1. INTRODUCTION

2. Through the mechanism established by the Security Council in resolution 692 (1991) of 20 May 1991; to cease immediately its repressive practices aimed at the Iraqi Kurds in the north, Assyrians, Shi’a, Turkoman, the population of the southern marsh areas,

II. ACTIVITIES OF THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR

6. On 15 October 1996, the Specyal Rapporteur submitted a preliminary report (A/51/496) to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session. On 8 November 1996, the Specyal Rapporteur submitted an addendun to that report (A/51/496/Add.1), in which de described the results of a mission undertaken to the Islamic Republic of Iran to recelve testimonies and reports from Iraqi citizens who had crossed the border as a result of the fighting that took place in northern Iraq in early September 1996, who claimed to be victims of or eyewitnesses to human rights viclations committed by the Iraqi Army and Iraqi Security, particularly in the city of Arbil and its surrounding areas.

3. CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS

4. Forced displacement

25. At present, forcible relocations continue to take place in the context of a policy aimed at changing the demography of the oil-rich sectors of Kirkuk and Khanaquin by deporting ethnic Kurds and Turkomen families. Although the practice of forced relocation and deportation by the Government of Iraq to decrease the presence of the Kurdish and Turkoman population living in that area and to strengthen their hold on the important economic and strategic Governorate of Kirkuk is not new, the scale of those activities increased in 1997.

26. In order to increase the percentage of the Arab population in the predominantly Kurdish areas the Government of Iraq has forced antire Communities to undergo internal deportation. It is reported that the real and personel property left by the deportees is then given to ethnic Arabs coming from other parts of Iraq; several villages are also reported to have been entirely destroyed. Reports and testimonies received by the Special Rapporteur indicate that the victims of displacement are almost exclusively Kurds, Turkomen and Assyrians living in the city of Kirkuk and its surroundings.

27. During 1997, cases of forced eviction and deportation seemed to occur with great frequency and as a matter of policy. Most of the displaced stated that they were given at most one week’s notice to move, and were threatened with arrest if they did not comply. They were reportedly forced to move either to the southern governorates of the country or to the three northern governorates. They were allowed to take with them all their belongings only if they agreed to move to the southern governorates. Given the fact that the displaced usually move to the neighbouring northern governorates of Iraq, such as the city of Suleymaniyah, to join relatives or friends iriginating from the same area and sharing the same ethnicity, they have to leave their property without any compensation-prpoerty which is reportedly immediately stolen, confiscated or destroyed by the authorities.

28. On 13 May 1997, the Iraqi authorities reportedly issued orders to expel 1,300 Kurdish and Turkoman families from their homes in Kirkuk. The first wawe of 37 families reportedly arrived in Chamchamal outside Suleymaniyah city on 20 May 1997. The families had been dispossessed of title to their properties in Kirkuk, as well as their food ration cards. During the last week of August 1997, Iraqi authorities reportedly notified 440 Kurdish households in the district towns of Jalula and Qara-Tepa (west of Khanaquin) to leave their homes for southern Iraq or to areas administered by the “Kurdistan Regional Government”. The Special Rapporteur has received the names of several families who were deported and are currently living in Suleymaniyah. In the city of Kirkuk, Iraqi troops are reportedly conducting searches on an almost daily basis, with homes being raided late at night or at dawn. Searches are said sometimes to take all day, covering an entire residential quarter, with nobody being allowed to enter or leave the area. The reported pretaxt given for the searches is to find deserters and fugitives from military service, or for elements of the opposition parties. However, the real objective and concrete effect, according to reports, is to harass families- eventually forcing them to move elsewhere.

29. According to an article published on 2 April 1997 in the Al-Sharg Al-Awsat newspaper, the authorities carried out displacement of Iraqi Kurdish, Turkomen and Arab families from the Khanaquin region of Diyala. More than 1,500 citizens from Khanaguin and 80 families from Kirkuk were reportedly forcibly displaced. Some of the women were allegedly beaten and insulted, while a number of men were arrested for refusing to obey orders to vacate and leave their homes.The families were reported to have been internally deported to regions in southern and western Iraq since the authorities prevented them from making their way to northern Iraq. The displaced families have reportedly been unable to find accommodation, and have forced to seek refuge in the mosques of Al-Yousefiya and Al-Mahmoudiya villages, south of Baghdad, and of the Musayab region in Babylon Governorate.

30. According Khanaquin and 80 families from Kirkuk were reportedly forcibly displaced. Some of the women were allegedly beaten and insulted, while a number of men were arrested for refusing to obey orders to vacate and leave their homes. The families were reported to have been internally deported to regions in southern and western Iraq since the auhhorities prevented them from making their way to northern Irqq. The displaced families have reportedly been unable to find accomation, and have been forced to seek refuge in the mosques of Al-Yousafiya and Al-Mahmoudiya villages, south of Baghdad, and of the Musayab region in Babylon Governorate .

