Actors of persecution or serious harm

• Author: European Asylum Support Office (EU body or agency)
• Pages: 52-58

Common analysis | Iraq

January 2021

52

1. Actors of persecution or serious harm

This chapter looks into the topic of ‘actors of persecution o r serious harm’. It focuses on the main

actors in Iraq, their areas of presence and control, the violations they have reportedly committed,

and, where applicable, their structure and organisation.

The contents of this chapter include:

Preliminary remarks

Overview: areas of control

The Iraqi State

Popular Mobilisation Units and Tribal Mobilisation Milit ias

Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) authorities

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)

Tribes

Other non-State actors

Preliminary remarks

Article 6 QD defines ‘actors of persecution or serious harm’ as follows:

Article 6 of the Qualification Directive

Actors of persecution or serious harm

Actors of persecution or serious harm include:

a) the State;

b) parties or organisations controlling the State or a substantial part of the territory of the

State;

c) non-State actors, if it can be demonstrated that the actors mentioned in points (a) and

(b), including international organisations, are unable or unwilling to provide protection

against persecution or serious harm as defined in Article 7.

Risks to which a population of a country or a section of the population is generally exposed do not

normally create in themselves an individual threat which would qualify as serious harm (Recital 35

QD). Generally, persecution or serious harm must take the form of conduct on the par t of a third

party (Article 6 QD). For example, it cannot simply be the result of general shortcomings in the

health system of the country of origin.17

The notion of ‘State’ within the meaning of Article 6(a) QD should be broadly interpreted. It

encompasses any organ exercising legislative, executive, judicial or any other function(s) and acting

at any level, be it central, federal, regional, provincial or local. It could, for example, include the civil

service, armed forces, security and police forces, etc. In some cases, private entities may also be

given State powers and therefore be considered a State actor of persecution or serious harm.

‘Parties or organisations controlling the State or a substantial part of the territory of the

State’ can refer to two possible scenarios:

17 CJEU, Mohamed M'Bodj v État belge, C-542/13, judgment of 18 December 2014, C-542/13, paras. 35-36.