REFERRAL OF INTERPRETER ESSAM HAMMOUDI AHMED

UNCLAS E F T O BAGHDAD 001116 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR PRM/A; DHS FOR BCIS HEADQUARTERS; CAIRO FOR REFCOORD; AMMAN FOR REFCOORD AND CONSULAR E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/31/2017 TAGS: PREF PHUM IZ SUBJECT: REFERRAL OF INTERPRETER ESSAM HAMMOUDI AHMED REF: STATE 326248 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY. ¶1. Embassy Baghdad would like to refer Essam Hammoudi Ahmed to the US Refugee Admissions Program. ¶2. (SBU) Biographical information: Principal applicant NAME: Essam Hammoudi Ahmed DOB: July 1, 1980 POB: Iraq Passport Number: S 1647887 Gender: Male Marital Status: Single Dependents: None ¶3. (SBU) Description of persecution claim, as reported by the applicant himself: Essam started working as an interpreter for US and Coalition Forces (CF) in Muthanna Province in 2003. He also worked in other capacities for the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in positions in which he interacted with many members of the local community on behalf of the CPA, such as assistant project manager for CPA-funded programs. As a result, he was seen as a close collaborator of Coalition Forces and the CPA. In December of 2006, leaflets accusing him of being a CIA agent were distributed in a local market in his hometown of Samawah. In April of 2004 armed men searched his parents' house (where he lived) looking for him. In July of 2004, a list of interpreters working with CF was distributed in a market, together with threats against them. In May of 2006, armed men found him at home, put a gun to his head, and warned him to stop working for CF. Also in May, an Iraqi legal advisor for the CPA was murdered. In June, July and August of 2006, Essam received telephone calls threatening him with death almost daily. He changed his phone number various times, but the threats continued. In June of 2006, an interpreter working for the Japanese Army was shot and killed in front of his house in Samawah. Police reportedly witness the murder, but took no action to detain the perpetrators or take the injured interpreter to a hospital. In July of 2006 another interpreter was murdered in Muthanna, and another one in September of 2006. Essam was a close friend of the interpreter killed in September and saw his dead body, which was shot in the head. In August and September of 2006, Essam received written threats, left in his car windshield and in front of his parents' house. The door of the house was painted on with dead threats against Essam in November of ¶2006. Essam has continued to receive threats in different forms until the present. In February of 2007, he was shown a detailed hit-list with his name on it. Essam believes that the threats are coming from Shia militias, which are very strong in southern Iraq. In February of 2007 militias broke into his house looking for him again, at a time when Essam had left in disguised to a local internet cafe. ¶4. (SBU) Justification for resettlement: Essam reports that he lives in virtual seclusion, moving every few days to a different house to stay with friends and relatives. He hardly ventures to the street or any public venue. He is under a great deal of anxiety, believing that he can be targeted at any time. He is also deeply upset by the death of his colleague and friend in September of 2006 (Note: Essam choke in tears when, speaking on the phone with the Embassy Refugee Coordinator, he recalled images of his friend murdered. End note). Essam is too afraid to work, and has been forced to terminate his relationship with his fiancee because her family could not see a future for him in Iraq. Essam is favorably known to his former American supervisors, who called the attention of the Embassy to his situation. ¶5. (SBU) Financial situation of PA: Principal applicant has very little financial resources. He invested his savings to open a computer shop, but the threats made it difficult for him to take care of his business. He is trying to collect money from the sale of its small inventory and from family, in order to go to Syria. ¶6. (SBU) Name check: Completed. No matching hits. CROCKER