purge." (NEXIS)

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1993. 1994. United States Department of State. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office.

The Washington Post. 8 December 1991. Final Edition. Lori Heise. "When Women Are Prey; Around the World, Rape Is Commonplace and the Victims Can't Fight Back." (NEXIS)

Attachments

The Associated Press (AP). 9 October 1993. PM Cycle. "Prominent Sunnis Held in Saddam Purge." (NEXIS)

The Washington Post. 8 December 1991. Final Edition. Lori Heise. "When Women Are Prey; Around the World, Rape Is Commonplace and the Victims Can't Fight Back." (NEXIS)