A/HRC/34/53/Add.1 26. Some communities, notably some Sunni Muslims, who constitute a minority in the region and who have also been deeply affected and displaced by ISIL, do not enjoy the same freedoms as other groups, including freedom of movement outside of internally displaced person camps and to urban areas. The Kurdistan Regional Government cites security grounds for limiting the movement of some groups who may be suspected of membership of ISIL and for conducting screening and detentions. Some displaced Sunni groups have allegedly been held between ISIL and Peshmerga forces and refused access to safety by the Kurdistan authorities. In 2016, in Ninewa Governorate, more than 520 people, including an estimated 250 children, were stranded for months between military front lines east of Sinjar mountain, unable to access food, water, shelter and medical assistance. 4 The Kurdistan authorities allowed them to move to safety only after six months. 27. The Kurdistan Regional Government, through the offensives of its Peshmerga forces, has gained extensive territories in the anti-ISIL campaign, including de facto control over parts of Kirkuk and its oil fields, which it considers to be part of the Kurdistan region. Some of these “disputed areas” are historically the homes of minority ethnic and religious communities, including Sinjar (Yazidis), Talafar (Turkmen) and the Ninewa plains (Christians, Shabaks and other minorities) and are contested by the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Federal Government. Minorities seek assurances for their return to, and increased autonomy over, these territories. V. Challenges facing ethnic and religious communities 28. In this section, following comments by ethnic and religious community leaders that their voices and issues are rarely heard, the Special Rapporteur provides brief details about the situation of the ethnic and religious communities that she consulted. They include comments made by community representatives in meetings with her and information and figures that may not have been independently verified. Baha’is 29. The number of members of the Baha’i faith remains unclear, owing to a lack of official data and factors including fear of publicly expressing their identity because of historic and widespread discrimination. They are thought to number fewer than 2,000 throughout Iraq. Many do not openly practise their faith owing to continuing discrimination and the legacy of past practices against them. The Baha’i were particularly oppressed by the Baath party regime from the early 1970s, when the religion was banned, adherents were forbidden from listing their religion in civil records, Baha’i property was confiscated and members of the community ultimately faced prison or execution. 30. Regulation 358 of 1975 prohibited the issuance of national identity cards to Baha’is. They were consequently denied registration of marriages or births, and thus were deprived of the right to have a passport and a job, enter university, and buy and sell homes and property. Baha’is continue to be denied full recognition in the Constitution of Iraq or national law. In April 2008, the Iraqi Ministry of Interior revoked the 1975 regulation; however, Baha’is continue to report difficulties in changing their identity cards to indicate their religion. Many reportedly still have “Muslim” on their identification documents. 4 See www.humanitarianresponse.info/en/system/files/documents/files/hc_statement_on_ civilians_trapped_in_iraq_and_in_desparate_need_of_humanitarian_assistance_february_2016.pdf. 9