The UN said in a report that potential war crimes and human rights violations have been committed by the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) and groups allied to it, causing “untold hardship and suffering” to the population under their control.
The report accuses the Iraqi army of committing human rights violations including summary executions and extrajudicial killings of prisoners and detainees, “which may also amount to war crimes.”
The report also says that ISIS is carrying out “large-scale killings, injuries and destruction and damage of livelihoods and property,” according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, including in “markets, restaurants, shops, cafes, playgrounds, schools, places of worship and other public spaces where civilians gather in large numbers.”
“[ISIS] and associated armed groups have carried out many of these attacks in a systematic manner heedless of the impact on civilians, or have systematically targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure with the intention of killing and wounding as many civilians as possible,” the report states.
“International law requires that both the Iraqi State and armed groups take all measures to minimize the impact of violence on civilians,” said Nickolay Mladenov, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq and head of UNAMI.