Iraq: Update to Response to Information Request IRQ9488 of 8 October 1991 on amnesties for deserters, the penalty for illegal departure from Iraq and the failure to register with Iraqi embassies in foreign countries while studying or visiting abroad
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 December 1994 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | IRQ19190.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Iraq: Update to Response to Information Request IRQ9488 of 8 October 1991 on amnesties for deserters, the penalty for illegal departure from Iraq and the failure to register with Iraqi embassies in foreign countries while studying or visiting abroad, 1 December 1994, IRQ19190.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab2e23.html [accessed 17 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Sources currently available to the DIRB do not provide information on the penalty for illegal departure from Iraq and the failure to register with Iraqi embassies in foreign countries while studying or visiting abroad.
The attached letter from the Toronto branch of Amnesty International provides information on amnesties for Iraqi deserters, defaulters and "misguided military personnel."
Although it does not refer to amnesties, the following information, which affects Iraqi deserters, might be useful. The attached Al-Jumhuriyah article contains the 25 August 1994 Decree No. 115 of the Iraqi Revolution Command Council (RCC), which stipulates that the outer ear will be cut off of anyone found in the criminal act of shirking or deserting military service, or anyone providing shelter for the shirker or deserter, and that the other ear will be cut off of those who commit these crimes again. The decree also stipulates that those whose ears are cut off will also be punished by having their foreheads tattooed... (7 Sept. 1994).
The decree provides execution for a person who "has deserted military service three times, or has shirked it twice, or provided shelter to a deserter three times" (ibid.). According to the decree,
the legal measures shall be suspended if the deserter turns himself in in Iraq within seven days after the decree is issued or within 30 days for those who are abroad. These provisions shall be implemented against those who committed the crimes of dereliction or desertion prior to the date of the decree's implementation if they have not turned themselves in within the said period (ibid.).
Response to Information Request IRQ16150.E of 18 January 1994, which is available at your Regional Documentation Centre, provides additional information on the above subject.
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. Please find below the list of sources consulted in researching this information request.
Reference
Al-Jumhuriyah [Baghdad, in Arabic]. 7 September 1994. "Amputation, Execution for Deserters." (FBIS-NES-94-180 16 Sept. 1994, p. 27)
Attachments
Al-Jumhuriyah [Baghdad, in Arabic]. 7 September 1994. "Amputation, Execution for Deserters." (FBIS-NES-94-180 16 Sept. 1994, p. 27)
Amnesty International, Toronto. 5 February 1993. "Military Deserters and Amnesties in Iraq." News Release from the Acting Refugee Coordinator.
Sources Consulted
Amnesty International Report 1994. 1994.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1993. 1994.
Critique: Review of the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1993. 1994.
Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) reports. 1993-94.
Human Rights Watch World Report 1994. December 1993.
Human Rights Watch World Report 1993. December 1992.
Keesing's Record of World Events [Cambridge]. 1993-94.
News from Middle East Watch [New York].
On-line search of articles.
Oral sources.
