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An
Iraqi woman in Fallujah |
Kidnapping
has become the crime of choice amongst Iraqi criminal gangs. With
70% unemployment in “liberated” Iraq, crime is running rampant,
with organized crime enjoying a free hand amidst the terrible
security situation.
The
families of the kidnapped are at times forced to pay up to several
million dollars ransom—unless they want to receive pieces of their
loved ones, or even their dead bodies.
While
media attention has focused heavily on the kidnapping of Westerners,
the kidnapping of Iraqis, in particular Iraqi women, is much more
common.
As
far back as July 2003, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that “the
poor security situation in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities is causing
women and girls to severely restrict their movements for fear of
rape and abduction.”
HRW
blames the huge increase in kidnappings and sexual assaults on the
collapse of the security forces of ex-dictator Saddam Hussein and
the US occupation’s slow reorganization of Iraq’s police force.
Within
three months of the fall of Baghdad, HRW had documented 70 cases of
rape and abduction of Iraqi women. As brutal as the regime of Saddam
Hussein was, violent crime against women averaged only one case
every three months under Hussein’s rule, whereas in July 2003,
there were several per week. And the situation is far, far worse
today.
On
December 4, 2004, Inji, a 29-year-old veterinarian, was in her
clinic near Kirkuk.
She
and Mohamed, her assistant, were asked to accompany a man who needed
help inoculating some cattle.
They
drove down a small dirt road to where the man said the cattle would
be located.
“I
didn't expect anything bad to happen,” she says wearily. “The
roads to the nearby villages are all unpaved and deserted. Then
another car stops. It has three passengers, people I expect to be
his relatives or friends.”
But
that wasn’t the case.
“One
of the passengers walked up and hit me on the head with his gun,”
she said, still processing the horrible events, “I saw them hit
Mohamed when they pulled me into the car. After 15 minutes I tried
to speak and they hit me again.”
They
drove along dirt roads for two hours. Then Inji was dragged out of
the car, while other men pulled Mohamed from a second car.
“The
men ordered me to take off my jewelry, then beat me so much I could
no longer feel pain,” she says quietly.
The
kidnappers then used her mobile phone to call her husband, Turhan.
He was told that his wife was kidnapped, and that he had 24 hours to
pay $20,000 in ransom. Otherwise, he was told, she would be sold.
“I
was kept in a dark room on a bare floor with a dirty blanket,” she
explained. “They made me call my husband and tell him to prepare
the money, and I swore to them that my family could not afford this
money.” One of the kidnappers responded “Let the democracy that
you call for collect the money for you.”
“I
called my husband and begged him to save me,” she said, “but
then the man grabbed my phone and told my husband not to call the
police or they would kill me.”
“I
thought the only people being kidnapped were those who were dealing
with the Americans or were rich,” she explained, her hands held up
in confusion. Inji has no affiliation with the occupiers or with any
political party, nor does she work for the government.
Miraculously,
her husband managed to raise the money and ransom Inji.
But
it does not always end well for the victims and their families.
Abdulla
Hamid, a 50 year-old Baghdad resident, related how his neighbor’s
son was kidnapped. The family managed to raise and pay the $15,000
ransom. They were then contacted by the kidnappers, who told them to
pick their son up at the morgue.
Or
take for example Seif, a student at the Baghdad Medical School.
After he was abducted, his family, incapable of producing the
$40,000 demanded by his captors, made the mistake of contacting the
police, who tracked down the kidnappers. Seif was killed during the
exchange of gunfire between the police and his captors.
While
Iraqi government officials continue to blame the kidnappings on
various Iraqi resistance groups, the groups themselves deny any
involvement.
With
Iraq’s borders left virtually wide open during the first 6 months
of the occupation, terrorist groups and criminal gangs alike flowed
into the lawless country.
Not
all criminal gangs were satisfied with ransom money.
Twenty-three-year-old Sajidah and her 17-year-old sister-in-law
Hanan were kidnapped just weeks after Sajidah’s wedding. The two
women were taken to Yemen, where they found 130 other Iraqi women
who had been kidnapped and forced into prostitution by their
captors.
Miraculously,
they were able to contact family members, who managed to make their
way to Yemen and free the two women.
Fakhriyah
is around 20-years-old, but she doesn’t know for sure. In fact,
she can no longer recall her father’s name, as she is now a drug
addict.
“I
was living in an orphanage and was kidnapped the day Baghdad
fell,” said Fakhriyah. She described how an American tank was
stationed near the orphanage due to its proximity to an airport, and
how the US troops allowed the orphanage to be looted.
“The
kidnappers took turns raping me, and I don’t remember how long
they kept me until they threw me out on the street,” she said,
dazed and high on glue, trying to blot out her miserable existence.
She uses any drug she can get her hands on, “so I don’t feel
what’s going on around me or who is raping me again.”
As
horrific as the regime of former dictator Saddam Hussein was, Iraqis
now long for the security it provided. Rape was uncommon then; now,
kidnapping and rape are everyday occurrences.
Just
three weeks ago the Al-Zaman newspaper reported that 11
children had been abducted in Baghdad in a single day.
These
stories are commonplace, and they have caused widespread fear in
Baghdad and other cities, scaring many women and girls off the
streets. Women now go out only when necessary, and are generally
accompanied by male relatives.
“I
don’t go anywhere at night, and only go to school and places close
to my home,” said Intisar, a 21 year-old physics student at
Baghdad University, citing her fear of being kidnapped.
Layla,
a 52 year-old pharmacist in the al-Adhamiya district of Baghdad said
that she lives in constant fear of being kidnapped, or having one of
her children kidnapped.
“We
are all afraid and I cannot go alone anywhere,” she said. “Even
my older daughters, I fear for them. This is not a normal life we
are living anymore.”
Who
bears the responsibility for this state of affairs? Aside from those
directly committing these crimes, the responsibility lies with the
occupation. According to international humanitarian law, the
occupying power has the duty to restore and maintain public order
and safety, and to respect the fundamental rights of the occupied
territory’s inhabitants.
Despite
the façade of an independent “interim Iraqi government,” the US
occupation effectively controls Iraq to this day. The occupation set
up the “laws” which are currently in effect in Iraq, and it is
primarily responsible for the atrocious security situation that has
allowed crimes of this kind to become commonplace in occupied Iraq.
Additionally,
the Fourth Geneva Convention states that “women shall be
especially protected against any attack on their honor, in
particular against rape, enforced prostitution, or any form of
indecent assault.”
It
is yet another example of the occupation forces violating
international law. As usual, it is the people of Iraq, and
particularly women, in this case, who are paying the heaviest price.
Dahr
Jamail is
an American journalist of Lebanese descent. Currently based in Iraq,
his articles focus on Iraqis and how the occupation of their country
affects their daily life.
