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Agence France-Presse

Since extremist were pushed out of Mosul, Mohammed has not left his home. Although he never joined Islamic State (IS), he shares a name with one of its fighters and fears arrest.
Like hundreds of others, the 24-year-old Iraqi father of two has not dared to approach security forces for fear of being detained because of his name.
“I can’t get out of Mosul or even move freely around the city,” the young man said, adding that security forces “with a list of names on their computers” could arrest him.
Sami al-Faisal, who runs a human rights group, said he had recorded “about 2,500 people suffering from similar names” in Mosul and its surrounding province.
Personal ID cards in Iraq, like most Arab countries, carry a person’s first name, father’s name and grandfather’s name. But to determine a person’s surname and tribe, it is often necessary to look into the area’s personal status records.

Civil archives are the only way to distinguish between the thousands of Mohammeds, Alis, Khaleds, Khalils and Ibrahims – some of the most popular names in the country.
The Iraqi interior ministry has begun issuing new ID cards equipped with a code that enables security forces to retrieve a person’s full name on a computerised system.
But in Mosul, where authorities are still struggling to restore public services after more than three years of IS occupation, these new digital IDs do not exist.
Although judicial sources and lawyers have told Mohammed he could clear his name in court, the young man flatly refused.
“Asking a judge to investigate means I’ll be detained for months at a police station. To conduct an investigation and verify my innocence with various security services … this process takes a long time,” he explained.

This puzzle of similar names and the fear of detention is the talk of the town in Mosul.
Sitting at a cafe, Wahid, 30, spoke about the name he has come to “hate”.
He discovered that his surname was on a list of wanted people during a recent trip to his university to collect his diploma.
“This document is only issued after an investigation by the intelligence services, so I gave up asking for it for fear of arrest,” he said. “The scary thing is that I’d be subject to beatings and insults in detention for a long time before I could prove my innocence.”
Wahid said one of his friends was mistakenly arrested three months ago for carrying the same name as an IS militant. Another was arrested soon after the extremists were pushed out of Mosul in July.

Ahmed Awwad al-Juburi, spokesman of the provincial bar association, is well acquainted with these cases, which can often only be unravelled by determining the names of mothers and wives, and dates of birth.
“Currently, we have identified 97 Mohammed Jassem Mohammeds,” he said. All of them can be arrested, although only one is wanted for terrorism offences.
Mohammed Ibrahim al-Bayati, who is in charge of security in the provincial council, said arrests made on the basis of three names should be stopped immediately.
Bayati said it is necessary to identify people by their five consecutive names and to make computerised identity documents available to the people of Mosul as quickly as possible.
In Mosul after IS, nobody is spared. Some within the security forces or provincial authorities have already paid for it. Bayati said even he has to deal with the inconvenience.
“My name and those of my father and grandfather are held by several other people. I am [also] one of the victims.”


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Iraq

‘I’m not the jihadi you’re looking for’: the trouble with having the same name as an extremist

An Iraqi policeman stops a driver at a checkpoint in Mosul. Photo: AFP

2017 AP YEAR END PHOTOS - Airstrikes target Islamic State positions on the edge of the old city of Mosul, Iraq, on July 11, 2017, a day after Iraq's prime minister declared "total victory" there. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)

An Iraqi policeman checks the ID of a driver at a checkpoint in Mosul on February 22, 2018 seven months after Iraqi forces retook the northern city from Islamic State (IS) jihadists. / AFP PHOTO / Ahmad MUWAFAQ

Bombed if they stay and shot if they flee, civilians face grim choices in ruins of Mosul

Iraqis flee their homes in Mosul's Old City on July 4, 2017, as many scamper away from the last Islamic State pocket in the Iraqi city. Photo: AFP

A member of the Iraqi forces helps a family flee their homes in Mosul's Old City on July 4, 2017, during the ongoing offensive to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. / AFP PHOTO / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

TOPSHOT - Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) advance inside a house in the Maidan district in Mosul's Old City on July 4, 2017, during the ongoing offensive to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. / AFP PHOTO / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

Iraqi Federal Police members hold an Islamic State flag, which they pulled down during fighting between Iraqi forces and Islamic State militants, in the Old City of Mosul, Iraq July 4, 2017. REUTERS/Ahmed Saad

Iraqis flee their homes in Mosul's Old City on July 4, 2017, during the government forces' ongoing offensive to retake the city from Islamic State (IS) group fighters. / AFP PHOTO / Fadel SENNA

Frightened Islamic State jihadists are shaving off their beards as noose tightens on Mosul, residents say

A suspected fighter for the Islamic State group sits handcuffed in the village of Tob Zawa, about 9km from Mosul, on Tuesday after his capture by Iraqi commandoes. Photo: AP

(161026) -- MOSUL, Oct. 26, 2016 (Xinhua) -- Kurdish Peshmerga fighters guard the Bartella frontline, east of Mosul, Iraq, on Oct. 26, 2016. Iraqi security forces on Wednesday inched to the eastern fringes of the city of Mosul, and made progress on other routes around the city preparing for the major battle to storm the city and drive out the Islamic State (IS) militant group from its last major stronghold in Iraq, a security source said. (Xinhua/Khalid Davood) (nxl)

Newly displaced people sit at check point in Qayyara, east of Mosul, Iraq October 26, 2016. REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

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There are 97 Mohammed Jassem Mohammeds and they can all be arrested, but only one of them is wanted for terrorism offences


Islamic militancy

Islamic State