“Militiamen approached us to tell us we must wear the hijab and stop wearing make-up,” college student Zahra Alwan, who fled Basra for Baghdad, recently told IPS

December 19, 2007 8:13 am henrymunsonjr Iraqi Women, Basra, Mahdi Army

‘Bad’ Women Raped and Killed in Southern Iraq - by Ali al-Fadhily, IPS, December 19, 2007

BAGHDAD - Women are being killed by militia groups in southern Iraq for not conforming to strict Islamic ways, the police say. And increased threats from militia groups are driving many women away from their homes.

Basra police chief Gen. Jalil Hannoon has told reporters and Arab TV channels that at least 40 women have been killed during the past five months in the southern city.

“We are sure there are many more victims whose families did not report their killing for fear of scandal,” Hannoon said.

The militias dominated by the Shia Badr Organization and the Mahdi Army are leading imposition of strict Islamic rules. The enforcement of these rules comes at a time when British troops have left Basra, the biggest town in the south, to the Iraqi government.

The Shia-dominated Iraqi government is seen as providing tacit and sometimes direct support to militias. The Badr Organization answers to the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), the Shia bloc in the Iraqi government. The Mahdi army is the militia of anti-occupation Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Women who do not wear the hijab are becoming prime targets of militias, residents say. Many women say they are threatened with death if they do not obey.

“Militiamen approached us to tell us we must wear the hijab and stop wearing make-up,” college student Zahra Alwan, who fled Basra for Baghdad, recently told IPS.

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