WP: US Baghdad Embassy Report on Conditions for Their Staff

The public affairs press office has 9 local Iraqi employees. Two of our three female employees report stepped up harassment beginning in mid-May. One, a Shiite who favors western clothing was advised by an unknown woman in her upscale Shiite/Christian Baghdad neighborhood to wear a veil and not to drive her own car. Indeed, she said, some groups are pushing women to even cover their faces, a step not taken in Iran even at its most conservative.

Another, a Sunni, said that people in her middle-class neighborhood are harassing women and telling them to cover up and stop using cell phones (suspected channel to licentious relationships with men). A female in the PAS cultural section is now wearing a full abaya after receiving direct threats in May....

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In April, employees began reporting a change in demeanor of guards at the Green Zone checkpoints. They seemed to be more militia like, in some cases seemingly taunting. One employee asked us to explore getting her press credentials because guards had held her embassy badge up and proclaimed loudly to nearby passers-by "Embassy" as she entered. Such information is a death sentence if overheard by the wrong people.

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We cannot call employees in on weekends or holidays without blowing their "cover".....

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The central government, our staff says, is not relevant.....objectivity, civility and logic that make for a functional workplace may falter if social pressures outside the Green Zone don't abate.

(pdf)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinions/graphics/iraqdocs_061606.pdf