Treatment of people perceived to transgress Islam

parties ruling Iraq since 2003.¹⁰²⁶ An article published by PRI on 17 January 2018 informed that, while atheism is rare in Iraq, the number of atheists is growing.¹⁰²⁷

Another article by Al-Monitor, published in March 2014, mentions that while atheism has deep historical roots in Iraq (dating to the 9th century), it a new in its ‘widespread and comprehensive spread through all societal and age classes’. While it used to be an ‘elitist phenomenon’ restricted to intellectuals and scholars, it is ‘all-encompassing’ and continues to increase in scope. The article states that one of the possible reasons for this might be the religious extremism and sectarianism that has dominated society for the past two decades in the context of ongoing conflict.¹⁰²⁸

In an EASO meeting report (25-26 April 2017) on Iraq, Mark Lattimer, director of the Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights, stated that:

‘Young people in Iraq are coming under many different influences and there are many older Iraqis who are not religious. I think as the country becomes more and more sectarian it is easy to assume everyone is becoming more religious, but this is not necessarily the case. There is a strong strain of communism in Iraq associated with a secularist outlook and that is still quite strong among Iraqi civil society. You have varying degrees of religious adherence, but that doesn’t mean it is easy to identify as an atheist and it is rare that you would do that publicly. Sometimes people will say they are Muslim but privately are atheist.’¹⁰²⁹

According to an academic interviewed by the DIS/Landinfo during their 2018 mission to the KRI persons who openly say they are not religious would risk arrest in Baghdad and the south whereas in the KRI there would be more freedom of expression with regards to religious beliefs.¹⁰³⁰ In April 2018 Al-Monitor reports the Dhi Qar province's Garraf district judiciary announced issuing arrest warrants for four Iraqis on atheism charges, leading to the arrest of one of them.¹⁰³¹

An article by Al-Monitor from 23 June 2017 reported that atheists are viewed with disdain and face threats by military groups and political leaders. The article also mentions the case of an atheist in Baghdad who was vocal about his views on social media and received death threats from a Shia militia.¹⁰³² An aforementioned article in Al-Monitor stated: ‘There are many Iraqi websites and blogs that cater to atheists, but they all keep their membership lists secret for fear of being persecuted or killed by extremist religious militias and groups, or even by ordinary citizens on the street.’¹⁰³³ In a February 2014 article by media platform Your Middle East, a university student from Basrah stated that many atheists in Iraq could be at danger from extremists and militias linked to religious groups, if they express their views too openly.

Another Iraqi atheist, who fled to the United States, received death threats from Al Qaeda and Jaysh al-Mahdi. The article further states that religious militias often take matters into their own hands.¹⁰³⁴

1026 Al-Monitor, Iraqi courts seeking out atheists for prosecution, 1 April 2018, url.

1027 PRI, ISIS turned this young Iraqi Christian into an atheist, 17 January 2018, url.

1028 Al-Monitor, Iraqi atheists demand recognition, guarantee of their rights, 6 March 2014, url.

1029 Lattimer, M., EASO, Practical Cooperation Meeting on Iraq, 25-26 April 2017, url, p. 20.

1030 Denmark, DIS, Norway, Landinfo, Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI): Women and men in honour-related conflicts, 9 November 2018, url, p. 69.

1031 Al-Monitor, Iraqi courts seeking out atheists for prosecution, 1 April 2018, url.

1032 Al-Monitor, Islamic parties intimidate, fear atheists in Iraq, 23 June 2017, url.

1033 Al-Monitor, Iraqi atheists demand recognition, guarantee of their rights, 6 March 2014, url.

1034 Your Middle East, Without God in Baghdad, 4 February 2014, url.

3.2.2 Apostasy

Islam is the official state religion of Iraq and no law may be enacted that contradicts the provisions of Islam.¹⁰³⁵ The Iraqi constitution also guarantees freedom of religious belief and practices for Muslims, Christians, Yazidis, and Sabaen-Mandaens, but ‘not followers of other religious or atheists’. The Constitution guarantees freedom from religious coercion, and states all citizens are equal before the law without regard to religion, sect, or belief.¹⁰³⁶ The Personal Status Law recognizes the following religious groups: Islam, Chaldean, Assyrian, Assyrian Catholic, Syriac Orthodox, Syriac Catholic, Armenian Apostolic, Armenian Catholic, Roman Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Latin-Dominican Rite, National Protestant, Anglican, Evangelical Protestant Assyrian, Adventist, Coptic Orthodox, Yazidi, Sabean-Mandean, and Jewish.¹⁰³⁷ The same source further noted that ‘all recognized religious groups have their own personal status courts responsible for handling marriage, divorce, and inheritance issues. According to the Yazidi-affiliated NGO Yazda, however, there is no personal status court for Yazidis.’¹⁰³⁸

