Who Will Say “Stop” to the Human Rights Violations in Northern Iraq?
Khanzad Barwari
21 April 2009,
The USA Department of State has recently issued World Report of Human Rights Violations in 2008. This report included widely the human rights violations in the Kurdish regional administration as well. Hence, it is revealed out once again that this region, which has been presented as "the most secure, democratic and respectful to the human rights", is in fact the area of humanity crimes.
In the part of "Illegal Arrests and Deaths" of this report, it is stated that an innocent young person of 15 years old was killed by the police in July 2008 in the village of Sreshma of Khalifan district; the officials of non-governmental organizations in the region have been prevented from visiting the prisons; torture has been done in the prisons although it is banned by law, and even the methods of torture by electricity and cold water, which causes little scars on the body, have been used. It is claimed that more than 107 people have been tortured in the prisons of the region, but the real number is more than this one as the concerned authorities are not able to pay visits to the prisons.
In the part of "Violation of Press and Political Freedoms", it is indicated that most of the newspapers and magazines have been serving to the ruling parties of KDP and PUK; especially the journalists who criticize the government have been threatened in the Kurdish region -for example Jalal Talabani filed Hawlati newspaper on January 26, 2008 because of its criticisms against himself. It is also indicated that the report of the Union of Journalists also stated that the law enforcement bodies have been using force against the journalists, and the journalist Sharzad Sheykhani has been kept arrested for one month due to the disagreement between himself and the governor of Irbil.
According to the report, there are also efforts to hinder the political freedoms; while there is legal freedom of forming organizations and holding marches in the Kurdish region, these freedoms are violated; the KDP and PUK have been exerting pressure on the citizens in order to make them member of their party; the trade, contractor works and tenders in the region are under the control of the KDP and PUK and the political and economic affairs are conducted through the kinship relations.
In the part of "Racial Discrimination and Human Trafficking", there are also some surprising findings. The report states that chastity murders are very widespread in the Kurdish region. In the period of January-July 2008, 77 women were victims of chastity murders and 211 women of self-immolation. In the period of January-November 2008, 154 women were killed in Irbil. The people in the region are not unfamiliar to the mores murders. In the year of 2007, 528 women were also died due to the same reason. The non-governmental organizations indicate that these numbers are higher than the stated ones and the real number of the cases are concealed by the Kurdish authorities.
This kind of reports reveal, in fact, the real face of the KDP and PUK which claim the leadership of the Kurds, and use all the means of the region to their own benefits and exert any kind of pressure and violence to this aim. Even though the Kurdish regional administration denies these claims, there is a need that the world public opinion and concerned organizations give ear to the voice of the people in the region.
By/ khanzad Barwari
kerkuk.net /özel
mercredi 6 mai 2009
mardi 5 mai 2009
Mulla 'Uthman al-Musili (Musullu Hafız Şaşı Osman Efendi)
http://iraqimaqam.blogspot.com
Hijaz Gazel - Mulla 'Uthman al-Musili
Iraqi Maqam المقام العراقي
Hijaz Ghazel (Hicâz Gazel) Mulla 'Uthman al-Musili (Musullu Hafız Şaşı Osman Efendi) c. 1920, Istanbul, Turkey.
Rare recording of Iraqi musician, Sufi icon, and maqam reader Mulla 'Uthman al-Musili (1854-1923) singing a Turkish gazel in Maqam Hijaz, recorded in Istanbul, c. 1920.
تسجيل قديم و نادر للملا عثمان الموصلي يغني غزل بالتركية على نغم مقام حجاز، تسجيل أسطوانة من اسطنبول سنة ١٩٢٠
Mulla 'Uthman al-Mawsili: blind prodigy, talented poet and composer, Quran recitor and protégé of the great Sufi master Abu-l Huda al-Sayyadi al-Rifa'i and the Ottoman Sultan 'Abdul-Hamid II.
He learned the art of Maqam al-'Iraqi from the greatest Baghdadi musicians at the time, the famed Turkmen virtuoso Rahmat Allah Shiltegh (1798-1872), Hajj Abdullah al-Kirkukli, and Amin Agha ibn al-Hamamchiyya.
He composed dozens of profane and religious songs that can be heard throughout the Arabic and Islamic world; many of these compositions and songs were later unjustly attributed to his students or labeled as "folklore").
