Sunni Arab genocide in Iraq
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = Sunni Arab genocide in Iraq
| location = Baghdad, Al-Anbar Governorate, Saladin Governorate, and Mosul Governorate
| date = 2003–present
| partof = the Iraqi conflict
| image = Retaking Fallujah from ISIS by Iraqi Armed Forces and patriot militias (9).jpg
| caption = Popular Mobilization Forces enter Fallujah in 2016
| target = {{flag decoration|Sunni Iraq}} Iraqi Sunni Arabs
| type = Revenge killing, mass killing, abduction, torture, ethnic cleansing and house demolition
| fatalities =
| victims = ~22,000 (2014-2016), 9,000 sentenced to death (2022)
| perpetrators = {{flag|Iraq}}
{{flag|Iran}}
{{flagicon image|Shiism arabic blue.svg}} Various Shia militias
| motive = Anti-Sunnism, sectarianism, and Shia fundamentalism
}}
There had been allegations that Iranian-backed Iraqi Shia militias, with the support of the Iraqi central government, had committed genocide against Sunni Muslim Arabs in Iraq. The allegations began after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when Iran-backed Shia factions dominated the Iraqi government. Such reports intensified during the Iraqi civil war from 2006 to 2008 and the War in Iraq from 2014 to 2017 against the Islamic State.
History
Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the implementation of De-Ba’athification laws, thousands of Sunni Arab professionals all around Iraq were removed from their positions. After the 2003 invasion, Sunni Arabs grew increasingly alienated from the rest of Iraq. Before the invasion, Iraq had been politically dominated by Sunni Arabs for over 80 years, and the end of Sunni Arab dominance caused many armed revolts instantly after the 2003 invasion.Tripp, A History of Iraq, pp. 231–232.Hashim, Insurgency and Counter‑Insurgency in Iraq, p. 60.
Subsequently, following the end of the CPA government, Iran-backed Shia factions rapidly consolidated power over the Iraqi government. After the rise of Shia Islamist parties, the Sunni community was widely suspected of being former regime loyalists or insurgents.Marr, The Modern History of Iraq, pp. 304–305Haddad, Sectarianism in Iraq, pp. 90–93 Iran-backed Shia militias began operating death squads that targeted Sunni Arabs with abduction, torture, and execution under the pretext of anti-terror operations.Cockburn, Muqtada al-Sadr and the Fall of Iraq, pp. 165–168Tripp, A History of Iraq, p. 276 In cities with mixed populations, such as Baghdad, entire Sunni neighborhoods were ethnically cleansed.Visser, Basra, the Failed Gulf State, pp. 44–45
On 12 August 2007, Iraq's most senior Sunni politician, Adnan al-Dulaimi, called on Arab states to stop what he called an "unprecedented genocide campaign" by Iranian-backed Shia militias.{{Cite web |date=2015-03-25 |title=Iraq Sunni Leader Claims 'Genocide Campaign' by Shiites |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/iraq-sunni-leader-claims-genocide-campaign-by-shiites |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=Associated Press |language=en-US}}
Sunni clerics, politicians, tribe leaders, and ordinary civilians were subject to targeted killings, unlawful detentions, and torture. While Abu Ghraib prison was initially infamous for the US Army prisoner abuses, it was later handed to the Iraqi government and became notorious for similar abuses. Sunni detainees were regularly targeted for various abuses, while Shia detainees were left alone.Dodge, Iraq: From War to a New Authoritarianism, pp. 88–90
After the Islamic State quickly captured large Sunni-majority areas such as Mosul, Ramadi, and Fallujah, the Iraqi government further suspected Sunni Arabs of supporting extremist groups. Following the defeat of the Islamic State, the Iraqi Army and allied Shia militias placed entire Sunni populations under collective punishment. Families of suspected ISIS members were denied documentation, displaced en masse, and barred from returning to their homes, even when they had no known connection to ISIS activities.Marr, The Modern History of Iraq, pp. 368–369 Militias of the Popular Mobilization Forces carried out extrajudicial executions, looting, and the destruction of Sunni property, often without accountability from the Iraqi government.Stein, The Iraq War: A Documentary History, pp. 320–322 It has been estimated that around 22,000 Iraqi Sunnis have been killed between 2014 and 2016 amid sectarian violence, while thousands of families have fled their homes.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2022-12-08 |title=Iraq speaker says thousands abducted by militias were killed |url=https://www.newarab.com/news/iraq-speaker-says-thousands-abducted-militias-were-killed |access-date=2024-05-20 |website=The New Arab |language=en}} By 2017, the PMF had destroyed 345 Sunni homes to the west of Mosul after retaking them from ISIS, which according to Human Rights Watch had "no apparent military necessity" and may have qualified to be considered war crimes.