Despite its acknowledgment of religious diversity, the Personal status laws and regulations prohibit the conversion of Muslims to other religions. Whilst civil laws provide a simple process for a non-Muslim to convert to Islam, conversion by a Muslim to another religion is forbidden by law.¹⁰³⁹ Article 26 of the National Identity Card Law states the right of non-Muslims to convert to Islam but does not grant the same rights to non-Muslims to leave Islam and convert to another faith. Children born to both Muslims and non-Muslims parents are legally deemed Muslim.¹⁰⁴⁰ If either parent converts to Islam or if one parent is a Muslim, the child born is deemed Muslim, even as a result of rape.¹⁰⁴¹

According to an academic interviewed by the DIS/Landinfo during their 2018 mission to the KRI ‘people who convert from Islam to Christianity are in risk of being killed’, noting that people who converted from Islam to Christianity cannot declare their opinion publicly.¹⁰⁴² The source further added that conversion from Christianity in KRI would cause more problems for the person than being an atheist.¹⁰⁴³ Discussing apostasy at EASO’s practical cooperation meeting on Iraq in April 2017 Mark Lattimer observes that apostasy is uncommon in Iraq:

‘generally speaking, you are considered to be born into a religion and you will die in that religion – it is not just in Islam, but also in most other religions in Iraq, that apostasy is not just frowned upon as an offence, but seen as unnatural.’¹⁰⁴⁴ NGO representatives interviewed by DIS during its 2015 mission to KRI noted that ‘there are cases of people being killed for converting’ noting the case of Priest Abdullah who had sought asylum in Europe after three attempted assassinations.¹⁰⁴⁵

1035 USDOS, 2017 Report on International Religious Freedom - Iraq, 29 May 2018, url.

1036 USDOS, 2017 Report on International Religious Freedom - Iraq, 29 May 2018, url.

1037 USDOS, 2017 Report on International Religious Freedom - Iraq, 29 May 2018, url.

1038 USDOS, 2017 Report on International Religious Freedom - Iraq, 29 May 2018, url.

1039 USDOS, 2017 Report on International Religious Freedom - Iraq, 29 May 2018, url.

1040 MRG, Crossroads: The future of Iraq’s minorities after ISIS, 7 June 2017, url, p. 33.

1041 USDOS, 2017 Report on International Religious Freedom - Iraq, 29 May 2018, url.

1042 Denmark, DIS, Norway, Landinfo, Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI): Women and men in honour-related conflicts, 9 November 2018, url, p. 57.

1043 Denmark, DIS, Norway, Landinfo, Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI): Women and men in honour-related conflicts, 9 November 20188, url, p. 69.

1044 Lattimer, M., cited in: EASO, Practical Cooperation Meeting on Iraq, 25-26 April 2017, url, p. 23.

1045 Denmark, DIS, The Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI); fact finding mission, 26 September to 6 October 2015, 12 April 2016, url, p. 174.

Converts from Islam to other religions cannot change their religious identification on their identity cards after conversion and must continue to be registered as Muslims.¹⁰⁴⁶ The Institute for International Law and Human Rights (IILHR), a human rights organisation based in the United States and present in Iraq, notes the ongoing plight of minorities who were obliged to convert to Islam under the Ba’ath regime:

‘To date, members of the Kaka’i, Baha’i, Christian, Mandaean Sabean, and Yzidi faiths report that, where families have been forced to adopt Islam for the purposes of identity documentation, they have been unable to change their religious designation despite the legal right to practice their faiths.’¹⁰⁴⁷

‘Given Iraq’s history of discrimination against some groups (such as Baha’is), ongoing forced conversion through threat or violence, and voluntary conversions often linked to other factors (such as the inability of Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men), conversion to Islam for the purpose of official documents has been relatively common. Among individuals who would like to be legally recognized as non-Muslim after a voluntary or forced conversion to Islam however, Iraqi law prohibits such change. Even where laws requiring the forcible identification of some religious minorities as Muslim have been reformed, Iraqi authorities have refused to issue new identity documents because conversion away from Islam remains prohibited.’¹⁰⁴⁸