Document #1244607
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
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.
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)
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)