Extrajudicial killings are part of life in Baghdad. Nearly
every day a body is found shot and dumped in the capital. While some of these
murders appear to be the work of insurgents, most look like the work of Shiite
militias and vigilantes. The number of bodies dumped in the city goes up and
down depending upon how much people feel threatened. During the summer of 2014
for example, after Mosul and Tikrit fell to insurgents there was a huge jump in
killings, which then went down after the Islamic State was stopped in
Salahaddin. Recently however, there was another sizeable increase in bodies
being dumped in the capital. This time the motivation appeared to be an influx
of displaced from Anbar after Ramadi fell to IS. Many in Baghdad blamed the
Anbaris for bombings and violence, which would provide the motivation for
certain groups to target them.
May 2015 saw a large number of bodies turn up in the streets
and empty lots of the Iraqi capital. In April there were 38 extrajudicial
killings, which then went up to 65 in May, before dropping down to 45 in June.
Many of this appeared to be the handy work of Shiite groups based upon where
the bodies were found. On May
28 for example, two bodies were dumped in east Baghdad’s Kasra shot in the
head. Back at the beginning of the month three
men were discovered killed by a firing squad in Sadr City, along with seven
other bodies in other neighborhoods that same day. What could have accounted
for this large jump in extrajudicial killings? It seemed like insecurity in
Anbar that forced thousands to flee to the capital was the cause.
Violence picked up in Anbar during the spring topped off by
the fall of Ramadi the following month, which led to a huge wave of people
coming to Baghdad. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reported
that 54,000
people had fled Anbar for Baghdad by the end of April. Even more came the
next month when the Islamic State took Ramadi. Baghdadis accused
the displaced of being IS supporters and blamed them for violence and bombings.
That led to some wild
reporting in the press such as a story that the Anbaris were going to try
to take over the city. The Interior Ministry reported in the middle of May that
14 Anbaris had been killed in Baghdad. Many more were probably murdered as
well, which added to the normal amount of bodies dumped in the capital
accounted for the increase that month.
SOURCES
Arango, Tim, “Sunnis Fleeing ISIS Find Few Doors Opened
Elsewhere in Iraq,” New York Times, 5/27/15
Al-Kadhimi, Mustafa, “Ramadi’s displaced find restrictions,
not refuge, in Baghdad,” Al Monitor 5/28/15
Al
Mada, "Found the bodies of three unidentified men who were killed by
firing squad in eastern Baghdad," 5/3/15
Morris, Loveday, “Iraqi Sunni flee Anbar only to find new
dangers in Baghdad,” Washington Post, 5/17/15
NINA,
"Two Unidentified Bodies Found East Of Baghdad," 5/28/15
Paraszczuk, Joanna, “Ramadi Civilians Fleeing IS ‘Charged
Hundreds Of Dollars To Enter Baghdad,’” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty,
4/24/15
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