Abbreviations and glossary

A • B • C • D • E • F • G • H • I • J • K • L • M • N • O • P • Q • R • S • T • U • V • W • X • Y • Z

A

AQ-I

Al-Qaeda in Iraq

Asayish

Intelligence services of the KRG

C

CAT	Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
CEAS	Common European Asylum System
CJEU	Court of Justice of the European Union
COI	Country of origin information

E

EASO	European Asylum Support Office
EUAA	European Union Agency for Asylum
ECHR	Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights), as amended by Protocols Nos. 11 and 14, 4 November 1950
ECtHR	European Court of Human Rights
EU	European Union

F

*fasliya*	A traditional practice, whereby family members, including women and children, are traded to settle tribal disputes
FGM/C	female genital mutilation/cutting

I

ID	identification documentation
IDP(s)	Internally displaced person(s)
IED	improvised explosive device
IILHR	Institute for International Law and Human Rights
INSO	International NGO Safety Organisation
IOM	International Organization for Migration
IPA	internal protection alternative
ISF	Iraqi Security Forces
ISIL	The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Islamic State, or Daesh
ISIS	The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria; see also ISIL.

J

jizya

A tax to be paid by Abrahamic non-Muslims, such as Christians and Jews. Imposed by ISIL in areas it controlled.

K

KDP	Kurdistan Democratic Party
KRG	Kurdistan Regional Government
KRI	Kurdistan Region of Iraq – refers to Dohuk, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah governorates

L

LGBTIQ persons

Persons:

who are attracted to others of their own gender (lesbian, gay) or any gender (bisexual);
whose gender identity and/or expression does not correspond to the sex they were assigned at birth (trans, non-binary);
who are born with sex characteristics that do not fit the typical definition of male or female (intersex); and
whose identity does not fit into a binary classification of sexuality and/or gender (queer)

P

Peshmerga	Military forces of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq
PKK	Kurdistan Worker’s Party
PMF	Popular Mobilisation Forces
PMU	Popular Mobilisation Units, also called Popular Mobilisation Forces, or al-Hashd al Shaabi
PUK	Patriotic Union of Kurdistan

Directive 2011/95/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on standards for the qualification of third-country nationals or stateless persons as beneficiaries of international protection, for a uniform status for refugees or for persons eligible for subsidiary protection, and for the content of the protection granted

S

*Sharia*	The religious law of Islam, Islamic canonical law
SGBV	Sexual and Gender Based Violence

T

Takfiri or Takfir

An Arabic word meaning ‘unbeliever’;

Extremist Islamist ideology employed by ISIL to declare individuals as apostates or impure, used against those who do not pledge allegiance.

Tribal Mobilisation (militias)

U

UN	United Nations
UNAMI	United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq
UNHCR	United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
UNICEF	United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund
UNOCHA	United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
UNRWA	The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
*urf*	Tribal customary law; also known as aadat or al-qada al-asha’iri
US	United States of America
USDOS	United States Department of State

V

VBIED

Vehicle-borne improvised explosive device

A

C

E

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