VZCZCXYZ0004
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGB #0318/01 0381016
ZNY SSSSS ZZH (CCY TEXT TMC)
P 071016Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6496
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

S E C R E T BAGHDAD 000318 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (ADDING CAPTION) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/31/2020 
TAGS: KIRF PTER PHUM IZ
SUBJECT: VIOLENCE AGAINST IRAQI CHRISTIANS DROPS 
DRAMATICALLY IN 2009 
 
REF: A. 09 BAGHDAD 2473 
     ¶B. BAGHDAD 19 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Yuri Kim for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
. 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Despite a recent up-tick in violence against 
Christians living in Ninewa over the past two months, a new 
report by an Iraqi NGO indicates that the number of Iraqi 
Christians killed has dropped by 82 percent since 2007.  In 
addition, top officials at the non-Muslim Endowment report 
greater intelligence-sharing and coordination with the MOI, 
and have confirmed that 500 Christians have been officially 
hired by the MOI to serve in the Facility Protection Service 
(FPS) to guard Christian places of worship in Baghdad. 
Nevertheless, the security of Iraq's Christian community 
remains fragile, as evidenced by a recent spate of murders 
and bombings targeting the community in Ninewa.   Iraqi 
Security Forces (ISF) have responded to the recent attacks by 
increasing security in Christian areas of Mosul.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
VIOLENCE AGAINST CHRISTIANS SINCE 2003 BY THE NUMBERS 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) A recent report issued by the Hammurabi Human Rights 
Organization (HHRO), an Iraqi NGO headed by prominent Iraqi 
Christian activist William Warda that has tracked violence 
against Iraq's Christian community since 2003, indicates a 
substantial decline in the number of murders and kidnappings 
of Iraqi Christians in 2009 as compared to previous years. 
According to HHRO's overall figures, a total of 722 Iraqi 
Christians have been killed since 2003, including 537 who 
were targeted for sectarian reasons and 126 killed in 
terrorist attacks intended to kill civilians writ large.  Not 
surprisingly, the vast majority of the violence took place in 
Baghdad (52 percent) and Ninewa (29 percent) where Iraq's 
largest Christian communities are located.  Breaking down the 
violence by year, the report identifies 74 Christians killed 
in 2003, 211 in 2004, 98 in 2005, 79 in 2006, 156 in 2007, 75 
in 2008, and 28 in 2009.  The report shows similar declines 
in kidnappings since 2007, with 12 Iraqi Christians reported 
kidnapped in 2009 as compared to 25 in 2008, and 87 in 2007. 
In other words, according to the HHRO study, killings of 
Iraqi Christians have dropped by 82 percent and kidnappings 
by 86 percent over the past two years, an indication that 
Iraq's Christian community has benefited from the overall 
security gains achieved in Iraq during the same time period. 
The overall fatality figure in Iraq due to sectarian and 
criminal violence for 2009 was 3,119 persons killed according 
to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count organization which 
tracks open source media (www.icasualties.com). 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
MOI AND CHRISTIAN ENDOWMENT STRENGTHEN COOPERATION 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶3. (C) After a series of coordinated attacks against six 
Christian churches in July 2009 that left four dead and 20 
injured, the GOI, in response to a request from the 
non-Muslim Endowment, moved to hire an additional 500 
Christians into the MOI's Facility Protection Service (FPS) 
as well as to assign security details to protect Iraq's most 
prominent Christian leaders (reftel A).  On December 15, the 
Director of the Christian Endowment, Ra'ad Shammaa, told 
Poloff that the MOI had passed along threat intelligence to 
the Endowment regarding impending attacks on Christian 
churches and had increased security as a result.  (NOTE: 
There were in fact two attacks in the vicinity of churches in 
Ninewa subsequent to this conversation, one on December 15 
QNinewa subsequent to this conversation, one on December 15 
that resulted in five deaths and one on December 23 that 
resulted in two dead, although none of those killed were from 
the Christian community.  END NOTE.).  On January 13, the 
Director of the umbrella non-Muslim Endowment, Abdullah 
al-Naufali, told Poloff that the new guards had been 
officially added to the MOI payroll as of early December and 
were able to provide security at churches throughout Baghdad 
for the Christmas holidays. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
VIOLENCE IN NINEWA ON RISE, BUT ISF RESPONDING 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶4. (S/NF) While expressing satisfaction with the situation in 
Baghdad, Naufali commented that Arab-Kurd tensions in Ninewa 
had impeded the GOI's plan to hire more Christians, leaving 
the overall number of Christians in the Ninewa-based ISF at 
¶400.  Asked whether the Endowment would seek to repair 
churches damaged in recent bombings in Mosul, Naufali said 
the security situation remained too tenuous to begin any 
reconstruction projects.  Indeed, in addition to the 
bombings, the murder of seven Iraqi Christians (and one other 
 