Please click on the link below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJOx3OdvYEA
Hijaz Gazel - Mulla 'Uthman al-Musili
Iraqi Maqam المقام العراقي
Hijaz Ghazel (Hicâz Gazel) Mulla 'Uthman al-Musili (Musullu Hafız Şaşı Osman Efendi) c. 1920, Istanbul, Turkey.
Rare recording of Iraqi musician, Sufi icon, and maqam reader Mulla 'Uthman al-Musili (1854-1923) singing a Turkish gazel in Maqam Hijaz, recorded in Istanbul, c. 1920.
تسجيل قديم و نادر للملا عثمان الموصلي يغني غزل بالتركية على نغم مقام حجاز، تسجيل أسطوانة من اسطنبول سنة ١٩٢٠
Mulla 'Uthman al-Mawsili: blind prodigy, talented poet and composer, Quran recitor and protégé of the great Sufi master Abu-l Huda al-Sayyadi al-Rifa'i and the Ottoman Sultan 'Abdul-Hamid II.
He learned the art of Maqam al-'Iraqi from the greatest Baghdadi musicians at the time, the famed Turkmen virtuoso Rahmat Allah Shiltegh (1798-1872), Hajj Abdullah al-Kirkukli, and Amin Agha ibn al-Hamamchiyya.
He composed dozens of profane and religious songs that can be heard throughout the Arabic and Islamic world; many of these compositions and songs were later unjustly attributed to his students or labeled as "folklore").
Please click on the link below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJOx3OdvYEA
dimanche 3 mai 2009
Sayin Ersat Hurmuzlu on Al-Arabiya TV
Bugun Saat 10.30 Irak vaktile Al-Arabiya Telvizyonu panorama programina, Sayin Ersat Hurmuzlu'ile yeni kabine degisikligi hakinda bilgi verecek. ilgilere duyurulur.
Saygilar, Afsin Hurmuzlu
Saygilar, Afsin Hurmuzlu
Les Espions de l'Or Noir, par Gilles Munier
Envoi de "Les espions de l'or noir", dédicacé par l’auteur
France: chèque de 29 euros (22, 40 + 6,10 de port en enveloppe spéciale)
à l’ordre de : AFI - 7, rue de Sarzeau - 35700 Rennes
(tarif sur demande pour les envois à l'étranger)
Table des matières, commentaires et questions posées à l’auteur sur : http://espions-or.noir.over-blog.com/
samedi 2 mai 2009
Obama's Iraq - The Picture of Dorian Gray
April 28, 2009
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Obama's Iraq
By JEREMY SCAHILL
http://www.counterpunch.org/scahill04282009.html
Remember when Barack Obama made that big announcement at Camp Lejeune about how all US combat troops were going to be withdrawn from Iraqi cities by June 30? Liberals jumped around with joy, praising Obama for ending the war so that they could focus on their “good war” in Afghanistan.
Of course, the celebrations were and remain unwarranted. Obama’s Iraq plan is virtually identical to the one on Bush’s table on January 19, 2009. Obama has just rebranded the occupation, sold it to liberals and dropped the term “Global War on Terror” while, for all practical purposes, continuing the Bush era policy (that’s why leading Republicans praised Obama’s plan). In the real world, US military commanders have said they are preparing for an Iraq presence for another 15-20 years, the US embassy is the size of Vatican City, there is no official plan for the withdrawal of contractors and new corporate mercenary contracts are being awarded. The SOFA Agreement between the US and Iraq gives the US the right to extend the occupation indefinitely and to continue intervening militarily in Iraq ad infinitum. All it takes is for the puppets in Baghdad to ask nicely…
In the latest episode of the “Occupation Rebranded” mini-series, President Obama is preparing to scrap the June 30 withdrawal timeline.
As The New York Times reports: “The United States and Iraq will begin negotiating possible exceptions to the June 30 deadline for withdrawing American combat troops from Iraqi cities, focusing on the troubled northern city of Mosul, according to military officials. Some parts of Baghdad also will still have combat troops.”
According to the Times, the US is playing with the definition of the word “city” when speaking of withdrawing combat troops from all cities:
There are no plans to close the Camp Victory base complex, consisting of five bases housing more than 20,000 soldiers, many of them combat troops. Although Victory is only a 15 minute drive from the center of Baghdad and sprawls over both sides of the city’s boundary, Iraqi officials say they have agreed to consider it outside the city.
In addition, Forward Operating Base Falcon, which can hold 5,000 combat troops, will also remain after June 30. It is just within Baghdad’s southern city limits. Again, Iraqi officials have classified it as effectively outside Baghdad, so no exception to the agreement needs to be granted, in their view.
