By Ben Turner
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East
BAGHDAD, Iraq—The Iraqi Interior Ministry launched a nationwide campaign on February 19, ordering Iraqi police officers to round up beggars, mentally disabled and homeless people for fear that they would be used as suicide bombers by insurgent groups.
“These [insurgent] groups are either luring those who desperate for money to help them in their attacks or making use of their poor mental condition to use them as suicide bombers” said Maj-Gen Abdul Karim Khalaf, a spokesman of the Iraqi Interior Ministry.
Khalaf said that beggars under the age of 18 would be brought to shelters and adult professional panhandlers would be charged with crimes. The mentally disabled would be taken to hospitals, he said.
“These people with mental defects can cause a lot of damage if they are left on the streets and taken advantage of by al-Qaida,” Khalaf said. “Their proper place is in the hospitals.”
Iraqi law forbids begging, but police have been too busy dealing with insurgent attacks to expend much energy taking care of panhandlers.
This crackdown is in response to a series of suicide bombings where insurgents have used the mentally disabled for suicide bomb attacks. On February 1, two mentally disabled women were strapped with explosives in a crowded pet market in Baghdad. The bombs were detonated by remote control, killing almost 100 people.
It was originally thought that the women suffered from Down syndrome, but that is not the case. U.S. military spokesman for the Baghdad area, Lt. Col. Steve Stover, said, “Both [women] had recently received psychiatric treatment for depression and/or schizophrenia. From what we know now there’s no indication that they had Down syndrome.”
After news had spread about the crackdown, homeless and disabled people disappeared from the streets. Police in central Baghdad detained eight beggars, three women and five men on February 20, but they found few other street people a day after the campaign was announced. Those detained in the sweep were to be taken to social welfare institutions and psychiatric hospitals. According to the Ministry, they will be safe there, as the hospitals can provide shelter and care.
It is not clear, however, how safe they would be in the hospitals. American and Iraqi troops recently detained the acting director of the al-Rashad psychiatric hospital in eastern Baghdad on suspicion of helping supply patient information to al-Qaida in Iraq.
For more information, please see:
Los Angeles Times – IRAQ: Rounding up the poor – 21 February 2008
Associated Press – US: Bombers Didn’t Have Down Syndrome – 20 February 2008
BBC – Iraqi police detain street people – 20 February 2008
CNN – Iraq to round up homeless, mentally ill, to prevent bombings – 20 February 2008
The Guardian – US: Bombers Didn’t Have Down Syndrome – 20 February 2008
Lebnanews – IRAQ: Government moves to curb suicide bombings – 20 February 2008
The Washington Post – Iraq Moves To Halt Use of The Disabled In Bombings – 20 February 2008
