Many academics have been killed in Iraq since the American occupation began according to the Iraqi Union of University Lecturers.

The most striking fact is that the majority of those killed where not sciencists (thus targeted for the alleged knowledge of Iraq’s weapon’s programme) but were involved in field of humanities (such as law, geography and history). The motives for these assassinations are unknown.

This ‘war on Learning’, as Robert Fisk, a reporter in Iraq for the Independent called it, is making Iraqi intellectual’s work impossible and further augments the view that a ‘normal life’ in Iraq is far too dangerous for them. According to an article in the Times Higher Education Supplement: ‘there is a widespread feeling among the Iraqi academics that they are witnessing a deliberate attempt to destroy intellectual life in Iraq’. Furthermore, quoting Dr Sinawi – a geologist formerly employed at Baghdad University and interview by THES- the academic dismissals, the assassination of intellectuals will bring a ‘disruption of higher education in Iraq for years to come. This will dramatically affect the standard of teaching and research for generations’. Source: http://www.nearinternational.org/alerts/iraq320040915en.php

Many academics in Iraq are imprisoned, were discharged, have disappeared, or were forced into exile. This web page has been created to document these facts.

Here is an incomplete list of murdered Iraqi academics

Further reading:

- Iraqi intellectuals under siege - Al Jazeera, 29 Febr 2004.
- Iraqi intellectuals flee 'death squads' - Al Jazeera, 30 March 2004.
- Death to those who dare to speak out - CS Monitor 30 April 2004.
- Iraqi intellectuals appeal for security - Al Jazeera 19 May 2004.
- "It has begun." - Dahr Jamail, 13 June 2004.
- Where is this going? - Al Ahram 16 June 2004.
- Academics targeted as murder and mayhem hits Iraqi colleges - Robert Fisk 14 July 2004.
- The slaughter of Iraq's intellectuals - The New Statesman, 06 Sept 2004.
- Iraq losing its best and brightest, CS Monitor 21 Sept 2004.
- IRAQ: Rising threat against academics fuels brain drain -IRIN news 28 Oct 2004.
- Joint Statement by MESA, AAUP, AAAS, 05 Nov 2004.
- A Sinister Campaign, 11 Dec 2004.
- Approximately 300 academics have been killed - 17 Jan 2005.
- The Destruction of Iraq’s Educational System under US Occupation - Ghali Hassan 11 May 2005.
- Iraq healers have become targets , IHT 31 May 2005.
- Medics fleeing Iraq's violence in their thousands, 25 Sept 2005.
- In the line of Fire, AAAS 30 Sept 2005.
- Everyone is a target in Iraq, Al Jazeera 14 Oct 2005.
- Guidelines Relating to the Eligibility of Iraqi Asylum-Seekers October 2005, UNHCR Report [PDF]
- Iraq’s Science Community: to be or not to be
- Who's killing Iraqi intellectuals? - 03 Dec 2005.

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