Combat troops with the Seventh Field Artillery Regiment will remain in the heart of Baghdad at Camp Prosperity, located near the new American Embassy compound in the Green Zone. In addition to providing a quick reaction force, guarding the embassy and noncombat troops from attack, those soldiers will also continue to support Iraqi troops who are now in nominal charge of maintaining security in the Green Zone.
Camp Victory is of tremendous strategic importance to the US occupation. In addition to the military’s share of Baghdad International Airport, it includes four bases—Victory, Liberty, Striker and Slayer—as well as the US-run prison “Camp Cropper.” That’s where the US keeps its “high value” prisoners. While the US officially handed control of Forward Operating Base Freedom to “Iraqi control,” the US military is keeping the swimming pool.
Meanwhile, future plans are being laid for other US bases. Camp Prosperity is going to house US contractors and other personnel, while at Camp Union III housing is being built for several thousand soldiers, trainers and advisers.
What is abundantly clear is that there are enough cosmetic changes going on in Baghdad intended to make it look like the occupation is ending, while continuing it. Again, from the Times:
The Green Zone was handed over to Iraqi control Jan. 1, when the agreement went into effect. In addition to the United States-Iraqi patrols, most of the security for the Green Zone’s many checkpoints and heavily guarded entry points is still done by the same private contractors who did it prior to Jan. 1.
“What you’re seeing is not a change in the numbers, it’s a doctrine change,” said First Sgt. David Moore, a New Jersey National Guardsman with the Joint Area Support Group, which runs the Green Zone. “You’re still going to have fighters. Every U.S. soldier is trained to fight.”
The Iraq occupation is like The Picture of Dorian Gray. No matter what public face the Obama administration attempts to present, it only grows more heinous with each passing day.
Jeremy Scahill, an independent journalist who reports frequently for the national radio and TV program Democracy Now, has spent extensive time reporting from Iraq and Yugoslavia. He is currently a Puffin Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute. Scahill is the author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army.His new website is RebelReports.com
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Obama's Iraq
By JEREMY SCAHILL
http://www.counterpunch.org/scahill04282009.html
Remember when Barack Obama made that big announcement at Camp Lejeune about how all US combat troops were going to be withdrawn from Iraqi cities by June 30? Liberals jumped around with joy, praising Obama for ending the war so that they could focus on their “good war” in Afghanistan.
Of course, the celebrations were and remain unwarranted. Obama’s Iraq plan is virtually identical to the one on Bush’s table on January 19, 2009. Obama has just rebranded the occupation, sold it to liberals and dropped the term “Global War on Terror” while, for all practical purposes, continuing the Bush era policy (that’s why leading Republicans praised Obama’s plan). In the real world, US military commanders have said they are preparing for an Iraq presence for another 15-20 years, the US embassy is the size of Vatican City, there is no official plan for the withdrawal of contractors and new corporate mercenary contracts are being awarded. The SOFA Agreement between the US and Iraq gives the US the right to extend the occupation indefinitely and to continue intervening militarily in Iraq ad infinitum. All it takes is for the puppets in Baghdad to ask nicely…
In the latest episode of the “Occupation Rebranded” mini-series, President Obama is preparing to scrap the June 30 withdrawal timeline.
As The New York Times reports: “The United States and Iraq will begin negotiating possible exceptions to the June 30 deadline for withdrawing American combat troops from Iraqi cities, focusing on the troubled northern city of Mosul, according to military officials. Some parts of Baghdad also will still have combat troops.”
According to the Times, the US is playing with the definition of the word “city” when speaking of withdrawing combat troops from all cities:
There are no plans to close the Camp Victory base complex, consisting of five bases housing more than 20,000 soldiers, many of them combat troops. Although Victory is only a 15 minute drive from the center of Baghdad and sprawls over both sides of the city’s boundary, Iraqi officials say they have agreed to consider it outside the city.
In addition, Forward Operating Base Falcon, which can hold 5,000 combat troops, will also remain after June 30. It is just within Baghdad’s southern city limits. Again, Iraqi officials have classified it as effectively outside Baghdad, so no exception to the agreement needs to be granted, in their view.
Combat troops with the Seventh Field Artillery Regiment will remain in the heart of Baghdad at Camp Prosperity, located near the new American Embassy compound in the Green Zone. In addition to providing a quick reaction force, guarding the embassy and noncombat troops from attack, those soldiers will also continue to support Iraqi troops who are now in nominal charge of maintaining security in the Green Zone.