{{Cite news |date=16 February 2017 |title=HRW: Iran-backed Shia militias destroying Sunni homes in Iraq |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170216-hrw-iran-backed-shia-militias-destroying-sunni-homes-in-iraq/ |access-date=20 May 2024 |work=Middle East Monitor}} Furthermore, Human Rights Watch called on the United States and other Western states that armed Iraq against ISIS to use their leverage to force the Iraqi government to investigate allegations of war crimes and human rights violations and abuses against Sunni Arabs.{{Cite news |date=16 February 2017 |title=HRW: Iran-backed Shia militias destroying Sunni homes in Iraq |url=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170216-hrw-iran-backed-shia-militias-destroying-sunni-homes-in-iraq/ |access-date=20 May 2024 |work=Middle East Monitor}} According to Amnesty International, Shia militias have operated with "total impunity" regarding their war crimes against Sunnis, in retaliation for attacks by the Islamic State.{{Cite web |date=2014-10-14 |title=Iraq: Evidence of war crimes by government-backed Shi’a militias |url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2014/10/iraq-evidence-war-crimes-government-backed-shi-militias/ |access-date=2024-05-20 |website=Amnesty International |language=en}} This is primarily due to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's assertion that Sunni Arabs hold a favorable disposition towards ISIS.{{Cite web |date=February 2015 |title=Minorities in Iraq: Pushed to the brink of existence |url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2015/548988/EPRS_BRI(2015)548988_REV1_EN.pdf |access-date=20 May 2024 |website=European Parliamentary Research Service}} In Jurf al-Sakhar, the Sunni population was ethnically cleansed to create a security buffer zone between Anbar and the Shia holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, where 3,000 Sunni homes were razed and 7,000 Sunni families were displaced and not allowed to return.{{Cite news |date=2015-05-18 |title=Fears of Shia muscle in Iraq's Sunni heartland |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32786138 |access-date=2024-05-20 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}
During the war against the Islamic State, additional waves of displacement occurred, with up to 1.5 million Sunni Arabs displaced by 2018, many of whom remained in camps or were refused reentry into their former communities.Dodge, Iraq: From War to a New Authoritarianism, p. 118Tripp, A History of Iraq, p. 280 After 2003, tens of thousands of Sunnis were killed by Shia militias in sectarian clashes. Over 20,000 Sunnis had died from 2006 to 2007 alone, with the numbers increasing by the thousands over the years. The violence decreased in 2017 and largely stopped by 2018.Haddad, Fanar. Sectarianism in Iraq: Antagonistic Visions of Unity. Oxford University Press, 2014, pp. 45–47.Tripp, Charles. A History of Iraq. Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp. 249–250.Weiss, Michael & Hassan, Hassan. ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror. Regan Arts, 2015, pp. 108–109.Hashim, Ahmed S. Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency in Iraq. Cornell University Press, 2008, pp. 90–92.Mansour, Renad & Jabar, Faleh A. The Popular Mobilization Forces and Iraq’s Future. Carnegie Middle East Center, 2017, pp. 17–20.Mabon, Simon. Houses Built on Sand: Violence, Sectarianism and Revolution in the Middle East. Manchester University Press, 2020, p. 118.
Shia Arab leaders often dismissed Sunni grievances as exaggerated or illegitimate, framing their demands as attempts to relive Ba'athist nostalgia. Kurdish leaders offered limited battlefield support but were reluctant to offer extensive help to Sunni Arabs due to the persecution of Kurds by Saddam Hussein.Haddad, Sectarianism in Iraq, pp. 120–121Gerges, ISIS: A History, pp. 91–92 International organizations, including the UN, condemned sectarian violence and collective punishment, but interventions were limited in scope and effect.Stein, The Iraq War: A Documentary History, pp. 324–325
The yearly US Department of State Report on International Religious Freedom in 2022 stated that Sunni Arabs represented about 90% of all prisoners in allegedly illegal detention in Iraq, including 9,000 that received death sentences.{{Cite web |date=2022 |title=2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Iraq |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/iraq |access-date=20 May 2024 |website=U.S. Department of State}} In 2023, Iraqi parliamentary speaker Mohamed Al-Halbousi admitted that the Iraqi government was directly involved in sectarian genocide against Sunni Arabs.{{Cite web |last=Abdulrazaq |first=Tallha |date=2023-01-05 |title=The Iraq Report: Missing Sunnis an admission of 'war crimes' |url=https://www.newarab.com/analysis/iraq-report-missing-sunnis-admission-war-crimes |access-date=2024-05-20 |website=The New Arab |language=en}}