Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 (No. 107) - Iraq (Ratification: 1986)

Article 1(a) of the Convention. Identification of clans and tribes. The Committee requests the Government to provide an overview of the main tribes and clans which correspond to the criteria set out in the Convention, including in particular those tribes and clans whose social and economic conditions are at a less advanced stage than the stage reached by the other sections of the national community, and whose status is regulated wholly or partially by their own customs or traditions or by special laws or regulations.

Articles 2, 6 and 27. Programmes. Coordinated and systematic action. The Committee recalls that, under these provisions of the Convention, the Government should establish coordinated and systematic programmes for the populations concerned in so far as it is necessary. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether any programmes or projects of economic development have been drawn up or undertaken to specifically benefit the clans and tribes within the meaning of the Convention.

Article 11. Right to ownership. The Committee once again requests the Government to identify the regions where the right of ownership of land, collective or individual, of the members of the clans and tribes concerned has been recognized and where the populations concerned benefit from such right. In the case of collective ownership, please indicate the main forms the rights recognized by law are exercised. In the case of individual ownership, please indicate whether there is any common use of land (e.g., cooperative farming) and the legal basis for it.

Articles 12 to 14. Land. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the provisions of the national legislation which ensure that the clans and tribes concerned may not be removed from their habitual territories without free consent. Please also provide particulars of any cases in which populations concerned have been removed from their habitual territories, including the grounds of removal and the terms of their settlement or resettlement, and/or provisions made for their compensation.

Articles 16 to 18. Vocational training, handicrafts and rural industries. The Committee requested the Government to provide updated information on the impact that the implementation of the social protection system has had on the clans and tribes concerned as well as the services provided. The Government indicates that the Women’s Social Protection Directorate of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs provides social and vocational programmes to help develop the skills and capacities of women to enable them to acquire the expertise to generate an income in addition to the social assistance they receive. The Government also informs that the major problem facing this segment of the female population is the clan and tribal customs and traditions, which prevent them from accessing key services, including education and vocational training courses. The Committee requests the Government to provide further information on special vocational training programmes that have been established for the populations concerned and whether their handicrafts and rural industries have been encouraged as factors in their economic development. Please provide information on measures taken to address the specific needs of women.