The Arabic version will follow shortly
BAGHDAD/GENEVA (23 February 2015) – A UN report released
Monday documents widespread human rights violations of an increasingly
sectarian nature in Iraq, as well as a deterioration of the rule of law in
large parts of the country.
The report, produced jointly by the UN Assistance Mission
for Iraq (UNAMI) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,
covers the period from 11 September to 10 December 2014.
It documents serious violations of international
humanitarian law and gross abuses of human rights perpetrated over a three
month period by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), with an
apparent systematic and widespread character. These include killings of
civilians, abductions, rapes, slavery and trafficking of women and children,
forced recruitment of children, destruction of places of religious or cultural
significance, looting and the denial of fundamental freedoms, among others.
“Members of Iraq’s diverse ethnic and religious communities,
including Turkmen, Shabaks, Christians, Yezidi, Sabaeans, Kaka’e, Faili Kurds,
Arab Shi’a, and others have been intentionally and systematically targeted by
ISIL and associated armed groups and subjected to gross human rights abuses, in
what appears as a deliberate policy aimed at destroying, suppressing or
expelling these communities permanently from areas under their control,” the
report says.
The report also details the murder of captured members of
Iraqi security forces and of people suspected of being associated with the
Government by ISIL. Individuals suspected of being disloyal to ISIL, including
religious, community and tribal leaders, journalists, doctors as well as female
community and political leaders have been particularly targeted. During the
reporting period, at least 165 executions were carried out following sentences
by so called “courts” in ISIL-controlled areas.
“Many of the violations and abuses perpetrated by ISIL may
amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and possibly genocide,” the
report notes.
The report also details violations of international
humanitarian and international human rights law reportedly committed by the
Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and affiliated armed groups during the same period,
including failures to abide by the principles of distinction and proportionality
in the conduct of military operations.
“Armed groups claiming to be affiliated to or supporting the
Government also perpetrated targeted killings, including of captured fighters
from ISIL and its associated armed groups, abductions of civilians, and other
abuses,” the report says.
Militias and other armed groups – some of which appear to be
operating outside of Government control according to reports - are active in
several governorates, particularly in Diyala and Salah-al-Din. Allegations of human
rights abuses by these militias have been received, including summary
executions and abductions, according to the report.
At least 11,602 civilians have been killed and 21,766
wounded from the beginning of January until 10 December 2014. Between 1 June
and 10 December 2014, when the conflict spread from Anbar to other areas of
Iraq, at least 7, 801 civilians were killed and 12,451 wounded.
“ISIL’s goal remains to destroy the Iraqi state and society
by fermenting violence and division,” said Special Representative of the UN
Secretary-General for Iraq Nickolay Mladenov, noting that the figures provided
should be regarded as absolute minimums, given the limitations on UNAMI/OHCHR
capacity to verify reports of civilian casualties and allegations of human rights
abuses.
“Iraqi leaders need to move immediately and implement the
Government’s agenda of national unity and reconciliation in order to put an end
to the heinous crimes committed by ISIL, and ensure that all armed groups are
under state control,” Mr. Mladenov added.
The report also notes that the number of civilians who have
died from the secondary effects of violence, including the lack of access to
food, water or medical care, remains unknown. Large numbers remained trapped or
displaced in areas under the control of ISIL during the reporting period, with
limited access to humanitarian assistance. Children, pregnant women, persons
with disabilities and elderly people proved particularly vulnerable in these
difficult circumstances.
“I continue to be deeply shocked by the gross human rights
violations committed by ISIL and associated armed groups. The targeting of
civilians based on their faith or ethnicity is utterly despicable and we must
not spare any effort to ensure accountability for these crimes,” said UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, who once again called on
Iraq to join the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court or to accept
the exercise of its jurisdiction with respect to the current situation facing
the country.
ENDS
The full report is available at:
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/IQ/UNAMI_OHCHR_Sep_Dec_2014.pdf
For more information, please contact:
In Geneva: Ravina Shamdasani (+41 22 917 9769 /
rshamdasani@ohchr.org ) or Cécile Pouilly (+41 22 917 9310 /
cpouillyshamdasani@ohchr.org )
In Baghdad: Khalid Dahab, UN Assistance Mission for Iraq
(UNAMI) (+964 790 194 0146 /
dahab@un.org )
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United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI)
Public Information Office (PIO) - Baghdad
Phone: +39 083 105 2640
Website: http://www.uniraq.org/
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