Camp Victory is of tremendous strategic importance to the US occupation. In addition to the military’s share of Baghdad International Airport, it includes four bases—Victory, Liberty, Striker and Slayer—as well as the US-run prison “Camp Cropper.” That’s where the US keeps its “high value” prisoners. While the US officially handed control of Forward Operating Base Freedom to “Iraqi control,” the US military is keeping the swimming pool.
Meanwhile, future plans are being laid for other US bases. Camp Prosperity is going to house US contractors and other personnel, while at Camp Union III housing is being built for several thousand soldiers, trainers and advisers.
What is abundantly clear is that there are enough cosmetic changes going on in Baghdad intended to make it look like the occupation is ending, while continuing it. Again, from the Times:
The Green Zone was handed over to Iraqi control Jan. 1, when the agreement went into effect. In addition to the United States-Iraqi patrols, most of the security for the Green Zone’s many checkpoints and heavily guarded entry points is still done by the same private contractors who did it prior to Jan. 1.
“What you’re seeing is not a change in the numbers, it’s a doctrine change,” said First Sgt. David Moore, a New Jersey National Guardsman with the Joint Area Support Group, which runs the Green Zone. “You’re still going to have fighters. Every U.S. soldier is trained to fight.”
The Iraq occupation is like The Picture of Dorian Gray. No matter what public face the Obama administration attempts to present, it only grows more heinous with each passing day.
Jeremy Scahill, an independent journalist who reports frequently for the national radio and TV program Democracy Now, has spent extensive time reporting from Iraq and Yugoslavia. He is currently a Puffin Writing Fellow at The Nation Institute. Scahill is the author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army.His new website is RebelReports.com
vendredi 1 mai 2009
Kurdish security forces arbitrarily detain, torture people, Amnesty International says
14 April 2009
Rights report cites abuses in Kurdish Iraq
Kurdish security forces arbitrarily detain, torture people, Amnesty International says
Government has made progress in human rights, but problems remain, agency says
Honor killings, other attacks on women need to end, it says
Journalists have been detained, beaten and harassed by security forces, report says
(CNN) -- The Kurdish region of Iraq has seen gains in human rights, but security forces "regularly abuse their authority" and women continue to be targets of violence, Amnesty International said Tuesday.
The international human rights group drew the conclusions in a report titled "Hope and Fear, Human Rights in Kurdistan Region of Iraq."
Amnesty International report on Kurdistan region (PDF)
The Kurdish region has been an island of relative stability during the Iraq war, and the report said it has "witnessed growing prosperity" and has made progress in human rights. But serious problems remain, Amnesty said.
Asayish forces, as the local security forces are called, arrested and arbitrarily detained people, "including some who were tortured or forcibly disappeared and whose fate and whereabouts remain unknown," the report said.
The report said the torture included electric shocks, sleep deprivation, kicking, suspension by the wrists and ankles, and beatings with fists, cables and batons.
Malcolm Smart, Amnesty's director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme, said the Kurdistan Regional Government "must take concrete steps to rein in these forces and make them fully accountable under the law if recent human rights gains are to prove effective."
Amnesty said that Kurdish authorities have also failed to control the security wings of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the two major Kurdish political movements that make up the regional government.
The report, based on research from a fact-finding mission last year, said the Kurdistan Regional Government has made progress in human rights, citing, for example, the release of political prisoners detained without charges or trial.
It also cites legislation expanding freedom of expression and measures that strengthen women's rights, and said several agencies are working to monitor and prevent violence against women.
But Smart said problems such as "arbitrary detention and torture, attacks on journalists and freedom of expression, and violence against women" haven't ended and "need urgently to be addressed by the government."
As for abuse against women, authorities must "redouble their efforts to overcome discrimination and violence against women," he said, "and end the vicious cycle of so-called honor killings and other attacks on women by men who wish to subordinate them."
According to official records, the report said, at least 102 women and girls were killed between the beginning of July 2007 and the end of June 2008 in the region.
"These include an unknown number of 'honor killings' -- women who were killed by male relatives because their behavior was considered to have infringed traditional codes of 'honor.' Victims of 'honor crimes' include women who have objected to being forcibly married as well as women who were found having telephone contact with a man without approval of their family," the report said.
The report said 262 women and children "died or were severely injured in the same period due to intentional burning, including suicides. Some women were reported to have been burned to disguise a killing."
