AI urges Iraq investigation of executions near Mosul
November 10, 2016
Amnesty International has said Iraqi government forces tortured and executed civilians with suspected IS ties outside Mosul. The group has called for an investigation into what it describes as "war crimes."
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The human rights group announced on Thursday that it gathered evidence indicating that up to six villagers were executed by Iraqi government forces near Mosul in late October.
"Men in Federal Police uniform have carried out multiple unlawful killings, apprehending and then deliberately killing in cold blood residents in villages south of Mosul. said Lynn Maalouf, deputy director for research at Amnesty's Beirut office.
"In some cases the residents were tortured before they were shot dead execution-style," she added.
The victims were suspected of being linked to the militant "Islamic State" (IS) group and were found in villages south of Mosul.
Groups of men were beaten with cables and rifle butts before being shot to death, while one man's head had been severed from his body, the rights group said.
Amnesty called on Iraqi authorities to carry out independent investigations into the killings, which the group says are a breach of international law.
"Without effective measures to suppress and punish serious violations, there is a real risk that we could see war crimes of this kind repeated" during the Mosul operation.
Thursday's announcement is the first such report of unlawful executions in a US-backed campaign to retake Mosul from IS.
On October 17, Iraqi troops, Kurdish peshmerga and Shiite Muslim militias backed by a US-led air alliance started a campaign to drive out IS from Iraq's second-largest city. The ultra-hardline jihadist group took control of the area in 2014.
rs/bw (dpa, Reuters)
The operation to liberate Mosul from "Islamic State"
What has happened in Mosul since the operation to retake the city from the so-called "Islamic State" started in October?
Image: picture-alliance/Anadolu Agency/H. Baban
Iraqi army discover mass grave
While Iraqi troops advanced further into territory held by the so called “Islamic State” in their campaign to recapture Mosul, they found a mass grave which holds about 100
bodies, many of them decapitated. AP footage shows bones and decomposed bodies dug out of the ground by a bulldozer. This Iraqi federal police officer holds a stuffed animal he found on the site.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo
Evidence of brutality
The grave, found near the town of Hammam al-Alil near Mosul, proves to be a dark testimony to the „Islamic State’s“ brutality. IS militants have carried out a series of massacres since seizing large areas of southern and central Iraq in 2014. This photo shows a member of the Iraqi security forces inspecting a building that was used as a prison by Islamic State militants in Hammam al-Alil.
Image: Reuters/T. Al-Sudani
Freed from terror
These displaced Iraqi men from the Hammam al-Alil area celebrate their liberation as they return to their homes after the recapture of their village by Iraqi forces from Islamic State.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/A. Al-Rubaye
Oil fields on fire
Oil wells have been set ablaze by IS in an apparent response to the ongoing military offensive to drive the extremist group out of its stronghold. A military commander said more than 5,000 civilians have been evacuated from eastern parts of Mosul and taken to camps. The surprise attack showed that even while under siege, the group could still sow chaos in parts of Iraq far from its base in Mosul.
Image: Reuters/A. Al-Marjani
What is the fight for Mosul all about?
Smoke rises during clashes between Peshmerga forces and IS militants in the town of Bashiqa, east of Mosul. Initially used by the "IS" to establish their caliphate and henceforth the key source of prestige and resources, Mosul is also the base for IS’s chemical weapon operation. The ancient Assyrian city also has formed a vital source of tax revenue and forced labor.
Image: Reuters/A. Lashkari
The role of the Iraqi army and its allies
Iraqi special forces take cover as their unit comes under fire from an Islamic State sniper. Together with Kurdish Peshmerga and Shiite militias, Iraqi forces intensified fighting and moved into more densely populated areas of the city without air support from the US-led coalition due to the high-risk of civilian casualties.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Drobnjakovic)
Kurdish Peshmerga
Meanwhile, Kurdish peshmerga forces decided to focus on other strongholds of resistance in northern Iraq and on the Kurdish-controlled city of Kirkuk, where IS initiated a campaign of violence in response to the advances of the Iraqi army towards Mosul.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Dicenzo
Fleeing from the fighting
The United Nations says over 34,000 people have been displaced from Mosul since the operation began on October 17, with about three quarters settled in camps and the rest in host communities.