COUNTRY PROFILE IRAQ
SELECTED INCIDENTS MARCH 2023 Protests broke out in the Iraqi town of Qaraqosh in the Nineveh Plains, with the local Christian population rebuffing an attempted takeover by the militia Kataib Babiliyoun of a base belonging to the Emergency Response Unit of the Nineveh Plains Protection Unit: an approximately 500-strong Christian regiment made up of local men. The protests were conducted with the backing of Archbishop Younan Hanno and other top Christian leaders in the Nineveh Plains. 125 MARCH 2023 Christian politicians filed a lawsuit asserting that a 2023-reactivated ban on the sale, import, or production of alcohol was harmful to non-Muslims. Lawmakers behind the 2016 bill, on which the recent ban was based, cited the Iraqi constitution’s prohibition of legislation that contradicts Islam. Christian, Yazidi, and other non-Muslim community members have characterized such legislative campaigns as infringements of both their religious expression and their livelihoods, contributing to long-term insecurity, prompting emigration and ultimately damaging their communities’ prospects for continued existence. 126 JULY 2023 President Abdul Latif Rashid revoked a decree recognizing Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako as the leader of the Chaldean Catholic Church, prompting the cardinal to leave the patriarchal see in Baghdad. Iraq’s Christian community publicly protested against the revocation, and Cardinal Sako condemned it as part of a deliberate campaign against him and the Church. 127 The cardinal returned to Baghdad in April 2024 on the personal invitation of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Al-Sudani, and in June 2024, Al-Sudani issued a decree restoring Cardinal Sako’s “institutional recognition.” 128 APRIL 2024 Reports circulated of Christians facing threats and harassment during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. These include one Christian being called an apostate by police and threatened with detention, and one Christian student being called a “Nazarene” during a lecture, a term Daesh would mark houses with to indicate Christians were living there and should be targeted. 129 JUNE 2024 In late June, the Turkish army bombed Mîska, a Christian village, 130 during its bombardment of the Metîna region of Southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq). The Christian church in the village was also hit in the attack. 131 The attack follows several weeks of intensive bombing of the Medya Defense Zones in Metîna, and forms part of a wider, years-long campaign by Turkey to remove Kurdistan Workers’ Party fighters from Kurdistan. 132
In 2023, Iraq grappled with ongoing challenges to religious freedom amidst political recalibration. The formation of a new Iraqi Federal Government (IFG) offered hope for improved conditions for religious minorities, yet social and political disenfranchisement persisted under both the IFG and the Kurdistan Regional Government. 120 Sectarian tensions within the IFG threatened stability and hindered efforts to protect diverse religious communities. Meanwhile, disappearances and abductions, repression of freedom of expression, and intensified discrimination underscored ongoing religious freedom concerns. 121 Iraq’s Christian population, having declined sharply during the brutal regime of Daesh, currently consists of fewer than 200,000 people out of a population of more than 41,000,000 — roughly 0.46 percent. This dwindling community faces significant societal pressure and discrimination, with conversion from Islam still prohibited by law under threat of severe punishment. 122 Despite reserved minority representation in governmental bodies, challenges persisted in ensuring their full participation and protection. 123 Overall, Iraq’s complex political landscape, exacerbated by jurisdictional disputes and militia influence, continued to undermine efforts to safeguard religious freedom for the country’s Christians. 124
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