The report cites one woman who was strangled to death apparently by her brother "because of her suspected relationship with another man." A 17-year-old female "was shot dead after she sought a divorce from her husband." A 13-year-old girl burned herself to death "to escape forcible marriage to an adult man."
"Such cases show how much more still needs to be done by the KRG authorities to give women and girls effective protection against violence from those who wish to control their behavior or force them into marriages against their will," Smart said.
"No effort should be spared to prosecute and imprison those who commit violence against women, and to make clear that those who perpetrate these crimes cannot escape justice."
The report also said that emerging independent press outlets that have criticized the KRG or have focused on the security forces, human rights violations and government corruption have been harassed. Journalists "have been detained, beaten and harassed" by security forces, and several newspapers have been sued by the KRG
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/04/14/kurdistan.rights/index.html
Rights report cites abuses in Kurdish Iraq
Kurdish security forces arbitrarily detain, torture people, Amnesty International says
Government has made progress in human rights, but problems remain, agency says
Honor killings, other attacks on women need to end, it says
Journalists have been detained, beaten and harassed by security forces, report says
(CNN) -- The Kurdish region of Iraq has seen gains in human rights, but security forces "regularly abuse their authority" and women continue to be targets of violence, Amnesty International said Tuesday.
The international human rights group drew the conclusions in a report titled "Hope and Fear, Human Rights in Kurdistan Region of Iraq."
Amnesty International report on Kurdistan region (PDF)
The Kurdish region has been an island of relative stability during the Iraq war, and the report said it has "witnessed growing prosperity" and has made progress in human rights. But serious problems remain, Amnesty said.
Asayish forces, as the local security forces are called, arrested and arbitrarily detained people, "including some who were tortured or forcibly disappeared and whose fate and whereabouts remain unknown," the report said.
The report said the torture included electric shocks, sleep deprivation, kicking, suspension by the wrists and ankles, and beatings with fists, cables and batons.
Malcolm Smart, Amnesty's director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme, said the Kurdistan Regional Government "must take concrete steps to rein in these forces and make them fully accountable under the law if recent human rights gains are to prove effective."
Amnesty said that Kurdish authorities have also failed to control the security wings of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the two major Kurdish political movements that make up the regional government.
The report, based on research from a fact-finding mission last year, said the Kurdistan Regional Government has made progress in human rights, citing, for example, the release of political prisoners detained without charges or trial.
It also cites legislation expanding freedom of expression and measures that strengthen women's rights, and said several agencies are working to monitor and prevent violence against women.
But Smart said problems such as "arbitrary detention and torture, attacks on journalists and freedom of expression, and violence against women" haven't ended and "need urgently to be addressed by the government."
As for abuse against women, authorities must "redouble their efforts to overcome discrimination and violence against women," he said, "and end the vicious cycle of so-called honor killings and other attacks on women by men who wish to subordinate them."
According to official records, the report said, at least 102 women and girls were killed between the beginning of July 2007 and the end of June 2008 in the region.
"These include an unknown number of 'honor killings' -- women who were killed by male relatives because their behavior was considered to have infringed traditional codes of 'honor.' Victims of 'honor crimes' include women who have objected to being forcibly married as well as women who were found having telephone contact with a man without approval of their family," the report said.
The report said 262 women and children "died or were severely injured in the same period due to intentional burning, including suicides. Some women were reported to have been burned to disguise a killing."
The report cites one woman who was strangled to death apparently by her brother "because of her suspected relationship with another man." A 17-year-old female "was shot dead after she sought a divorce from her husband." A 13-year-old girl burned herself to death "to escape forcible marriage to an adult man."
"Such cases show how much more still needs to be done by the KRG authorities to give women and girls effective protection against violence from those who wish to control their behavior or force them into marriages against their will," Smart said.
"No effort should be spared to prosecute and imprison those who commit violence against women, and to make clear that those who perpetrate these crimes cannot escape justice."
The report also said that emerging independent press outlets that have criticized the KRG or have focused on the security forces, human rights violations and government corruption have been harassed. Journalists "have been detained, beaten and harassed" by security forces, and several newspapers have been sued by the KRG
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/04/14/kurdistan.rights/index.html
jeudi 30 avril 2009
Shehzade Mosque (Istanbul)
Details of Shehzade Mosque built by the great architect Sinan
(photos taken during my last visit to Istanbul)
Click on photos to enlarge
Muslim Architecture under Ottoman Patronage 1926-1924
see:
http://www.muslimheritage.com/uploads/OttomanArchitecture.pdf
see:
http://www.muslimheritage.com/uploads/OttomanArchitecture.pdf
The Launch of the Iraq Mental Health Survey
Press, UN and Iraqi Officials during Launch of IMHS 2006/07 (UN/Ali Abdul-Jalil)
The First of its Kind: The Launch of the Iraq Mental Health Survey 2006/07
By Randa Jamal
The first of its kind, the Iraq Mental Health Survey (IMHS 2006/07) surveyed 4332 Iraqis over eighteen years of age, across the country’s various governorates and social sectors. Launched on 7 March 2009, the study was conducted throughout by the Iraqi Ministries of Health and Planning in a joint effort with the World Health Organization (WHO).
