2007 Apr 200- |
In Iraq the Ministry of Interior's Nationality and Passport Section canceled regulation 358 of 1975 which prohibited the issuance of national identity cards to those claiming the Bahá'í Faith as their religion. In May 2007 a small number of Bahá'ís were issued identity cards. The Nationality and Passport Section's legal advisor stopped issuance of the cards thereafter, claiming Bahá'ís had been registered as Muslims since 1975 and citing a government regulation preventing the conversion of "Muslims" to another faith. Without this official identity card, Bahá'ís could not register their children for school or acquire passports. Despite the cancellation of the regulation, Bahá'ís whose identity records were changed to "Muslim" after regulation 358 was instituted in 1975 still could not change their identity cards to indicate their Bahá'í faith, and their children were not recognized as Bahá'ís. [US Department of State BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LABOR July-December, 2010 International Religious Freedom Report Report September 13, 2011] |
Persecution, Iraq; Iraq |
|