attempted murder) between December 9 and January 18 is an 
indication of the fragility of the security situation facing 
the Christian community in Ninewa (reftel B).  (NOTE: 
According to a USF-I Joint Intelligence Operations Center 
assessment, the recent up-tick in violence against Christians 
in Ninewa has been perpetrated by al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) as 
an attempt to increase sectarian violence in the area and 
generate funds from extortion to finance other terrorist 
operations.  Many of the Christian victims were businessmen 
killed in their stores.  END NOTE).  The PM's Advisor for 
Christian Affairs, Georges Bakoos, conceded to Poloff on 
February 2 that the ISF had still not established effective 
control in Mosul and that this was allowing AQI to target the 
Christian community there. 
 
¶5. (S) In response to the spate of attacks on Iraqi 
Christians, Ninewa Governor Atheel al-Najafi promised 
additional security measures (reftel B).  On January 18, 
Ninewa Operations Command (NOC) Commander Major General 
Hassan Karim Khudayir ordered additional security measures 
for Christian communities and churches, including more 
patrols and vehicle searches.  The same day, in a 
conversation with USD-N Deputy CG, NOC Deputy Commander Major 
General Abdul Raheem said he did not want the Christians of 
Mosul to be forced to leave the city and that while AQI 
targeted the entire population, the minority communities must 
be especially protected. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
POLITICAL LEADERS CONDEMN THE VIOLENCE 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) On January 20 according to media reports, DPM Rafi'e 
al-Issawi met with a delegation of Christian leaders and 
stressed the need to stand against terrorist forces that were 
trying to undermine Iraqi unity.  On January 21, Ninewa 
Governor Nujafi, Deputy Governor Faysal al-Yawer and members 
of the Ninewa PC held a meeting with a group of Christian and 
Muslim clergy as well as tribal sheiks to discuss the ongoing 
violence.  Afterwards, the participants issued a joint 
statement condemning the violence and calling for peaceful 
coexistence between Christians and Muslims. 
 
¶7. (C) COMMENT: Violence against Iraqi Christians and Iraq's 
other minority communities remains a serious concern, as 
evidenced by AQI's targeted campaign of violence over the 
past two months, which represent a nasty spike on an 
otherwise relatively positive trendline.  Nevertheless, the 
large reductions in violence against Iraqi Christians as 
documented by the HHRO over the past two years represent 
solid evidence that the overall improvement in Iraq's 
security situation has also benefited the Christian 
community.  The fact that Christian leaders report that the 
MOI is sharing threat intelligence with them and that ISF 
commanders in Ninewa are taking steps to prevent additional 
attacks are other encouraging signs.  The recent addition of 
500 Christian FPS personnel to the MOI should help to further 
solidify security gains in Baghdad.  Further improvements in 
overall security in Ninewa may be forthcoming with 
theimplementation of the Combined Security Mechanism, which 
entails the establishment of joint ISF-Peshmerga checkpoints 
and security patrols.  END COMMENT. 
HILL