Logo of IMHS 2006/07: designed by Ms. Ruba Hikmat, WHO
The survey reveals that out of the 16.5% who suffered from a mental health disorder during their lifetime, only 2.2% were recipients of medical care. Alarmingly, anxiety and behavioral disorders are higher among women than men, who have a higher rate of substance abuse. Parliament Representative Member, Ms. Samira Al-Musawi, who chairs The Women, Family and Childhood Committee was not surprised by the higher occurrence of anxiety and behavioral disorders among women. She observed, “Women have lived through very difficult conditions, including having to carry the brunt of caring for the family, making ends meet and raising children—at times completely on their own, especially since there is a high number of widows”.
On a more optimistic note, the prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was 3.6% lower than expected of a war-ridden country and lower than for other countries such as UK, the US, and Brazil. The Iraq WHO Representative, Dr. Naima Al Gaseer attributed this lower rate to the widespread resilience possessed by Iraqis in handling trauma and in moving forward with their lives. However, a higher level of mental health symptoms was reported such as increased phobia and anxiety.
Mental health disorder rates in general could be much higher, but as the Health Minister, Dr. Saleh Al Hasnawi, pointed out “In Iraq there is a considerable stigma attached to having a mental illness”. Such stigma may prevent survey respondents from responding honestly. To address stigma, he added, “We must implement large-scale community education programmes to decrease this stigma and encourage people to come forward to seek the treatment they need”. He emphasized that improving mental health will be a top priority within the domain of health, considering the emotional distress many experience. He also stressed the need for further research to better comprehend the coping strategies Iraqis use to deal with stress and conflict, but emphasized that it is most important “to achieve the stability that will allow all to live peacefully and without fear”.
In addition to prioritizing mental health services, the survey provides insight about the prevalence of mental health disorders in various governorates and regions, across educational levels, social classes, urban and rural environments. This was an important accomplishment, because, as the Minister of Health of the Kurdistan region, Dr. Abdul Rahman Othman Younis, said, “It is important to customize mental health care to serve the needs of the different sectors of the population. The survey has been useful in pointing out these differences.”Dr. Al Gaseer, attributed the success of the survey to three factors:
1) insight into the status of mental health in Iraq;
2) the ability to design health programmes for various targeted groups; and
3) the transfer of knowledge and skills to health professionals working on the ground in conducting such national surveys in Iraq.However, a phenomenon that could impede addressing some of the challenges identified by the survey is the number of the social workers and psychiatrists in Iraq.
For example, Dr. Abdul-Monaf Al-Jadiry, Professor and Chairman of Psychiatry at the University of Jordan, confirms that the survey report of 2006 estimates that the number of “mental health personnel in Iraq is 136 psychiatrists, 224 psychiatric nurses, 46 social worker and 31 psychologists”.
Since 2006, the professor speculates there has been an increase of 40% in mental health personnel (a total of 612 health workers). However, Dr. Al Gaseer stressed that 40% is too high: WHO recommends assessing the number of health professionals and personnel delivering health services in the county.
However, for a population over 27 million, the number of health personnel seems insufficient to meet the mental health needs of an entire population. For example, the survey identified that 16.5% face a mental illness—that translates into millions of people who require mental health care. Clearly, challenges lie ahead with much work needed to improve the country’s fragile infrastructure, especially since resources are minimal and the Government of Iraq has made severe cuts in its annual budget plans. Challenges include providing mental health services to children and adolescents now, to prevent the development of mental disorders into adulthood, and addressing the deeply rooted stigma of mental illness that prevails in several societies.
Another challenge concerns the brain drain phenomenon that has had severe negative ramifications for Iraq and the need to persuade Iraqi professionals residing abroad to return to Iraq. Yet, despite all that is unfolding in their country, Iraqis move forward with resilience and determination: this is imperative to the survival of a people who have experienced horrendous events and circumstances.
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