30. According to information received by the Special Rapporteur, the Government of Iraq has sincle 1995 forcibly expropriated agricultural lands belonging to Turkomans in Kirkuk, paying only symbolic sums which are not even equivalent to one year’s yield, especially from Toon Kobri north of kirkuk to Tuz Khumatu to the south of Kirkuk. Ownership of the expropriated lands has allegedly been transferred to high-level officials of the regime,including members of Saddam Hussein’s family . All the agricultural lands around the village of Turklan, which belonged to Turkoman peasants, were reportedly confiscated. The village was then demolished, and its inhabitants were displaced to the Tammuz and Al-Shaheed complexes near Tikrit. In the village of Mullah Abdullah, the agricultural lands belonging to a Turkoman peasant were also reportedly confiscated .

31. Aside from the obvious violation of property rights, it is clear that displacement leaves the affected families in a much worse economic and social situation. Tens of thousand of Kurdish and Turkoman families from Kirkuk now Live in tents and camps in the region from which the Government withdrew its authorities in October 1991,. Those families live in extremely harsh conditions, resulting in many deaths, especially among small children and the elderly. Many families remain without much support. They often suffer from fear and anxiety associated with loss of work, social role and home. For the most oart, they depeng for their survival on assistance from relief organizations and the United Nations.

32. While studying the situation, the Special Rapporteur has found that the phenomenonof forced displacements appears largely if not exclusively to involve ethnic minorities. So far, the Government of Iraq has declined even to acknowledge the facts, and therefore no offical statistics are available on the number of displaced persons in Iraq, and there exist no particular remedies to address the problem of displacement in Iraq.

33. It should be noted that the forced displacement of persons is not consistent with human rights norms, as proclaimed in article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which secure the freedom of movement, including the freedom to choose one’s residence in one’s own country. In the event that persons are displacement in circumstances which are consistent with international norms, they nevertheless have the right to live in conditions which ensure the basic rights to food, housing and health care, as well as reasonable social amenities and the enjoyment of all other human rights.  

3. THE RIGHTS TO FOOD AND HEALTH CARE

B. Food for iol agreement

49. For internally displaced persons, the Special Rapporteur takes note with appreciation that their cases are carefully monitored by WFP, the United Nations Geographical Observation Unit and MDOU to ensure that,all continue to receive their intended benefits. He notes that following reports that some 400 families had been evicned from Kirkuk, the United Nations Humaniratian Coordinator approached the Government of Iraq to ensure that their entitlement to resolution approached the Government of Iraq to ensure that their entitlement to resolution 986 (1995) rations had not been affected, and the United Nations has taken action to register the families who have reached Arbil and Sulaymaniyah in order to provide them with such rations. However, and unlik the northern part of Iraq where the United Nations is responsible for the distribution of humaniration supplies, the Special Rapporteur hopes that internally displaced persons who have reached the southern governorates of Nineveh, Basrah and Nasseriyah have been registered as fast as those reaching the northern governorates, and that they are currently receiving the food ration.

4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Conclusions

56. The special Rapporteur observes that the absence of respect for the rigths pertaining to democtaric governance is at the root of all the major violations of human rights in Iraq insofer as that absence implies a structure of power which is autocratic nd accountable only to itself, thus inherently resting on the denial and repression of fundamental rights. He notes with particular concern that extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and the practice of torture continue to occur in Iraq.

57. With regard to allegations of arbitrary arrest and detention, the Special Rapporteur does not doubt that such violations take place on a wide scale, if on no other basis than his examination of the laws in place, which shows that such violations are legal and may easily occur. At the same time, the absence of an independent judiciary, coupledwith a host of executiveorderscriminalizing far too many aspects of normal civilian conduct, prescribing disproportionate penalties and authirizing arrest and detention withoutjudicial review orany other form of judicial authorizationi lead the Special Rapporteur to onclude that a significant percentage of all arrests and detentions in Iraq are arbitrary when measured by generally accepted international standards.The Special Rapporteur expresses his deep concern at the continued detention of many political prisoners, and the recent arrests of other supporters of oppositional groups in Iraq.

58. On the basis of virtually unanimous reports and previous examination of the laws,the Special Rapporteur concludes that there is no freedo of thought, opinion, expression or association in Iraq. The absolute presidential power isexercised to silence opposition and panalize htose holding dissenting views or beliefs. Because of both visible and invisible pressures, the people live in a climate of fear in which whatever they or their family members may say or do, particularlyin the areaof politics, involves the risk of arrest and interrogation by the police or military intelligence. In that situation, open discussionand free exchanges of views and opnions cannot possibly take place in Iraq, unless they are in support of the present presidential regime.

59. Turning to freedom of novement and residence in Iraq, the Special Rapporteur concludes that there are clear violations of those freedoms found in Iraq’s law and practice. On the matter of internal deportations and forced relocations, the Special Rapporteur concludes that the Government’s policy violates freedom of movement and residence, and constitutes discriminatory practices based on ethnic considerations.

2. Recommendations

62. The special Rapporteur refers to all of the recommendations made in his previous reports to the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rigths, which remain valid. In the light of the foregoing conclusions, the Special rapporteur submits the following recommendations: